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Permalink Reply by Steve Richards on August 22, 2010 at 7:52pm

The single largest problem facing the sales department is the sales people who are trained to use selling strategies and tactics from the '60's, '70's, and '80's. When these sales people are "unleashed" on a very informed buying public with buying strategies far more sophisticated than retail automotive selling strategies the results are unsavory. The results manifest themselves in the form of lower gross profits, lower closing ratios, higher rates of turnover, and more customers disgusted with the automotive purchasing process.

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Permalink Reply by Fred G. Slabine on August 24, 2010 at 1:07pm

I agree that most training programs are out of date, but I disagree about the root cause of the problem. Market research shows that 80 percent of automotive salespeople don’t understand or use the basic sales process, and our secret shoppers confirm this. Our shoppers have had many bad experiences shopping for vehicles, but two are particularly memorable. In one instance, a salesperson gave our shopper a vehicle to test drive because our person happened to be looking at it and then bad-mouthed the model when he returned. He never offered an alternative. In another case, our shopper came to the showroom driving a specific model that had been purchased at that same dealership and said “I want another car just like it.” Rather than simply closing this easy deal, the salesperson suggested that the shopper test drive a less expensive model which did not suit his needs at all. Neither salesperson seemed to understand the basic steps of qualifying the customer, selecting the right vehicle, conducting a proper test drive, and closing the deal.

Even worse, very few salespeople understand the importance of building personal relationships. Even in an age when it is easy to do comparison shopping on line, relationships matter. In fact, they probably matter now more than ever. Yet, few salespeople take the time to establish rapport, listen actively to their customers’ wants and needs, discover their “hot buttons,” and build the kind of trusting relationship that sells vehicles and other major purchases. Rarely do they follow-up with their customers after they leave the showroom, whether they have bought a vehicle or not. Although Dale Carnegie’s little book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, is nearly 100 years old, it is as relevant today as it was when it was first written. We have an expression that we use in all of our training classes “What is it going to take to make you smile?” Smiling and knowing how to make the customer smile are still among the top secrets to success in sales.

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