Most customers start their buying journey online or by phone, so communication is key.
Given that we can’t use a lot of our non-verbal communication skills on the phone or by email, it’s even more important.
In this episode Simon talks about how the trial close can help.
Here are the highlights:
{01:57} Trust & Rapport
{02:47} Using AI
{04:19} Non Verbal Communication
{07:26} Trial Close
About Symco Training:
Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon’s words ‘real world’, it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal.
To find out more visit
www.symcotraining.co.uk
Welcome to the Selling in the Motor Trade Podcast, an association with Symco Training. This is the weekly podcast where we share best practice tips and ideas on how to sell more cards, improve your service department and generally put more profit into your dealership or dealer group. I'm your host, Simon Bowkett. As some of you probably already know me as skipping, I will start with saying thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. Hi and welcome to another episode of Selling in the Motor Trade. Listen, today we want to talk about communicating and specifically communicating over the phone. We all know in the motor trade that if kind of flipped on its head, we used to say that inquiries would come in, walk in, phone in the quarry and maybe email. But actually, hasn't it completely swapped around? It's a digital inquiry. We want to get them to a phone and from the phone, then hopefully we make an appointment. Now, don't take it the wrong way. Yes, I know people still walk into dealerships around the world. But actually, more and more people start their journey on email and phone. So on an email, we talk lots about the different word tracks and how to get people going from a digital inquiry to a phone call. Listen, I just come back from the NADA conference and you know what? So many people are saying that people are going to just click and collect its mouse to house. But you know what? The last stat I've seen from the National Automotive Dealers Association is still less and 5% complete the whole transaction from start to finish without speaking to some sort of human, an advisor or somewhere there. Now, yes, there's always going to be people who will do that, but it's that trust report, the evidence, the data is showing us at the moment people want. So we need to get that trust and rapport over the phone. Okay? So listen, go and have a look at our online training about lots of different ways to get people from a digital inquiry into making the call. When people say, hey, can you tell me, is the car available? If so, what's your best price? And their phone number is 012345678. Where do you start with that? Okay? When someone says, can you just give me an idea what my car is worth? I won't hold you to it. Just a ballpark figure. Listen, we've got lots of word tracks that in fact, on our digital training program, we talk about this all the time. I don't believe in just a scripted approach. I think customers can smell a script. Yes, we talk about AI lots and how that can help people. But again, I get worried about that that salespeople don't read what chat GPT has actually done for them. You need to tell chat what good looks like. So many times that people say, oh, we've sorted that. We use chat. Yeah, I know, but chat makes shit up. Okay? So you've got to tell it what good looks like to start with. Don't get me wrong. At Symco, we use it lots. Okay? There is a place for it. However, you don't want to open source. You don't want to go into Google finding out different ways to deal with that inquiry there. You need to tell it what good looks like first so it knows where to go from. But listen, that's a complete different conversation. When we've got, oh, and by the way, if you want to talk to us about that, pick our brains. Okay, we're all over this at the moment and it's half my life seems to be dealing with very high stuff at the moment. So, but let's talk about when your salesperson gets, or if you're the salesperson list of this, get someone on the phone. They're exposed to tell us that only 7% are what we communicate as a human. Other words, 7%. I always struggle with that. Okay? My mother, I talked with that with a clip around the ear. What did you say to get that? Not what you said. It's how you said it. And 38% is the how it said. Okay? But the other 55% of what we communicate is non-verbal communication. Body language. Okay? But the downside is over the phone, we lose the vast majority of our communication. And also that study trainers talk about that all the time. I don't know if you know this, but it was misquoted. Okay? It was a study used to eight universally and it was only 7% of what we communicate. Other words, that's 7% of the emotions, an emotional conversation. A giving sample, I'm going to be crude here for a second. I can tell you, oh, fuck off. And people are laughing at you. I can say, no, no, no, fuck off. I mean, there's two completely different meanings to that one. Or I can tell you, I say, I love you. Okay? That's completely different to me saying to someone, no, no, no, I love you. The second one might end me up in a tribunal or something like that. It's not what you say. It's how you say it. But that was all about emotions. Now we still train on our courses as well because buying a car is emotional. But actually 55% is non-verbal communication. Have you ever spoke to someone on the phone and you haven't your mind a picture of what they look like? The person turns up and you think, whoa, hold on for a second. They don't look anything like that. Okay? It happened to me when I left Australia 95. I had a real thick Australian accent. I'm almost certain in people's minds. They pictured me as six foot four bleach blonde hair, maybe a surfboard under my arm. They made me a hat with some corks on. And I'd turn up and if any of you guys have seen me face to face, you know, I'm nothing like that. But actually people get an image in their mind. You get an image of the customer. So of course they're getting an image of you. So the first thing to talk about phone calls, and oh, by the way, we're doing this because I've just listened to a whole lot of phone calls with sales people. And you can get some sales people and they could use exactly the right words in the wrong way. It just doesn't work. Good news. So we've got two or three of those cars that should suit what you're looking for. But when's a good time to come in and have a look at it later on this afternoon or maybe tomorrow morning? Okay. However, that's the words and all that has to be fine, but here's one of the biggest things I'm noticing that sales people are leaving out on that telephone. There's a lot of people who are leaving out on that phone call and they think they're going to make a difference. So it's like, when's a good time to come in and have a look? And it's just a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's a time it's and worry. Or when they've gone from digital to the phone call. It's the trial close question. You see in a walk-in process we know that at the end of a demonstration drive we've trained sales teams for years to make sure the cars right before we talk about the numbers. In fact sometimes it's called a trial close, a pre-close, a test close and all you're trying to do is make sure that the cars right before you start talking about the numbers. The reason for the trial close question is if the car's not right, does it matter how cheap it is? That's where you start looking for this thing called commitment. In another episode we'll talk lots of different trial close and how to use them in a right way. We want to make sure the cars right before we get the numbers for commitment that when we do put the numbers in front of someone if someone says well I need to go and think about it we have the ability so I understand that. Buying the cars a big decision and shouldn't be taken lightly but listen when we took the car for drive you did say when you get the numbers right that's the car you'd like to be driving thanks to for three years. So it says like one of these numbers isn't exactly right and which number you're not a hundred percent sure about. Was it that price of the car? Was it that trade-in figure? Or was it one of those monthly numbers you're not a hundred percent sure about? And you're just making sure the car's right it also helps if you've got a buying couple together they let each other know that that's the car they want. But when it comes to the phone call I've heard too many calls this last week where the customer said oh I'm sorry I'm calling from Exeter or I'm calling from Aberdeen the dealerships on the other end of the country and salesmen have gone straight into right well listen what I'll do is I'll get you to what's happened if you photographed your car or or I'll tell you what if you click on this link you'll be able to give you an idea what our car's worth just from our website there and they haven't done that if I could would you they haven't turned around and said hey Mr. and Mrs. Custom can I stop you there? I'd hate to think you come all the way from Aberdeen you get here and the car's secured I wouldn't want to do that to you so can I ask you if we can get the numbers right based on your description of your car would you be in a position to leave me a thousand pounds on either credit or debit card you need to say that if I could would you hey listen I wouldn't want to do that to you I wouldn't want your drive all the way from Cork you get over here to letter canning and the car's been secured I just wouldn't want to do that to you so can I ask your question if we can get the figures right based on your description your car would you be in a position to leave me 500 euros on either credit or debit card just to secure it you want that yes now then we go one stage further on the phone now please bear in mind Mr. and Mrs. customer the price on your car is going to be based on your description now if it's not as described clearly we wouldn't be able to honor that so can I ask you on a scale of one to 10 10 being your car was like the day it left the factory one being it's ready for the scrap heap overall how would you rate the condition your car the numbers are relevant it's going to be six seven eight or nine something like that and when they say eight oh great what's stopping it being a perfect 10 are you got a little scuff down the side or what's stopping it being a perfect 10 that one of the alloy wheels was used as a parking sensor okay now if you just say on a scale of one to ten what's the condition your car every time a customer goes say 10 it's a 10 the car turns up it's had more hits than the Beatles and we'll have some what's this all about okay they justified to themselves saying it is a 10 out of 10 for a six-year-old car okay oh it is a 10 out 10 for a six-year-old car so listen what we need to do is we need to trial close first okay now on a new car customer if someone's calling from i don't know you're in London okay and they call it from Manchester and mr customer is your local dealer not looking after you well no no no just shopping around no i don't blame you i do the same thing but listen can i ask you how much better than your local dealer would i have to be to get you to come to London to buy your love new five series how much better would i have to be oh no about 2000 pounds okay well listen if i could save you 2000 pounds you'd be happy to come to London because you love new five series you're almost here customers go yeah of course it would now clearly i'm going to email other figures you got from your local dealer just so you can go and beat my boss up but listen how much can you get that five series what 79 000 78 and a half something like that no they're doing it for 78 oh wow that's a sensational deal listen beaten that by a thousand euros a thousand pounds that's just not going to be feasible how flexible could you be but again we're looking at that trial close that commitment for that distant sale when it comes to the distant sale too often we're bidding and blowing too often i'm here in sales people say all right you're calling from Edinburgh you're calling from Sydney you're calling from Melbourne okay and all we're doing is we're putting all the deal together we're doing all the hard work and you know when i know the customer going back to their local dealer on the new inquiry and say can you beat that by $50 then we're in a funny place gold fucked okay or in that used car they might lie about the price of their car in fact the further away someone is on a used car inquiry generally the hotter they are but listen this is what i'd like you to do managers listen this go back and listen to your cool recordings okay use the AI systems if you can to get them to pull out all the questions around trial closing okay and see are you if you're a salesperson looks at this have you done the if i could would you before you start getting into negotiating with the distance sale and listen that about does it for now short one and uh listen next time we might talk about some of those trial close questions and how to get commitment that the car's right before we get into the numbers have a great week that just leaves me to say that all details of this episode and other episodes on the selling in the motor trade can be found on our website symco training dot co dot uk go there to get a copy of our book words that sell cars go there to sign up to a free trial of our sales fitness online sales training program easiest way to get hold of me is Simon Bowkett through linkedin thank you
