11 rules for success in sales

LOOK FOR THE HARD DEALS

Stop looking for the easy deals. This is where the majority of sales are missed. It is important to master dealing with difficult customers Why?  That’s where the money is at. Difficult customers are the ones who have the money or the credit. They have more discernment and they do not part easily with their hard earned money. 

STOP ASSUMING

Don’t assume anything. We all know what happens when you assume. You think you know but you don’t. Assume everyone is a buyer and listen to the needs and wants of your customer. This will not be easy. Our natural tendency is to talk. Learning to listen is one of the greatest skills you can develop. If you make the choice to assume you will miss out on many sales that could have been made. 

I remember an occasion where this applied and I was on the losing end of the deal. However I was one of the salesmen sitting at the table waiting for my up laughing at the salesman who went out to help the customer. We had a bright red Dodge Challenger sitting on the lot. This was a V8 model and priced in the upper 30000 price range. This particular customer looked rather young so I along with all the other salesman assumed he was a kid just out looking and daydreaming.

One of my friends went out to talk to him. He came back in the building to grab the keys to the vehicle looking a bit frustrated since the boy was not yet old enough to drive. He went out and showed the teenager the vehicle and as we watched to our utter amazement the child’s mother showed up. Shortly thereafter she bought the vehicle for him as an early sweet 16 birthday. She simply wrote a check. This is a sale that I missed out due to assumptions

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AT THE RIGHT TIME. CREATIVITY AND TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

Ask intelligent questions. There are many ways to get information. Learn to be subtle to get the information that you need. In most instance simply asking someone how much they can afford monthly. Or how much do you want to spend? Is not going to cut it. However you can ask  questions like. How much money did you put down on your last vehicle purchase? Or how much did you pay per month on your last vehicle?

Questions such as this will tell you a great deal of information. Someone who put cash down on their last vehicle will likely do it again. Also it is less likely that they will be “upside down” in there vehicle. If you find out when they purchased their last vehicle and you know what they paid at that time. You can figure out where are credit wise within reason. You should be familiar with the price of vehicles and the rates for each year. If you are early in your career you may have to calculate this but as you spend more time on the lot you will be able to calculate this quickly in your head.

Asking the right kind of questions will get you the information that you need. Consumers have been trained on what questions to avoid answering so you will need to ask different kinds of questions that will lead to the information that you need. You will also need to be familiar with the market and educate yourself as much as possible in the car business. You will need to familiar with rates and vehicle prices in your area at least the last 3-5 years as most individuals purchase a car every 3 years.

After you build rapport with your client you are much more likely to get this information depending on how you ask the question. Tone and inflection go along way. Also timing. It is important that you do not bombard the client with questions. Ask a question here and there timing the questions throughout the process. It is important to get the answers to these questions while you are on the lot and not when you go to the office. In fact don’t even go into the office until you have agreement that they will purchase. 

Instead of asking someone for their phone number ask What is the best way to reach you? Some people will let you know and some people will ask why. You can further expand this question to What is the best way to reach you should another great deal come up? This asks for the best way and provides an answer why at the same time. This will allow you to overcome an objection before it comes up. 

GET COMMITMENT BEFORE GOING TO THE OFFICE

There is no need to go to the office unless you are working a deal. Deals are not closed in the office. They are closed out on the lot. You have to find the vehicle that will suit your customer’s needs, sell them on it and get commitment. How do you sell someone on a particular vehicle? This is done by building value. Find out what is important to them and show them the value in the vehicle that you have selected. 

DO NOT FOLLOW PEOPLE

Always find a way to approach your customers from the front and not the back. One of the worst things you can do as a salesman is follow people around. I repeat do not follow people around. It is just plain creepy. If you fail to establish rapport at the beginning that is fine. Regroup and re approach. However do walk up to people from behind. Do whatever you need to do to reposition yourself to approach them from the front or at an angle. Or do what you need to do so that they come to you. 

DO NOT CUT OFF THE PATH OR DIRECTION THAT CUSTOMERS ARE WALKING IN.

It can be just as detrimental to approach someone and cut off their path as they are walking forward. You can use angles to help with this. I am particularly talking of an instance when you are dealing with customers who do not want to talk to you. If they want to talk to you it will be evident when you first approach them. They will not veer off in another direction. However if you experienced and issues upon your first approach you need to always approach from an angle with this type of customer. 

If someone is clearly going to walk past you after you greet them from the approaching at the front. Angle your stance advise them that you will be happy to show them where the best deals are. If they still pass you and you need to re approach then approach again at an angle. Sometimes it is best not to approach customers at all and let them come to you. Grab a notepad and a pen and start writing vin numbers down on different vehicles and taking notes. Make phone calls to customers while on the lot. Appear busy and the customers will come to you. 

Approach at angles where you are clearly visible to them but do not block their path. 

SMILE BEFORE YOU MAKE IT TO THE CUSTOMERS

Within the first few seconds someone will make a judgement of you and whether or not they will buy from you. Be sure that the first thing they see is a genuine smile and someone who is excited that they are there. If you are exiting the office to approach them start smiling as soon as you step out on the lot. 

STOP TRYING TO “MAKE THE SALE”

Concentrate on getting to know the customer. If they have a wife, partner or children with them. Pay attention and listed to everyone treat everyone equally, express concern and be happy they are there. There are many times when another individual will give you key information to help close the deal. 

SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME LISTENING

Do not. I repeat do not do all of the talking. Focus your efforts on building rapport and discussing everything other than buying a car on your initial communications with the customer. People do not care about what you have to say. They do not care about your stories or their personal life. They are looking for someone to listen to them. Allow your customers to confide in you. Make sure during their shopping experience that they feel like they are number one. This means you will have to listen to them. By listening to your customers not only will you build rapport. You will earn their trust and also learn things that you need to in order to close the sale. Critical information will come out the more they talk. Sometimes people will buy from you for the sole reason that you listed to them.

ASK FOR THE SALE

There are times when you simply go for it and ask for the sale. Sometimes you just have to go get it. There was a time when I was on the lot and three gentleman can to the lot to look at two different diesel trucks and were also interested in purchasing a new diesel. When I walked up and greeted them. I smiled and started shaking hands one of the individuals spit some chewing tobacco out on the ground and some of it splashed on my shoe. Instead of getting offended I pulled out my can of tobacco and took a chew right along with them. (mirroring your customer)

The three men bombarded me with information about the two vehicles and began to ask me questions. I answered a few and then I flashed a huge grin and said who am I kidding? You guys know more about these trucks than I do. Do you want to go ahead and just get them? There was a long pause. I didn’t say anything and just looked straight ahead.

Then they said yes!. We promptly went to the office and begin working a deal for the two diesels. The third gentlemen wanted to look at new vehicles so I flipped him to a buddy over there while I worked on the two truck deal. At the end of the day I had 2.5 vehicles sold. I sold the two used diesels and my friend sold the 3rd new one so I had to split the deal with him since I could not work all three at the same time. 

I remember another time when a middle aged man was out looking at a vehicle one morning. All the salesman at the table laughed and said he wasn’t a buyer. They did not want to talk to him. I went out and said hi. He was looking at a PT Cruiser.  I went out and said high to the gentlemen. He advised me that he was out looking at cars for his daughter. It was hot outside. (another indicator to me that he was a potential buyer. I told him that was nice and he must be a great father looking out for his daughter and then immediately asked if he wanted to go ahead and get the vehicle to which he replied yes. We went into the office and the vehicle was sold in less than 30 minutes. 

PROSPECT

Just because you don’t sell a car or get someone in the closing booth on a deal doesn’t mean the it’s over. Ask each of your customer’s who else is looking. You may not sell them something but they may flip you a referral to someone else who is. Many times they will do this just because they like you. So treat everyone with respect. Even if they do not buy from you. You can ask for these referrals on the lot after you build rapport, during the paperwork signing or after you are calling to follow up with someone you did not make the sale on. You can also prospect during service calls, or when you send out thank you cards, using social media. Etc. it is always a good time to prospect.