Good morning busy automotive sales professionals…  Have you ever stopped to think why some advertisements work and yet the salespeople who see those resulting clients usually fail? There is a correlation worth examination.

When the factory advertises a vehicle, they usually display one with all the options (that’s even in the small print) but the advertised price or payment is from a vehicle without the options shown in the advert. It’s also the same when a dealer advertises as well but even worse. So keep this in-mind and I’ll get back to this in a moment.

Have you ever wondered why a brand new (greenpea) salesperson can out-sell an experienced & well trained veteran? Think about it for a second… The brand new salesperson has no idea what he/she is doing.  He or she is polite and hungry and probably just happy to have the job.  I’d like to take a moment and examine the effects of that “hopeful” attitude… Read more…

For Managers, For Salespeople, Sales Process attitude, automotive advertising, factory, hiring, sales training, salespeople

With the economy getting better (sorry Toyota), it appears customers are still the same. They still just want a good deal! Who would blame them?  We would too if the roles were reversed.  In fact, you could say it’s the most natural part of every day in the dealership.

If it’s expected and a “natural” occurrence, why then do salespeople get all messed up when an aggressive customer asks about price, invoice, rate, trade-in values, down payment and monthly payments??

Perhaps it is that we all know if these questions are answered with a “number”, then it is very possible the number given may be too high.  However, if we ask what “number” they have in mind, we look like the same sleazy salesperson that caused them to walk out of the last dealership they visited, plus we have now mentally locked them in and only a very long negotiation process might be successful.  I said “might”.  It would have to depend on how you define the word “successful”. Read more…

For Salespeople, Sales Process best price, down payment, fender trading, monthly payment, numbers on the lot, salespeople, toyota

Are you proud of your service department?  Do you know where it is?  Do you know the people who work there?

Hopefully, you answered “yes” to those questions.  If not, you either need to take your career more seriously, change careers, or work at another dealership.

Most automotive sales professionals only show the service department to the customers who actually purchase a car. Read more…

For Salespeople, Sales Process Automible Service Department, close rate, dealership, Demonstration Drive, Service Advisor, Service Department, Service Walk, Trial Close

Steps to success

Most people would tell you life is hard enough without adding extra “steps”.  If you have been in the car business for more than 30 minutes, you’ve heard someone say that you must follow the Steps to a Sale.  Aside from following dealership policy (“do it because I said so”), most sales professionals don’t really know why they should follow certain “steps”. 

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

• When things get busy, you might skip steps so you can keep pace…
• When things are slow, you might skip steps with a certain customer, so you can get back on the floor and find a “real” customer…. Read more…

Sales Process building value, CSI, customer service, Demonstration Drive, Employee Pricing, perceived value, Sales Process, satisfaction survey, Service Walk, steps to a sale, Vehicle Published Price