How to Build a Repeat Client Base in Automobile Sales

Here is a question I recently received from a young automobile salesperson:

"I'm a sales rep just starting off. I am 21 years old and have nine months experience at a (auto dealership) store. It is hard for me because I am very young. The rest of the sales guys are at least 40 with many years of experience. I would like to ask you for some personal tips so I can surpass these guys. I don't have a repeat client base quite yet, but I'm working up to it. I would appreciate if you wrote me back."

Here is the answer that I provided to this young go-getter:

You can really set yourself apart if you focus on learning how to ask questions to determine the key factors behind your prospects' buying decisions. If you ask good questions, your age will rapidly become a non-factor as your prospects gain respect for your courtesy and professionalism.

Ask penetrating, insightful questions and listen very carefully to each prospect's answers to your questions. Those answers will tell you whether the individual is a prospect that is worthy of a significant time investment, and, if they are, how you can best help them buy.

Too many automobile salespeople are focused on trying to cram a vehicle (any vehicle) down someone's throat. Or, they are fixated on features of vehicles that they themselves admire. Here is an example:

One time when I was looking at cars, I met a salesman that waxed eloquent about a particular car's engine, horsepower, 0 to 60 time, and other "gear head" specifications. I politely informed him that those things didn't matter much to me. As long as the car could perform decently when I was passing someone on the highway, that was all I needed to know about its engine and horsepower. I was more interested in the car's appearance and the quality of its interior appointments. Yet, even though I explicitly told the salesman what my primary interests were, he kept peppering his conversation with "gear head babble". I found his behavior to be quite amusing, but it didn't help him make a sale.

That doesn't mean you never want to discuss engine specifications with a prospect. Just reserve those conversations for people that are truly interested in such things. They will make themselves known by the kinds of questions they ask and the general focus of their comments.

When someone visits your dealership, a good place to start a conversation is by finding out what brought them into your store. Here are some questions you could ask:

• Why are they looking at your specific brand? Is it because they have some loyalty to the brand, or did some other reason bring them into your store?
  
  
• Is there a particular type of vehicle or certain features they are especially interested in?
  
  
• Why are they interested in that vehicle or those features?
  
  
• What kind of vehicle are they driving currently?
  
  
• What do they like about their current vehicle?
  
  
• What would they like to change when they acquire their next vehicle?
  
  
• How will they go about making their vehicle purchasing decision?
  
  
• How do they prefer to acquire their vehicles (purchase or lease)?
  
  
• What is their purchasing time frame?
  
  
• What factors are driving their purchasing time frame?

People make buying decisions for an astonishing and ever-changing variety of reasons. Your mission is to determine the particular combination of reasons that is driving the buying decision for each of your prospects. Be sure to avoid generalizations or stereotypes and treat each person as a unique individual. Just because someone is a certain age, gender, ethnicity, etc. doesn't mean they will make their buying decision for the same reasons as others of the same or similar age, gender or ethnicity!

If you ask questions like the ones noted above, you will prepare yourself to provide the best possible service to your prospects. In many cases you will also help them clarify their own thinking about how they will make their buying decision.

Remember, people don't like to be sold, but they DO like to be helped to buy. Facilitate the buying process, help your buyers rationalize their purchases, and help them make choices that fulfill their needs and wants. When you do this, the end result will be happy, satisfied customers that buy from you repeatedly and provide numerous referrals!

Copyright 2005 -- Alan Rigg

Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don't Perform and What to Do About It. To learn more about his book and sign up for more FREE sales and sales management tips, visit http://www.8020performance.com.

---

Cross-selling for Increased Sales, Profits, and Customer Satisfaction

Cross-selling - the art of selling for non-salespeopleCross-selling is the... Read More

The 12 Dumbest Things Salespeople Do

We all make mistakes and some salespeople seem to make... Read More

10 Expressions to Avoid in Sales Communication

Keeping up with what words are in and out isn't... Read More

The Road to Pendingville is Paved with Good Intentions

If you've been in sales for any length of time,... Read More

Generate Sales with Lead Generation Marketing Tools

One of the best projects to undertake as an online... Read More

Increase Sales By Flying Under Your Prospects Radar Defenses

How do you persuade someone to do what you want... Read More

How Can A Smelly, Hissing Goose Teach You To Be A Business Leader?

In the 1990's we lived on a farm in Iowa.... Read More

Increase Sales - Overcoming Barriers

Ever thought to yourself, "If only my team members would... Read More

Simple Technique for Isolating Objections

To isolate any objection quickly you can use this effective... Read More

Are You Doing What It Takes To Win More Sales

What does it take to be a WINNER during these... Read More

Sales and the City

It's all about relationships!Here is how a popular TV show... Read More

Make Your Prospects Speak

You've probably heard people speaking about someone that he was... Read More

3 Ways To Overcome Pricing Challenges

How many times have you had a customer say to... Read More

The ?Finding Common Ground? Sales Technique, Is A Myth!

Almost every book, manual, workshop or tape series teaching selling... Read More

Are You Deaf? Dumb? Blind at Trade Shows?

I'm constantly amazed how otherwise smart marketeers become deaf, dumb... Read More

Three Essential Questions You Must Ask To Make More Sales ? Ignore Them At Your Peril

There's loads of material about making money available on the... Read More

The Five Most Common Mistakes Salespeople Make

Over the decades that I've been involved in sales, I've... Read More

Increasing Your Sales FASTER -- Dealing with Ill Think It Over.

Do you frequently hear that from a prospect?"I'll Think It... Read More

Want to Make More Money? Fish in a Bigger Pond!

Setting prices is a dilemma most service business owners encounter... Read More

The Clock is Ticking on Your Leads

Every day is critical when you are in the business... Read More

Eliminating Objections to Increase Sales

You want to increase the flow of sales revenue, but... Read More

Sales Prospects Avoiding You?

This issue's topic on sales prospects comes in response to... Read More

Close More Sales With This Very Simple 3 Step Sales Process.

As Financial Services Sales Professional you need to build trust... Read More

More Customers! Less Work!

Wouldn't it be nice if there were an inexpensive method... Read More

Selling Yourself - Its Not About You

I recently found myself suffering from a lousy cold; all... Read More

You Dont Need Health Insurance!

Seems almost every situation in our lives is centered on... Read More

11 Secrets to Leadership in Sales

In his classic book, "Think and Grow Rich", Napoleon Hill... Read More

Do You Want To Sell More? Then Stop Trying To Be Everything To Everybody!

I know you've heard this a thousand times, but from... Read More

Spend More Time Selling

On average a sales person spends less than two hours... Read More

The Makings of a Salesman

Salesmanship is the force that moves business. Without it all... Read More

3 Steps to Immediately Improve Sales

Want to increase sales within your company? It's not as... Read More

Grow Sales Using Image Tactics

In my dreams, I envision being the marketing consultant equivalent... Read More

Why Salespeople Fail

Since 1990 I have focused on the three primary barriers... Read More