If you are actively selling vehicles today, you should be aware of the Seven Commandments that dictate the successful conclusion of this activity, notably:
1. Land on exact product
2. Empathy
3. Make a friend before you insult
4. Stay high and make it look diffi cult
5. Feature, function and value
6. Sincerity
7. Control

These are the tools you need to sell — all seven of them. Each is as important as the next.

In the course of the next several columns, we will treat each commandment and go into more specifi c detail.

It’s quite easy to confuse a customer, and when you do, it not only engages their force fi eld, but assures you a “let us think about it” response.

Yes, there are many sales people out there with the gift of gab and a winning personality. But what separates them from the real pros is their lack of ability to control the sale and set a goal for themselves and the customer.

Consider that selling is a series of triumphs that eventually lead up to the sale. Once you’ve established rapport, you must not only fi nd out the product your customer is interested in but also the product they can afford. It takes
patience because you need to learn the needs and wants of the customer, as well as their budgetary constraints, time frame, etc.

If you start negotiating on a fi ctitious product, you lose. Whether a vehicle is in-stock or not, you must fi nd the exact model, options and color the customer desires before moving forward to negotiating price.

How do you accomplish this? Most sales people are either too direct or too vague when it comes to asking about the customer’s budget. You likely have already learned about the product they now use, and hopefully have built a relationship. But that relationship can just as easily turn on you. Therefore, you need to keep in mind that the customer is always thinking, “What’s in it for me?”

If you asked the customer how much he or she wants to spend, what are the likely responses? First, did you earn the right to ask that question? Is the customer in a comfort zone? If not, anticipate engagement of the force fi eld.

Finding out how much a customer can or wants to spend can be challenging. On the surface, this seems like a fair question.

However, the customer may feel your intentions are not on the up and up. He or she may feel this information can be used against them. Remember, to a certain degree, you are perceived as the enemy.

So what can you do? Using the correct language may help to communicate your true intentions to the customer, always bearing in mind the most important question a customer asks themselves throughout the sales process, “What’s in it for me?” What’s in it for the customer to tell you how much they want to spend? If they feel it is in their best interest to share this with you, they will.

For example:
“Mr. Smith, give me an idea roughly what you’re comfortable with as far as a monthly payment. Not a commitment, just an idea, so I can point us in the right direction.”

If the customer says they don’t know or haven’t given it the proper thought, then you must go further to show them what’s in it for them, if they provide you with this information.

“Mr. Smith, the reason I ask you is so that I don’t show you a car you will fall in love with that doesn’t fall in your comfortable range or so I don’t overlook something that may work perfectly.”

What’s in it for them to answer you? First, you are removing the pressure by using the work “roughly” and not pressuring them for a commitment price.

Second, by sharing this information and telling you the truth, they will see the cars that fi t their budget and not waste their time on vehicles they cannot or choose not to afford. Moreover, customers don’t want to lose out on the perfect car by not sharing this information.

This strategy works wonders because it makes sense. It is quite simple, yet rarely used correctly.

Once you have mastered the implementation, you are then perceived as a consultant and friend — not a sales person.

Do you think it’s important to fi nd out about the customer’s budget? You bet. It’s more important than perhaps you ever imagined. Keep in mind, too, it’s not what you ask, but how you ask it that matters.

What other information could you use up front that would help benefi t you and your customer during the sale? Try this one. “The difference between pressure and persistence is technique.”

“The difference between pushiness and aggressiveness is technique.”

In short order, you will be quite surprised by how easy it is to fi nd out important information from customers — information most sales people would never dream of asking.

It’s really about getting inside the customer’s force fi eld without being pushy, assertive or trying too hard. That’s really how you earn the business.

What else do we need to do to help land the customer on a specifi c product? Open-ended questions, for one — what they like or dislike about their vehicle. This will enable you to get to the “warm and fuzzy” zone of trust.

For example, perhaps the customer recently married and must leave his sports car legacy behind, yet is reluctant to do so. Perhaps the customer has a credit problem and the last dealer was unable to get them approved on the type of car they wanted. Now, they are apprehensive about telling you what they want. Pressure tactics are the biggest reason of all. Once a customer lands on a car, they know the painful road of negotiation will begin.

This is precisely why you need to make them feel comfortable enough to share this information. And, by acknowledging that this occurs is the fi rst step to overcome it. You must not accept that all these people are “just looking.”