Believing the Customer
The car salesman that believes everything that their customer says is practically destined to fail. You need to keep in mind that very few people enjoy coming to the car dealership to buy a car, they may want a new car, but they do not look forward to going through the process of buying a car. Many of them have prepared for their experience by making up lies and excuses for not buying before they even hit the lot. They want to retain control and it is your job to make them feel like they are in control while you are controlling them.
Many people feel that it is an acceptable practice to go to a car dealership and lie to the car salesman. Even the most honest people you’ll ever meet believe that lying at the car dealership is simply a part of negotiation. The car business already has a poor reputation and the salesman always gets blamed for that, but it really is perpetuated by the customer. That leads me to one of my favorite sayings that two people meet and one gets sold. So the question is, are you going to sell the customer or is the customer going to sell you on why they’re not going to buy today.
When you believe the customer and everything they say it will take a toll on your sales and commissions and ultimately you will fail as a car salesperson. The customers are out of their element when they’re at the dealership and one of the most common lies that they will tell is about the price. There’s no question that everybody wants the best price, but most people are willing to let dealership make a little profit. They understand the dealer is a business and you need to make little bit of money, but many car salesmen fail when they stop moving forward because they trust that their customer is telling them the truth.
The customer is at your dealership because they want to buy a car, it doesn’t mean that you will sell him a car, but that is the reason for their visit. The Internet has changed our business over the past several years and people don’t visit multiple dealerships like they used to in the past. Today many customers do their shopping on the Internet and then visit the dealer when they are ready to buy a car. So when a customer comes to your dealership they are typically ready to make a purchase. Your job is to be able to sort the truth from the lies and sell them a car. Provide the customer with an excellent experience and you will break down the barriers that will allow them to stop telling lies and feel good about buying a car from you and your dealership.
This is part two of Why Car Salespeople Fail the next post is about Commitment.
You can find part one about “Price of the Car” here.