We have already established that genuine empathy is like a warm blanket for the ego, enabling you to get very close with the customer. This is a natural lead-in to help make the sale by befriending the customer, rather than insult him.

Consider Roger’s story. Roger is a sales man with five years of experience in auto sales. While he considers himself a professional, his grosses were considerably lower than the rest of the sales team.

Why? Because he did not ask for higher ones. After we suggested he try and quote all of his customers at list price, he responded by saying the customers were too intelligent to pay list and he would be insulting them. We asked him to try it anyway and he agreed.

When the fi rst customer sat down at his desk, he quoted list price on a new Buick, to which the customer stood up and walked out on him. He came to me and said, “You see what happens when you quote list price? He walked out on me.” I asked him what he did prior to quoting the price.

“The customer was looking for the precise car and asked for my price. I gave it to him and he left.”

It’s true that quoting list price can be perceived as an insult, especially to an educated buyer who has been shopping around. So what do we do? Discount every car, every time? Try to prejudge who will pay list and who
won’t?

First of all, you do not have to make excuses for asking list price for a car. That is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Getting a discount should be an exception to the rule.

So we asked Roger to try something different next time: I suggested he stop selling and forget the car and the price. I recommended he talk to the customer about themselves; how they heard about us and what they enjoy
doing when not shopping for a car.

When Roger met his next customer, he did just that. For the fi rst three minutes, he engaged in good conversation with the customer, who happened to be a bartender. This was a good bond, since Roger had owned a restaurant
prior to working in the auto business.

And, when Roger recounted their conversation, I gave him the list price for the car his customer was interested in. Roger went back and quoted the price on that car. The customer then said, “Come on Roger, I found the car at another dealership for $1,300 less. You can do better than that.”

Hallelujah. What goals were achieved? Roger now knew where his customer had shopped, the price quoted and that his customer really wanted the vehicle. Since they had established a bond, the customer not only stayed, but also told him every objection up front. Plus, they were on a fi rst-name basis. He made a friend before he insulted the customer. The results were extraordinary. Once you’ve established a relationship, you’ve earned the right to guide a customer through the sale. Whether a customer is angry or scared, making a friend enables you to control the sale.

Stay high and make it look difficult What does a customer perceive to be a good value? Is it the true best price, or the one they think they have earned?

When it comes to items that are usually negotiable, such as cars, homes and boats, there are many theories and sales techniques to convince the buying public that your item is the best.

I remember attending a sales seminar where the trainer explained how it isn’t how much you take off the price, but rather how many times you do it. I have also heard others state that you should always give a discount to
show good faith when starting a negotiation. They all have their merits.

However, my goal as a sales man is to maximize my gross profi t, as well as my closing ratio. You work too hard to give up any gross profi t. There are enough professional negotiators out there. How do we keep control of them? How do we keep a professional negotiator at high gross and close them now?

Difficulty rules the roost We have already discussed making a friend before you insult, so you should have a relationship at this point. Keep in mind that while your goal is to stay high and make it look difficult, the customer’s goal is to stay low and make it look easy. Therefore, it’s important to not make the customer feel they’re in a “win-lose” situation.This takes a certain technique: Bringing a customer up in price is like going against gravity.

Every customer has an idea what he or she thinks something is worth. Sometimes what they think something is worth is directly related to what they can afford. This causes the unreasonable offers that we often get.

Let’s say you and your customer have found the car they want to buy. In their mind, they want to spend $19,500 and the list price is $23,000. The customer is figuring they canbuy it for the former because $3,500 is what their friend negotiated off their last car. If you originally quoted them $20,950, the customer feels that it’s simply a matter of negotiating to get you down another $1,500 to their price of $19,500.

Your goal, at first, is to bring the customer’s expectations up. Staying high does this. You need to separate the difference between what they want to spend and what you quote them. If a customer is thinking $10,000 and you say $11,000, you have lost gross and will have a tough time closing this customer. Now they want more. You made it look too easy. If a customer is thinking $10,000 and you quote $14,500, they might think to themselves, “Wow, I’m too low.” Now their first price will rise to $11,500.

You may think it has a negative effect if you quote too high, but it doesn’t. First, remember, make a friend before you insult. Second, people want something that is out of reach initially. It seems to be a greater value. Doesn’t $10,000 sound like a great deal when you started at $14,500?

What do we mean by “make it look difficult?”

Let’s say you initially quote a customer a much higher price. If they like you, they will share with you what they are thinking. They will tell you that you’re way too high.

What do you do now? First of all, you never know, the customer might agree to the first price. If they don’t, explain this is the price that you have been selling the car at for quite some time and that anything less would be
a great challenge and an exception to the rule. This again reinforces that they should not expect to get much more off the price. If they do, they will have scored. Remember, you must go against gravity.

At this point, a customer may even say the price is too much and they want to shop around. Most sales people would take that as a negative and lose control.

However, your counter should be something like this:

“I can appreciate that you are looking to be treated fairly and I have never lost a customer because of price. It does seem that we are quite a distance from each other.”

You must set the pace and the rules to your sale. You will ensure they get a fair price. But fair doesn’t mean that they buy at the price they were initially thinking.

Never negotiate with a customer that is unwilling to negotiate with you. Lowering your price is a waste of time if they keep saying “no.” Use phrases like, “I know you would be happy if I could do this price, but I can’t. Therefore, I need you to help me so I can help you.” Always refer to your original asking price, which allows them to agree to negotiate. They may say, “Yes I would be happy at this price, but not any higher.”

Now you have a semi-commitment from the customer without committing to them. You don’t want to make an offer to a customer. Never say, “If I can do this, will you buy the car?” The only thing this does is lock you
into a price without a commitment from them.

Learning these techniques creates a less stressful and a more systematic approach towards successful selling.

Remember to always leave whatever you and your customer agree upon subject to final verifi cation. Get them to commit before you. Don’t give the customer the opportunity to say “yes” or “no.” Never go back with a solid offer. Never go back with a sliding down scale offer. For example:

“My manager said he can’t do $14,500, but he said, maybe $15,000, maybe even $14,900.”

This causes gravity to take control. As you go down in price, their mind is thinking, “$15,000 to $14,900 is $14,700 and could be $14,600 which is really close to $14,500. Maybe I can do even better.”

You must go upward. Another example: “My manager said that price really isn’t possible, but I told him to earn your business he must work with us. He said he will consider $14,900, $15,000 or $15,100.” First of all, $14,500 now sounds like the deal of the century. You will now get a much firmer commitment. Secondly, you will most likely pick up a few hundred dollars in gross. This technique is crucial in protecting againstfalse commitments.