This is a tip for my Car Salesman readers, but also to let customers know what goes on behind closed doors in the sales meetings. All Car Salesmen are taught "10 Steps The Road To A Sale" on their first day of learning at the car lot. You had better remember them too. There are different variations of the 10 steps, but most are very similar.
1. Meet and Greet
This is where the salesman meets the customer at the car and says "Welcome to XYZ Auto, my name is John, and yours? Are you here to see someone specific? The customer responds by saying no, I am hear to look at your small cars. etc. This is one of the most vital steps as you have always heard, You don't get a second chance to make a first impression!
2. Fact Finding
This is where you get some preliminary information for what the customer is looking for, if they are financing or paying cash, trade or no trade, etc. The one thing most salesman do not take into consideration at this point is what the customer is driving now. Why is this important? Because past purchases mimic future purchases. Also, you can ask questions about the car the customer is driving now without getting too confrontational about what they are looking for. For instance, "Mr Customer, you said you are trading your van, have your needs changed or do you still need the room you have in the van." Most customers will open up at this time and tell you their life history and why they do not need the extra room now.
3. Select a Vehicle
This is where you have narrowed down what the customer is looking for and is ready to select a vehicle. You have narrowed down to car, truck, SUV. You have narrowed down to what is important, fuel economy, roominess, safety, etc. Pick the vehicle you want to explore further. Read more about Selecting the Right Car.
4. Presentation and Demo
First and Foremost, you want to get this vehicle away from the other cars. You do not want to do a walk around with other cars to distract the customer. Pull the car to the side of the building, back of the building, off the lot, whatever works for you. When doing your presentation or walk around, always start at the sticker. This will give you a cheat sheet and will not look like you are hiding price. After you leave the sticker go under hood, to the rear of vehicle, to passenger side--have customer sit in passenger seat to go over inside features. You get behind the wheel and after going over features, start out the demo drive with You (The Salesman) driving. Predetermine a good location for you to swap up to let customer drive. Check out more Walk-Around Tips.
5. Trial Close
The trial close could be actually anywhere in the process, but is just a subtle question to find out if you are on the right vehicle. It could be something as subtle as "Can you see this vehicle parked in your garage or driveway?" Or could be as bold as, "If terms and figures are agreeable, will you buy this car today?" I sometimes skip the trial close because too many things can change. I always assume the customer is buying until they tell me they are not ready. This may not come up until we are closing the deal, but I have sold more cars by assuming all customers are ready to buy today or they would not be there.
6. Trade in Evaluation
This is where you write up the trade for the used car manager to appraise. This is a step that you can actually gain some ground on. Where do most fights start on your sales process, The TRADE! Have your customer tell you about the trade and even take a test drive in the trade in. Touch spots and scratches on the trade without saying a word. As you are driving the trade, notice everything the car does wrong and make notes. This will give you ammo and also will bring down expectations of how much the customer wanted for the trade.
7. Write Up
This is where you get all pertinent information from the car customer is buying, trading info, don't forget to get an email address. Your write up should be so complete that a sales manager should not have to ask you anything about the deal.
8. Negotiate and Close
This is the fun part of the process. This is where you come together on numbers. I just have one suggestion at this point. The less times you go back and fourth to your sales manager, the more money you will make! Check out some specific Closing Techniques For Car Salesmen designed to make you money.
9. Proper Turn to Business Office
This is where you introduce the customer to the finance manager. Tell the customer that the finance manager will go over extended warranty info., gap insurance, etc.
10. Delivery
This is where you make sure the car is clean, full of gas. Go over warranty info., owners manual, tour of dealership, service department. You go over the car to make sure the customer knows about all gadgets. Get more in depth information on the Delivery Process.
I will be going over some of these items in more detail so if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will elaborate. This is just a quick guide to the 10 steps-road to a sale. Realize, this may not be the order you learned them in and that is OK as long as you touch on them all.
Day In The Life Of a Car Salesman
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