Buyers are Liars. 17 Fibs that Buyers Tell
"Buyers are Liars" is a favorite phrase of a Sales VP I know, and she's RIGHT! (Here's a funny article from a posting on Motor Trends Blog)
One afternoon I upped (approached) a man in the Trucks Department. I'll call him Mr. Hawthorne. He was wandering around with his son, looking at the brand-new Gargantuan Crew Cabs. He told me he was just killing time while his oil was being changed. We started to chat and the next thing you know we're test-driving a new truck. Mr. Hawthorne really seemed to like the way the Gargantuan drove (that new EgoBoost engine is amazing), so when we got back to the dealership I asked him if he wanted to buy it. He said it all depended on what we gave him for his trade-in.
By now, Mr. Hawthorne's truck was out of service, so I took it to our used car manager. When the used car manager came back, he had a few questions for my customer. "I noticed the air conditioner doesn't really blow cold," he said. "Have you had it looked at?" "No," Mr. Hawthorne replied. "I think all it needs is a little Freon."
The Used Car Manager also commented that the engine ran a little rough and there was a warning light. Did he know anything about that? Mr. Hawthorne said he had been told by our service department that the engine needed a new sensor of some kind, but the truck ran fine so he wasn't really worried about it. The used car manager nodded, and went to his computer to put a number on my customer's trade. I parked Mr. Hawthorne at my desk and went to the sales office to start preparing a buyer's order, hoping to sell a truck that day.
While I was talking to the sales manager, the service manager came into the room and started telling the general manager about an unhappy customer who was complaining about the cost of some repairs we were recommending. His truck needed about $5000 of work, including a complete overhaul of the engine and the air conditioning system.
At that point my ears perked up and I turned to the service manager. "Is this guy's name Hawthorne?" "Yeah," the service manager replied. "How did you know?" "He's trying to trade in his truck right now," I said. My sales manager threw down his pen. "That's this guy?!" "Yep," I replied. "That's him."
As it turned out, Mr. Hawthorne had a much more serious problem than a bad sensor. And he was fully aware of it when our used car manager asked him about the engine. He had chosen to conceal it.
Buyers are liars.
If you're in the car business you've heard this phrase a million times. I remember the first time I heard it, I had been in sales only a few weeks. A customer promised to come in on a Saturday to drive a new car, but never showed up, and I never could reach them on the phone. When I told my sales manager about it he just smiled and said, "Buyers are liars." I was shocked.
"What? Customers lie? No! Say it ain't so!" Like everyone else, I had been programmed to believe that only car salesmen lie. I guess I was pretty naive. The fact is, if you stay in the car business for long you'll find your faith in humanity sorely tested. I've been lied to by friends, little old ladies, high-ranking officers in the military -- you name it. Something happens to people when they shop for a car. They may be perfectly honest in every other aspect of their lives, but put them in a car dealership and conventional morality goes out the window. I think the reason people feel it's OK to lie to a salesman is because they think we're lying to them.
What do people lie about? Well, just about anything.
The Top 17 List of Customer Fibs, and their translation. If you're easily offended, you might just want to click on the little "X" in the corner right now.
Lie: "We're just looking." Translation: We went to the credit union this morning and have a draft for a new car in our pocket.
Lie: "This is the first place we've been." Translation: We've already been to five other dealerships and gotten numbers from each.
Lie: "Oh, we're not doing anything today." Translation: The instant we find a car we like at a price we like, we'll buy it.
Lie: "We're not doing anything for another six months." Translation: See above.
Lie: "We have excellent credit." Translation: If you don't count two repos and a bankruptcy.
Lie: "We can't afford more than $300 a month." Translation: Actually, we've budgeted $500 a month for a new car.
Lie: "We don't have any money to put down." Translation: Until it turns out we need it to get approved, then two grand will miraculously appear in our checking account.
Lie: "I don't like to negotiate." Translation: Get ready for the fight of your life.
Lie: "We haven't decided if we're trading in our car yet." Translation: We're planning on trading, but that's what all the books told us to say.
Lie: "Our car has never been in an accident." Translation: Our car was cut in half by the 5:30 train out of Baltimore and put back together again with duct tape and J.B. Weld.
Lie: "The dealership down the street is going to give us five million dollars for our trade." Translation: The dealership down the street hasn't even seen our trade.
Lie: "The dealership down the street has the Exact Same Car for five million dollars less." Translation: The car down the street is four years older, has twice the mileage, a bad CarFax, no leather, no nav, no sunroof, and a cloth interior with cigarette burns. And it smells like wet dog and dried baby poop.
Lie: "We're in no hurry." Translation: We have to buy a car by Monday because that's when they take back the rental they gave us after our car was totaled.
Lie: "I need to talk to my wife." Translation: I've been talking to my wife about a new car for the past six weeks, and this morning before I left the house she said "Honey, do whatever you want."
Lie: "We're going to go to lunch to talk about it." Translation: We're going to pull out of the parking lot, turn right, and drive directly into the parking lot of the Toyota dealership next door. While you watch.
Lie: "Oh! I just remembered an important appointment!" Translation: I have no appointment. I just want to get the hell out of here.
Lie: "We'll be back." Translation: You'll never see us again.
Or they've got to go home to let the dog out. Or let the dog back in. Or pick the kids up from school when the "kids" are in college, a thousand miles away. Or they have to be on an operating table in a 30 minutes. And so on.
The effect all this lying has on salesmen is quite interesting. The word "cynical" doesn't even begin to describe car sales veterans. We don't believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy -- or the "Be Back Bus." And we tend to doubt most things customers tell us. Unless we've known them a long time and they've proven to be honest.
Just to show you how bad it gets, I once had a customer who was a minister at a local church. We were pretty close to a deal on a new Accord, but he said he needed to go home and pray about it. I tried every way I could to close him, because as every salesman knows, if a customer leaves, the chances are you'll never see them again. Well, this guy promised he'd be back the next day, so I set an appointment for 1:15.
As we were walking to the door I asked him, "Are you sure you're going to be here tomorrow?" The preacher stopped in his tracks and got a perturbed look on his face. "Uh-oh," I thought. "I've gone too far." Then he said: "Look, I'm a minister. My father was a minister. I take my faith very seriously. If I tell you I'll be back here tomorrow, I'll be back here tomorrow. You can count on it." And then we shook hands and said goodbye. When he reached the door he paused for a moment, turned around, and said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the showroom to hear it, "You'll see me walking through this doorway tomorrow afternoon at 1:15!" Then he left.
Never saw him again.
Now, does this mean all customers lie? No, absolutely not. The majority of people I deal with on a daily basis are good, honest, decent people. What it means is, when you work in car sales you are exposed to the worst side of everyone. You often find yourself surrounded by salesmen who lie to their customers, sales managers who lie to their salesmen, and customers who lie to you. After awhile, all this lying can get a little soul sickening. The only antidote I know is a good day off with family or friends, and an ability to mentally "wipe the slate clean" after every customer.
So whenever I walk out on the lot to say hello to someone, I tell myself "This is a new person and a new start." That's the only way I know how to do it. Read more:
Do you have any stories you'd like to share with us?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris Spensley on
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I thought I would bring this current, thoughts?:
Lie: "We're just looking."
80’s Translation: We went to the credit union this morning and have a draft for a new car in our pocket.
Current: I have found the car/truck I am looking for in your inventory and have came to purchase it… try to not talk me out of it.
Lie: "This is the first place we've been."
80’s Translation: We've already been to five other dealerships and gotten numbers from each.
Current: This is probably is the first place we have been as we have already done our research and know what we want we don’t really intend to visit anywhere else but will if necessary.
Lie: "Oh, we're not doing anything today."
80’s Translation: The instant we find a car we like at a price we like, we'll buy it.
Current: We probably won’t do anything today if you try to force or coerce us but we already know what we want which is why we are here, help us do what we want to do (buy a vehicle)
Lie: "We're not doing anything for another six months." 80’s Translation: See above.
Current: Does not apply as they would not visit 6 months out under any circumstances otherwise … see above.
Lie: "We have excellent credit."
80’s Translation: If you don't count two repos and a bankruptcy.
Current: We checked our credit and know its good or we know where our problems are and probably don’t want to discuss it, regardless of its state, with a stranger.
Lie: "We can't afford more than $300 a month."
80’s Translation: Actually, we've budgeted $500 a month for a new car.
Current: we will pay more for something we like and have a good idea how much car our desired payment will buy.
Lie: "We don't have any money to put down."
80’s Translation: Until it turns out we need it to get approved, then two grand will miraculously appear in our checking account.
Current: It’s really not your business so the only answer we can give when asked is “We don’t have any”
Lie: "I don't like to negotiate."
80’s Translation: Get ready for the fight of your life.
Current: We don't like it really don’t have to and if you choose to create an environment where we have to work for a deal we are outta here.
Lie: "We haven't decided if we're trading in our car yet."
80’s Translation: We're planning on trading, but that's what all the books told us to say.
Current: Chances are we will have a trade in and have some idea as to its value. We also know that the books say we should not say whether we are trading and we also know that you know that the books tell us that. So in the end the deal we make will probably have a trade involved.
Lie: "Our car has never been in an accident."
80’s Translation: Our car was cut in half by the 5:30 train out of Baltimore and put back together again with duct tape and J.B. Weld.
Current: We know you can check our vehicles Carfax, just like we have checked out yours so chances are we are telling the truth.
Lie: "The dealership down the street is going to give us five million dollars for our trade."
80’s Translation: The dealership down the street hasn't even seen our trade.
Current: We are probably only going to one or two places max and we have an idea of what our trade is worth. We probably would not rely on the dealership up the street for a trade in value.
Lie: "The dealership down the street has the Exact Same Car for five million dollars less."
80’s Translation: The car down the street is four years older, has twice the mileage, a bad CarFax, no leather, no nav, no sunroof, and a cloth interior with cigarette burns. And it smells like wet dog and dried baby poop.
Current: The car you have is the one we want; it doesn’t matter about the one up the street.
Lie: "We're in no hurry."
80’s Translation: We have to buy a car by Monday because that's when they take back the rental they gave us after our car was totaled.
Current: We already found the vehicle we want on your lot we want to buy it within our timeframe, not yours. We will buy today and it’s in our plans to do so. You asking us if we will does not speed things along in the slightest in fact it makes us want to wait.
Lie: "I need to talk to my wife."
80’s Translation: I've been talking to my wife about a new car for the past six weeks, and this morning before I left the house she said, "Honey, do whatever you want."
Current: I sent my wife pictures of the vehicle on my phone and she is ok with purchasing it in line with the terms she an I discussed, I am only saying this because I don’t like you and I want to leave.
Lie: "We're going to go to lunch to talk about it."
80’s Translation: We're going to pull out of the parking lot, turn right, and drive directly into the parking lot of the Toyota dealership next door. While you watch.
Current: We are probably hungry.
Lie: "Oh! I just remembered an important appointment!"
80’s Translation: I have no appointment. I just want to get the hell out of here.
Current: You have annoyed me so much that I have to make up an excuse to leave, even though you have the vehicle I want.
Lie: "We'll be back."
80’s Translation: You'll never see us again.
Current: See above, you blew it.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Schnell on
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Like. Buyers are liars because buyers are scared. It's human nature; a defensive reaction. It's the same reason a two year old with a chocolate-smeared face and a mountain of cookie crumbs at his feet swears he didn't sneak into the chocolate chip cookie stash on the refrigerator. It's tens of thousands of dollars we're talking about. Who wants to screw that up?
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Permalink Reply by Roger Sowers on
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It is amusing and demonstrates that we have too much down time on our hands. Yes car buyers lie and lie for many reasons. There is no way that we can change the buyer. We can only change ourselves. We must be professional and not engage in creative selling to the extent that our sale is based on pure fantasy and no facts. The buyer can and will lie but I will not engage in the same circle of lies. I am not smart enough to lie so I tell the truth it's easier. I have often told my car buyers that I am not their adversary but I am here to enable them to what they came in here to do, buy the car they want. Winning at the expense of another is not really winning. Gotta get back to selling cars and refrain from philosophical dissertations. Be professional hold your head up high and go home every night knowing that even if no one else did the right thing at least you did. Never apologize for doing right.
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Permalink Reply by Al Mosher on
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The real issue here is that we encourage potential customers to lie by asking personal questions before we have earned the right to do so and/or before we really need that information. By doing so, we actually reduce the probability of making a sale. For example, you're not going to create "rapport" with a 5 minute meet and greet. Asking a customer about their finances right away makes them more defensive and, therefore, more likely not to be truthful. If they then tell us they have no money down and want to have a payment of $300 a month, we will show them cars that fit those criteria. If they actually have some money available for down payment and could afford a higher payment, the odds are they are looking for a car that is a little nicer and newer than what we are showing them. We have set ourselves up to fail.
You must lower the customers defenses by showing that your primary purpose is to help them to resolve their transportation needs; not just sell them a car. Let them tell you what they need and actively listen to what they are saying. Show them cars that meet those needs. We've all had customers who have found the extra money to buy a car they have fallen in love with. Don't set your customer up to lie to you and you will sell more vehicles.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Elliott on
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I like the way you think, Al. It sounds like an Integrity-based approach.
I think that there are major changes occurring in the overall sales mindset in all industries. One reason I like reading these blogs and forums is to hear new ideas and different opinions.
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