A few months back I was reading an article in Inc. magazine talking about the six ways to get customers to say yes. It referenced a book about persuasion and what makes customer say yes. I thought it was very interesting and that I would cover the six topics as they would relate to selling cars. They make a lot of sense once they are reconfigured for the automobile sales profession which as we know it is very different from selling many other things. Let me jump right in and cover the six topics and how we can use them to sell more cars.
1. Be Likeable
Many people might say it’s not important for the customer to like you as long as you sell them a car, but the research tells us that it can make a big difference in whether you sell a car or don’t sell a car. People want to feel good about whom they’re working with and if you are a likable person you will have a much better chance of making a deal. When you spend time with the customer and actually take a genuine interest in their satisfaction with your product the customer will sense that. Find things in common with your customer like hobbies, children, where you live, sports or anything that will create some type of bond. The more things you have in common with your customer the more likable you become.
2. Authority
When you are an authority people tend to listen to what you have to say. What better authority is there than the salesman that is working at the car dealership that sells the type of car they are interested in day in and day out. You need to be the authority, even if you don’t know every detail about a specific vehicle you should come off as an expert when it comes to the brand you sell. There was some research done not long ago that said that 64% of the buyers count on the salesman for their information on a particular vehicle when they are going to buy a car. Walk, talk, and be the authority that people listen to when you work with them and sell more cars and build your car salesman brand.
3. Obligation
When you’re working with a customer and you spend lots of time, show them lots of cars and provide them with loads of information they are somewhat obligated at least in their mind to do something for you. We all know that we want that something to be, buy a car, but it’s difficult for you to make them feel obligated enough to buy a car unless you have some the other elements that get customers to say yes. Treat your customers like the most important person in the world while you are working with them and do everything you can to serve them. Do enough for them and they’ll do something for you.
4. Identify
When you are talking to your customer and getting to know them a little better try and find out how they see themselves. What kind of car do they see themselves driving, not the car they can afford or that they should be driving, but the kind of car they would like to see themselves driving. For example; if they are young and consider themselves trendy a two-door coupe might be a way they would identify with the purchase or if they are a hunter or a fisherman a pick-up or an SUV might be what they would see themselves driving. Listen to them, identify them and relate the vehicle they are considering for purchase to the way they see themselves. Use the statements they make to connect them to a vehicle and sell them a car. Perhaps the customer wants a pickup truck because they go hunting and camping but they need a more practical vehicle because they have a large family so your job would be to show them how they could use an SUV or van for their hunting and camping outings.
5. Customers Peers and Referrals
When customers are making major purchases they want to make sure they are doing the right thing. If they can see or hear about people like themselves that bought from you in the past it’s practically an endorsement. A good example is a referral, if somebody sends a customer to you that means they can identify with them. Referrals are a great thing and they are important when it comes to selling cars because the closing ratio is much higher on customers that were sent to you by a previous customer. However you can still do well with a fresh customer if you tell them about your customers that are just like them that you have sold and sell regularly. I wrote a post a while back about stories selling cars and this is a great example.
6. Urgency
We all know creating urgency is a big part of selling cars. We don’t want them to go home and think about it, we don’t want them to shop around; we want them to buy now. And one of the best ways to get that done is to create a sense of urgency. You know how it’s done, the big sale, price increase, inventory availability and all the other things we used to create urgency. Now the research tells us that if you can get them see and feel the urgency it will help the customer to say yes.
You don’t always need all six of these items for your customer to say yes, but you will get much closer to yes when you get these items handled. None of these items are difficult to achieve for a true car sales professional. So let’s go have some fun and move some metal.
Later, Fresh Up on the Lot
KB
Are You Making Six Figures a Year Selling Cars?…Why Not, You Should-Go Here…
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Reference: Inc.com