What is it that you are communicating? If your language and delivery suggest that you are eager, hungry, or even desperate to “Get them in this car today” your chances of doing so are greatly diminished. Learn to lower the pressure by using natural language to open up a discussion. Selling is not about pressuring people to see things your way, selling is about discovering the truth, discovering how you can help. Selling is about helping the customer determine ON THEIR OWN that your product (car) is better than any other car they may be considering.

It is important that you understand just how significant the words you choose are. Nobody wants to be sold and we all know this. You and I run from pressure sales pitches because we are just like our customers, normal folks that don’t want to be SOLD. The reality is, whether you agree or not, your reputation (as a car salesman) precedes you and your customers will EXPECT you to take a high-pressure approach. Your approach may not be high pressure (compared to other sales people) but it only matters that your customers perceive it as high pressure. This perception of high pressure leaves you at a great disadvantage when trying to help new customers. Incidentally, this is the same reason your return customers and repeat customers are so much easier to close, their perception of you is different.

A common example - price issues. When you hear “The price is too high!” - what do you say? You may be surprised at the number of sales people that can’t answer that question - “what do you say?” - crazy really, we all need to be prepared for this question. So, what do you say? I would argue that you say something that immediately raises doubt, more questions, and or the PRESSURE.

Here is one way to lower the PRESSURE when asked about price. Instead of pointing to the window sticker and reading the price (the price they already read), try this:

“This car is $21,345 equipped like this - PAUSE - sometimes people that have yet to own a (Camry, Accord, Malibu) perceive this as a bit high and I understand that. Lets make sure that this car is a good fit for you before we worry too much about your budget. After we figure out if this car is a good fit we can work out how much it will cost - exactly. Then, you can decide if it makes sense to drive it home today.”

Memorize that paragraph - ALL OF IT. Get good at delivering this “answer” naturally, without a hungry tone of voice. This is the answer to the first question “What do you say.” It may look like alot to take in but it’s not too difficult. Here is what we are accomplishing with that statement:

You are answering their question. You are lowering the PRESSURE. Your delivery is not aggressive. You are lowering the PRESSURE because you are genuine in your concern for the customer and your ability to help them. By taking this non-aggressive approach you are leveling the playing field and suggesting that they are in control - not you. You are accomplishing all of this because of the natural language you used. The reason the PRESSURE has been lowered is because you are not going for the sale, you are simply trying to keep the communication line open long enough for the customer to come to their own conclusions - your car is the best fit for them.

Cheers
David

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 12:23 am.