Bad mouthing your competition is not a professional or an effective car sales tactic and one of the quickest ways to lose the sale. I see it quite often with new sales people, but I still see and hear it at times with veteran car salesmen. If you have been selling cars for a living for any period of time you should already know that trash talking a competing car dealership will cause you lose the sale more often than not.
You know the drill, a customer comes into the showroom and tells you that a competitor is selling the same car for $1000.00 less than your best price. Your first reaction is to blurt out any negative thing you ever heard about that dealer, and bad mouth them but hopefully you know better.
We all know how the game is played, it’s about getting car buyers in the door. However dragging your competitor through the mud will not get you the sale (or at least rarely). The customer may have bought several cars from the dealership in question and they may have their cars serviced there regularly. They may be happy with that dealer and they are in your showroom to keep their dealer honest. They may have heard others speak highly of your dealership and thought they would see what you have to offer. Then you start bad mouthing the car dealer where they usually do business because of their unsubstantiated claim of a $1000 less for the same car and you just insulted your potential car buyer.
The customer from the above scenario is turned off quickly when you choose to bad mouth the dealer where they have been doing business for years. You don’t always know the reasons behind your customers visit to your showroom and they will rarely tell you the truth. However there is one thing you know for sure and that is “They Want To Buy a Car” and a successful car salesman knows that.
Car buyers come to your dealership because they are in the market to buy a car. They will tell you almost anything that they believe will get them a good deal when they come to a car dealer. We have all been there and know the saying about car buyers. Rather than play their game and get caught in their trap you need to be the car sales professional and show they why they should be buying from you and your dealership. Treat them like a million dollar customer and forget about bad mouthing the competition. Open them up and find the reason they are talking to you, determine their need and wants, sell them the value of doing business with you rather than your competitor (it’s not always price, but it is your car salesman income).
Remember this car salesman tip; when the value outweighs the price you will always make the sale and a car salesman commission.
Later, Fresh Up on the Lot
K.B.
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