You probably hear this phrase every week in your dealership.
It’s the worst thing you can say for a number of reasons: you appear desperate, it looks like there’s more money available and you will get silly figures from your customers in response.
Let’s also look at what you can say instead.
Here are the highlights:
{01:26} The worst thing to say
{01:53} Money up my sleave
{02:20} Smells like desperation
{02:58} Silly figures
{04:00} Alternative
{09:19} Stop the lie
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. Hey guys, it's really nice to know that so many people are subscribing to this. If you're one of the people who haven't subscribed, it's a good way to make sure that you get the latest content all the time. And this is where you can share these tips and ideas with your sales teams in the Motor Trade to help you. Make more cards, make more money and improve your service department. And today, I want to talk about one of the worst things you could say to a customer in a car sales environment. Actually, no, that's a bit silly. Well, the worst thing you could say is when's the baby Joe and the lady's not pregnant. That's really bad if you've ever done that one. Okay. But listen, one of the worst things I think you could say to a customer, and I bet you hear this every single week in a dealership, in your dealership. It's the phrase, is there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? It sounds logical, but is there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? I think there might be three problems with that. Okay. Now, of course, we're doing that to see, is there anything we can do to get the customer to buy the car while you're here today? But actually, guess what you're told the customer's subconscious mind. Number one, you've told them there's more money up my sleeve. I haven't given you the best deal to start with. So all that trust report that you built up over the last hour, hour and a half, in one foul swoop, you've just told the salesperson, hey, I'm a scumbag salesperson. Make sure you check this price where someone else before you go ahead and buy. Okay. Has there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? That's the concern with that one. The two concerns though is it smells like desperation and being rude and crude here for a second, but back in our single days, if you're ever desperate in that nightclub situation, oh, by the way, sorry, if you're under 30, that's how we used to meet people in the olden days when I was our teenager. Okay. But if you ever desperate, did it ever work? No, of course not, because desperation is ugly and it pushes people away. So that desperation has really think I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today. That's where that desperation comes out. Here's a third problem. The customers give you a silly digger. Has there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? Yeah. Yeah. Give me 14 grams of my car. It's actually worth 10. Yeah. Make the payment 300 a month and you're at 550 a month. Yeah. Make the balance to change 28 grams. Okay. I'll do it and you're at 35. What happens is the customers give you that silly figure because you started it. But what we do with sales, we start thinking that customer's stupid there on drugs. That'll never work. So actually, don't just say, hey, is there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? We might ask that question in a slightly different way. Now, if you go back and have a look at the podcast, there's lots of different examples on how to deal with the customers as I want to think about it. In fact, I think we trained 14 last count depending on the type of customer you got there and what your type of salesperson you are. So instead of saying, hey, is there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? You might try one or the other 14. Go and have a look at it. Go and have a look at our sales fitness program. You might say, hey, Mr. and Mrs. customer, I'd hate to think you leave here. He gets those traffic lights. You turn around to one another and you say, you know what? If only I'd done such and such, we would have gone ahead with that. But only they'd done X, Y, Z. We would have gone ahead with that. Just so you don't have to have that conversation at the traffic lights. Why are you here, Mr. and Mrs. customer? What would that such and such be? Now I'm probably still saying, is there anything I can do to get you to buy the car while you're here today? But actually, without it being that desperation or telling they've got more money up their sleeve, okay? Or try one or the other 13 that we've got here and go back to on the podcast and have a listen to them, you'll find lots of good ideas there. Here's another thing that's quite bad to say to themselves, but no, sorry, I can't say that the right way around. And again, I bet you hear this day and day out, you want for the deal for the customer at 14,000 pounds for their trade in. And the customer says, oh, I'm walking 40 and a half on the typical tone. Do you want to say, what were you hoping to get for it? Yeah, I'm logical again, doesn't it? I hear that every week in car dealership to what we're hoping to get for it. But guess what? You've just told the customer there's more money up our sleeve, okay? And that's where customers give you their fairytale asking figure, not their true liking figure or what they would eventually accept. So when someone says 14,000,000, we've got to justify our deals first. And Mr. and Mrs. customer, we work within the market. We don't create the market. And please bear in mind that 14 and a half of your car is allowing for the two of our own wheels to bring me further because you haven't got that alloy cover on your car, but you will have a new car. It's also allowing for that stuff. The Amazon. Hey, guys, keep in the car. I've put up with that. If someone's buying the car, they probably want that done before they buy the car. Also it's allowing for someone to get it through that NCT test that's coming up, all that MOT or that roadworthy certificate that's coming up. Okay. So someone's going to have to pay GST or VAT on any profit they make. And said that we might have a little bit of room to move. It might be a gesture. Realistically, what we happen to get for your car, 14, 6, 14, 7, something like that. Oh, I'm only 15. So you get their true liking figure, not that fairytale. So don't just say what we happen to get for it. Justify first and then maybe in addition to the offer. Realistically, what we happen to get for what? 14, 7, that's with some parameters around the counter offer and help stop the customer and give you that high silly asking fairytale asking figure. Another one when they say, oh, I've got a lot better deal down the road from Marron Parr Toyota on the tip of your tongue. Do you want to say, what are they asking me? How much better? What are the chances they tell you the truth? Okay. All my shoe biting are lying. Okay. You might justify. Now, listen, keep the money right here. Some of the easiest part of the job, especially on these used cars because in the internet world, if we're not on the front page of auto trader, we just don't get the inquiry. But listen, haven't said that. Can I ask if all things were equal, but the figures were there or there about which used car would you really prefer to own? It sounds like a gamble. That's one of the safest gambles you'll ever make because if the other used car was cheaper and they preferred it, they just go and buy it. They said, okay, thanks for that. They've been food for a while. But when someone says, hold on, down the road, I'll go car a lot cheaper than that. They're saying, what, I prefer yours. So when you say, hey, but listen, if all things were equal, the figures were there or there about which car would you really prefer to own? I promise you more than nine times over the time, they'll say yours. Then we paint the customer of the corner and say, everything. Why do you say that? I promise you, this is what you're here. Well, listen, your car has got 20,000 miles on it and they said 38. Well, yours is a lovely cylinder colour and theirs was something they called 90 day blue. Well, yours is the lovely bling bling model and theirs was something called the poverty pack. Yours is a lovely one owner car and theirs was owned by a Dutch lady, a Mrs. Pitts van Heyer. Or you hear this all the time. Yours is from a franchise dealership and theirs was from someplace called Fred in a shed. And then we say, listen, I can understand that. I prefer to buy a car with 20,000 miles on it as opposed to 38. I prefer to buy a car in that lovely silver colour as opposed to that dune blue. I prefer to buy from a franchise dealership as opposed to that independent. Because our group, we sell probably about 500 cars every month. We send them to an auction with their cars that don't get our high standard criteria. People who buy those tend to be the independent buyers. So tell me, if you can just be a touch flexible on that high mileage, the high mileage of the rental car, the wrong car, the one from the independent, I'll go to my boss and see if she can be a touch flexible and let's get you in the car that you'd really prefer. So a balance of change. Are they talking about 17, 6, 17, 5 something like that? Oh, they're doing up for 17. At least you stop the lie. Guys, if you want more ideas on this, OK, this will be about to do it for today. But there's so many things we hear day in day out in the dealership all the time, OK? Everything called it. Let's just tweak it. Last one. We can't do it for that. What would you buy at that? You tell anyone in the world they can't do something. What's natural human reaction? Tell me I can't. Let me buy someone again. You give them a challenge. Hey, what would you buy at that? What would you deal at? People don't want to feel like they've been out. Do you think someone thinks they've ever heard a family friend say, Oh, I would doubt on this kitchen. Oh, we would doubt on that bathroom installation. We would doubt on that. Last month's being told, we would like to own. They don't like to feel like they've been dealt or they don't like to buy. My turn was like, have a discuss. And that's just not feasible. That's like looking at it. Guys, selling is all about the words we use, OK? And it's throughout all our training. It's all about the words we use. Yes, the process important, but words really do influence people. On our training courses, the amount of times we'll grab someone say, Hey, how much would you like to earn over the next 12 months? And invariably this person says 50, 60, 70, whatever it is, is one word. They've really sticked it. I dropped my tone of voice. My hand for the people watching this comes down. Realistically, I promise you nine times I attend that person says, at least 50. You've amazed how often they drop 10, 20, sometimes 30,000 pounds. I'll use them one word. Careful of the words that we use with our customers, OK? Go and have a look at the book, Words That Sell Cars. And that book is full of all these different examples. Anyway, that about does it for now. This is a quick episode. You might want to share it with yourselves, people in the dealership. And I'll see you next time. 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, simcotraining.co.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, food LinkedIn. Thank you.
