We all know from experience that practically every car deal is different. There are many variables that go into making and closing the sale. The biggest variable is your customer’s thought process. The way they think and the time they need to process the decision to buy a car can vary greatly from person to person. Some buyers are ready to buy before they arrived to your store and other buyers will be at your dealership for hours and hours before they will allow themselves to buy a car. By knowing and using this to your advantage you can get into their head and increase your car sales commissions.
You have surely heard the term “reading your customer”, this is a skill that some people have inherently and others can develop, but it is an important part of selling cars for a living. By talking, asking questions and listening closely to what they are saying you can get an idea of what kind of buyer you have in front you and adjust your interactions with them accordingly. Something I heard when I started selling cars that helped me increase my sales commission is the saying, “Listen to your customer and they will tell you how to sell them a car”.
Connecting and Sales Commission
Every customer processes information differently and when you understand how your customer processes information you can greatly enhance your influence on them and in turn increase your commission. There was an industry report earlier this year that said the car salesman is the number one source of information when it comes to buying a car. Even after all the research and information gathering they may do on the Internet the car salesman is still the key to making the sale. However that is only if you can earn their respect and connect with them on an emotional level. This is why it is important to ask them questions and listen closely to what they are saying. Make a personal connection, find things in common and show interest in them and their desire to make the right decision for them.
Some car buyers need to hear you say the words, some customers need to see everything written down on a sheet of paper and others need to touch, feel, smell and visualize themselves driving and owning the car. Some of your customers will need a combination of all of these things, but one of these will be more influential over the rest. Then you need to determine how long they need to process this information. Like I said earlier some will be ready now and some will take hours before they can pull the trigger. Once you determine the proper combination of time and method of information processing you will be closing the sale and increasing your sales commission.
Price and Car Sales Commissions
We all want to increase our car sales commissions, but if you fail to get in their head and understand what is important to them or try to rush through the process your best chance of making a deal is cutting the price. When salespeople fail to connect with their customer they say that the customer is all about price. But when it comes right down to it less than 10% of the customers are only about price. Yes price is important, but there are other things that are important too and if you don’t get in their head all you have left is price.
I have talked to many customers that have left one dealership and bought a car at another dealership and actually paid more than the price they were offered by the first dealer. How could that be? They didn’t connect, they didn’t see value and most importantly the salesperson didn’t get in their head and determine what they need to hear, see or feel to commit to buying car from them and their dealership. Sure a sales manager can take a turn and talk to the customer before they leave, but very often that is also about price and we all know hat happens to our car sales commission when price is the only reason the buy.
Later, Fresh Up on the Lot
KB
