Have you ever had a customer play with their mobile phone while trying to work a car deal?

Have you ever needed to justify value in order to close a deal?

Do you use your mobile phone as a marketing and branding tool?

If this sounds like new and interesting information then chances are it is new for the improperly trained sales and marketing professional, that is.  The Forward Thinking Consultative Selling (FTCS) method has been created to evolve the next generation of selling professionals.  There is so much information online now that consumers come in to purchase vehicles ready to battle with full armor.  The armor is the wealth of information that comes from third party sites like TrueCar, KBB, Edmunds and many others.  In fact, many managers try to teach their sales professionals to stay away from these sites.

Enter the FTCS sales process.  The process created to leverage these sites to build value, maintain gross and stop running back and forth to the desk asking for a discount every 5 minutes.  The traditional “Road to the Sale” process plugs in the “Forward Thinking” to create a more transparent sales environment.  Dealers using tools like “PureCars” or even “DealerRater” need to train their sales people to start using these tools as part of their sales process.  This also includes all things “Google”, social media and video.

The FTCS process also incorporates powerful methods of meeting and greeting the customer, higher level negotiation tactics and objection handling strategies.  These are some of the most important parts of the car sales process.  It does not just end there.  The FTCS method trains sales professionals to make better use of their time through personal branding, prospecting and CRM maximization.  The smart phone is the number one CRM tool that any sales professional can have.  There are so many free applications available that can empower a sales professional to build a book of business through digital marketing.  The modern day sales professional should not only understand how to demo and sell a vehicle but also to market themselves constantly.

Dealers that are looking to recruit and train quality sales professionals need to consider introducing the FTCS automotive sales methodology to their dealership.  This methodology lowers turnover, increases traffic, improves salesmanship as well as business culture.  The FTCS recruiting and sales training program is only available through Dealer eRecruiting by Dealer eTraining.