3 Silly Questions Most Salespeople Ask

3 Silly Questions Most Salespeople Ask

There is an old ancient proverb that says “Life and death are in the power of the tongue”, something I can’t agree more with in the area of sales.

You literally can make or break a sale by choosing the right words, and using them correctly.

As I travel the globe speaking to sales teams in dealerships, these 3 questions often get brought up in a role play environment and I’m going to tell you why it’s so important you don’t ask these 3 questions and what we can say instead.

1 – How can I help?

While this can be used over the telephone or later in the conversation, “how can I help” is often used in a salespersons first interaction with a customer. The challenge is, most people reply with “I’m just having a look around”, in fact 77% of customers say “they’re just looking” at the initial greeting.

We then have to play catchup with the customer by trying to take an interest in what they are looking for, without hassling them out.

Instead say “what brought you into the dealership?” Saying this will dramatically decrease the chances of you getting the “just looking” reply.

2 – When can you come in?

When we get a phone enquiry, internet lead or are making a follow up call, our goal is to get a face 2 face appointment, something in which I totally agree with! The only problem is it’s how we ask for the appointment. Most internet and phone shoppers are trying to avoid the dealership and as a result are hesitant to make an appointment straight off the bat.

Instead say “when is a good time for us to get together?” and you can go on to say “Would it be easier for me to pop out to your home or work, or for you to pop in to the showroom?”

When you go above and beyond to extend yourself to go to them it will put you at the top of their list as its easy and convenient for the customer. You also made it sound like is was a short amount of time needed, by saying “pop out” or “pop in”

3 – How much did you want for your Trade in?

This is probably the frustrating question I hear! When we ask our customers this question, we are asking them to “highball” us and give us a number we won’t have a chance in hell of getting anywhere near. We then get ourselves “head nicked” by an unrealistic expectation from our customer we just spent 2 hours building rapport with. Seldom to you see a customer want less than what their car is worth so don’t ask this silly question.

Instead say “Have you got a vehicle you would like us to get the market value of”

By saying it this way, you are letting the customer know you are going to get them the “MARKET VALUE” not the pie in the sky figure they are hoping for.

I believe we should never ask a question we don’t want the answer to. Therefore, if you change these 3 questions you will start to see a massive difference in your traction and rapport with customers.

Great selling!

Dave Benson

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Comment by steven chessin on March 2, 2015 at 2:18pm: Dave

"Does this dress make my butt look big?"

The red-flashing danger warning lights should immediately flash in a man's brain. Be careful how you answer questions and how you ask questions. Do you remember how skillfully President Clinton responded to the question about sex with Monica ? "I did not have sex with that woman". The legal definition of sex is specific.He did not. Last night on "The Good Wife" a client asked "What should I say if they ask me if I killed my wife". The lawyer told him to say, "I have said many times that I did not". He truthfully did say it many times.

There is an old joke about a car salesman in a bar who asks a woman to have sex. He says, "If I gave you a million dollars would you go to bed with me?" The woman, without hesitation says, "Yes!". Then he says, That's great ... how about $20 dollars?" She is insulted and says, "$20 ! What do you think I am!?" He says, "We know what you are, now we are just negotiating".

How you use language matters.