First thing she said after my pick up line (the meet & greet) was, "I'm not buying today". You've heard that one hundreds, maybe even thousands of times before. What happened next took her by surprise.

Though we had never met, I knew a lot about her. She wanted it and she wanted it bad enough to have come to this dealership to get it. She was also willing to get it from me. My job was to get to know her and get her to like me enough to make it happen. So I said to her:

“That’s ok. Most people don’t buy their first time in. What most people do is, they pick out a car, they get a price on it and then they come back, tomorrow, next week, next month or some other time and buy. Is that what you were thinking?”

She gave me a smile and said “that’s exactly what I was thinking”. I took it to mean she was ready to pick out a car and get a price on it. I smiled back because I knew we had overcome the first obstacle of our relationship. That was my cue to try my pick up line again, “so, what can I get you a price on today?”

That’s when she told me what she really wanted to get out of our relationship. I was a little surprised by it but knew there was a still good chance we would reach a mutually satisfying conclusion. I just had to remember, it was all about her.

In order to satisfy her I had to learn as much about her as I could. I had to get her talking and fast. So that’s when I said:

“We have a lot of those cars for you to look at. Before you leave here today I’ll help you pick one out, I’ll get you a price on it and estimates on down payment, monthly payments and what we can pay for your car too. How’s that sound?” She replied excitedly “that sounds GREAT.”

We were only moments into our relationship and already she knew I’m interested in giving her what she wanted. She also knew that if she really wanted I’d accept her “no” and she could leave any time. She had an out if she needed it.

Her response to my offer let me know exactly what she wanted. She wanted to trade her car and pay for the new one on the installment plan. Next I needed to get her to open up and start talking about herself. It was clear I needed to put her in a different position. One of being a salesperson herself.

Knowing she was in an environment she was unfamiliar with and uncomfortable in I had to get her somewhere she could relax. So in a helpful way I said “why we don’t we start with your car? It will save you time and help us to get you the most money for it.” She said “ok” and headed towards it.

On the way I told her “by the way, my name is Mike” and extended my hand. She reached out, took it in hers and replied “I’m Stacey”. The ice had been broken.

Just looking at her car I learned something about her. She was a soccer mom. It was the bumper sticker and the text books from the high school in the back seat that told me that. The brochure and business card on the front seat told me I wasn’t her first salesman today.

It started slowly as I engaged her with simple questions. “What year is it?” I asked. When she responded with “it’s a 2006”, I recorded the info onto my trade evaluation form. We continued with more of these simple questions like “what make and model?” before I stepped it up a little and asked her to do something for me.

“Could you read me the V.I.N.?” She did and I wrote it down, then read it back to her to confirm. After asking her to “please turn on the ignition and read me the miles”, which she did, it was time to move on to more personal questioning.

That’s when I asked “what do you like most about this car?” She started talking about the things she liked most about it, all the fun trips she and her family had taken in it. She didn’t realize it but she had begun to open up and like Dale Carnegie said, “the more people talk, the more they like the people they’re talking to”. I felt like she was beginning to like me.

I couldn’t know what she really liked without also knowing what she didn’t like, so I asked her “what don’t you like about this car?” Her answers told me about her and provided the information I’d need to help her pick out her new car, one that would meet, and if I had my way, exceed her needs.

Another question I would need an answer for later on had the potential to be a relationship killer. That answer could create unreasonable expectations for us both if asked the wrong way.

For fear of getting an answer that might dash my hopes and that she would give, hoping to protect herself, I decided to ask while we were talking about her car “how much are your payments on this car?” She replied without hesitation “they’re $387.00 per month”.

We had dodged a bullet. Many relationships had been nipped in the bud before by asking “how much did you budget for down payment and monthly payments?” It seemed the answer was always “$0 down and $250 per month”. A surefire way to deflate a salesperson’s hopes.

Before we could move on there was one more thing I needed to do. “Can we take it for a drive?” I asked. I knew if I would drive the car she was trying to sell me that she would drive the car I wanted to sell her.

We just drove it slowly around the lot and while we did I commented on how we needed cars like hers on our lot and we’d love to be able to buy it from her.

I parked the car and removed the keys from the ignition. I casually said “if you’ll get me the registration and your insurance card, I’ll give them and this information to our used car buyer and he’ll put a value on it. While he does that we’ll see if we can find your new vehicle”.

It didn’t surprise me when she opened the glove box and retrieved those items. Our relationship was growing, we were feeling better about each other and almost ready to take the next step.

As we walked toward the showroom I pulled a page from my old friend Columbo’s book and asked almost as an afterthought “would you do me a favor and rate your car for me? On a scale from 1 to 10, what would you rate your car?”

She answered as almost everyone does “it’s a 7”. I did as I always do and agreed with her. Then asked the final question before moving to the next step. “What would you have to do to take it from a 7 to an 8?” Her answers were exactly what I thought they’d be.

Things were starting to get exciting. I’ll tell you all about it next time when:

She Showed Me Hers. Now She Wanted To See Mine

www.theshopperstopper.com