Stop the Trial Closes

Stop the Trial Closes

By David Lewis

In 2013, we saw the greatest increase in retail auto sales in the last six years. Industry researchers expect this year to follow in the same trend predicting even better sales ahead. With that in mind, now would be a good time to discard some of the old practices that have plagued our business for decades.

For a start, it is time to stop the use of Trial Closes. These only add to the negative public perception of our business. The pressure that they bring to the Customer is certainly one of the main reasons most people would rather go to a dentist than to a car Dealership to buy a vehicle.

Knowing that Customers come in with defenses set on high, this should cause us to work harder to eliminate their fears and apprehensions. Yet, even today, many trainers teach Trial Closes as a viable method for selling and many Managers still approve of this practice. Why do we continue to do this? The Customers even expect us to do it. This defensive posture is undoubtedly a direct result of pressure tactics such as the trial close.

Someone once said, “If you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.” With a good chance of having another year of record sales, now is not the time for repeating bad behaviors. Instead, why not find a way to use this opportunity to mend our poor reputation with the public. With an industry rebound taking place, it’s a good time to put a new face on Dealer/Customer relations. If 2013 shows us anything, it is that owning a new car is still a part of the American Dream.

Most Salespeople believe that using Trial Closes helps them know where they are in the process and when to ask for the sale. Though that may sound reasonable, it shortcuts the presentation and leaves out steps to the sale that are critical to what we should be doing. If we feel the Customer is ready right after the Test Drive does this mean that we should just go for the Close? What about the Service Walk? Certainly that is a critical part of selling the Customer on the benefits of buying from our Dealership.

This may seem fine to someone only wanting to sell a car, but what if you are trying to sell the car, yourself and the Dealership? Rushing to the Close before it is time weakens the potential for your Customer to take mental ownership. The better you demonstrate all that you have to offer, the better your chances are for making the sale and earning a Customer for life.

In essence, every time you utilize a Trial Close you are asking for the sale. The truth is, Trial Closes are usually done at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Should we be closing on the lot? No! Should we be closing on the Demonstration Drive? Again, that is a no. The best place to ask for the sale is at the end of a well structured sales process. That’s when the time is right and when the Customer is best prepared to say yes. And where should this take place? At the Salesperson desk, not on the lot, where it may be cold, hot, rainy or snowy.

Consider this Trial Close that is often asked before the Customer has even had a chance to experience a proper Meet and Greet: “Are you buying a car today?” Though it may seem innocent enough as a way to eliminate wasting time with a tire kicker, it is extremely rude and offensive. Suppose this potential buyer had just been with a friend or family member who warned them to be on their guard against being pressured to buy a car today. Do you think there is anything you could do now to eliminate that thought from coming to mind during your sales pitch? Not very likely! They know and trust family and friends. You, on the other hand, they just met; and you are a car Salesperson.

Telling the Customer to ‘park the car in the sold line’ after returning from a Demonstration Drive is another example of a Trial Close that is presumptuous and demeaning. Before the Customer has even had a chance to tell you how they feel about the vehicle, you are trying to close the deal. Even if they do like the car, you have probably just plummeted on their list of favorite Salespeople. Don’t think they are buying the idea that you are protecting the car from some other Salesperson. They know what you’re doing and all you just did was increase their defenses, not lowered them, and isn’t that the best way to earn a sale, to lower the Customers defensive posture?

Finally, let’s look at the Trial Close that is most often used and, in my mind, responsible for more lost opportunities than just about any other. This tactic is practically guaranteed to make the Customer more defensive and give you the one answer you do not want to hear: “Mr. Customer, if we can come together on terms and numbers are you ready to buy the car today?” With that one question you have now reignited their defensive fires and more often than not their answer will be, “No, not today.”

Not only does the Customer move to a defensive posture again, but you have just shipwrecked all of the trust you may have developed to this point. They will quickly move away to a place of safety and may even lie to avoid making a commitment of any kind. Each step they take in reverse means your chances of gaining their trust again will be much harder than it was at first.

Ironically, this statement is even more than just a Trial Close. It is actually indirectly asking the Customer to buy the car. Is this really the best place to do this? When the Customer now says no, most of us will ask, why. Now we are going to start overcoming objections. And where is all of this taking place? It happens right on the lot. Again, not the best place to be asking a Customer to make a buying decision. We will get an opportunity to ask for the sale. Why not do it when all the value has been established and the environment is best suited for us to make the sale?

When a Salesperson uses words like now and today it pressures the Customer to rush to a decision they may not be ready to make. People don’t buy terms and numbers; they buy feelings. When your product, your personality and your Dealership make the Customer feel good they will usually find a way to buy what you are selling. It is just that simple. Pushing them to do so before they are ready only reinforces the fears they brought in with them and puts them on their guard. This makes your job harder and less likely to produce a good result.

The Internet has given today’s Customers tremendous access to vehicle information, quality ratings and prices. This can often give them more confidence when they come to shop at a Dealership. But it also lets them know that they have more choices of where they can go to buy what they are looking for. If they do not get treated well and with respect at one Dealership they will go somewhere else to find what they want in a way they want to be sold.

The sooner we wake up and realize the harm that Trial Closes have done for this industry, the better off both we and our Customers will be. It is the little foxes that spoil the vines. Though these may seem insignificant and acceptable, they are not. Trial Closes will continue to have the same devastating effect on Customers and on the reputation of our industry if we do not stop using them once and for all.

When we forget that Customers are the most important part of our business, then we may as well get used to poor Customer satisfaction and declining profits. By working hard to serve the Customer and do the best we can to give them everything they deserve, we insure for ourselves a bright future in this business. People need cars and fulfilling that need is what we do for a living. By doing it with integrity and professionalism we insure ourselves a fair portion of whatever the future holds for this business and for our individual careers.

David Lewis is the President of David Lewis & Associates, Inc. a National Training and Consulting Company that specializes in the Retail Automotive Industry. He is also the author of 3 industry related books, “The Secrets of Inspirational Selling,” “The LEADERSHIP Factor,” and “Understanding Your Customer.”

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Comment by James Jarrett on June 4, 2014 at 6:11pm: Thanks again for the article David. I guess what I am trying to say is we are continuously trying to change this so called "broken" way of doing things. Most of the trainers and to a certain extent David apparently believes we are talking with our mouths full, being crude with the customer and have developed no rapport at all with these customers. It is not hard to ask a customer on a test drive "How does this compare to your current vehicle"? Is that a trial close? Absolutely. "Do you think this vehicle will fit in your garage? Trial closes are essential you assume all salespeople are doing them wrong and we are so offensive the only we can earn any business is by being completely meek and letting the customer tell us when they are ready. I leave my income and well being up to no one. Thousands of dealerships are operating under so called old school ways with great csi, loyal service customers and gross profit. The constant drum of what a bad job we are all doing gets old.

Comment by Deward Gray on June 4, 2014 at 5:20pm: As just one example, I've heard many variations of the “Mr. Customer, if we can come together on terms and numbers are you ready to buy the car today?” trial close that Mr. Lewis talked about. This kind of trial close is only used when the sales person has a pretty clear indication the customer is interested in purchasing the car. It's a transitional question and can be very effective when used properly. Taken out of context, any question or statement a sales person might use can be made to sound intrusive and cold. I suspect that's why the original blog didn't present any examples of that magic transition from building value to asking for the sale. These words are for professionals. You can't put any mechanism, verbal or physical, in the hands of the untrained and get a good result.

Comment by David Ruggles on June 4, 2014 at 5:18pm: David is certainly correct in that anything done crudely doesn't help and less than artful trial closes only serve to reinforce a consumer's apprehension and defensive posture. Unspoken cues by consumers can be read as well as what the verbalize. I find the best place to receive cues is during a proper trade evaluation. Consumers don't like to feel that someone sold them something. "Doing business" is something we do together and collaborate on.

Sorry for any previous typos.

Comment by David Lewis on June 4, 2014 at 5:11pm: Let's keep this debate going.....

I do not think that anyone can disagree with me when I state that most Customers come to the Dealership very defensive, apprehensive and nervous. Our job as Salespeople is to work at lowering that posture. It does us no good to have the Customer remain defensive throughout the sales process.

So what would lower their posture? Obviously an environment that made them feel comfortable. One that exists without the pressure they expect. How do we create that environment? By letting the Customer feel as if our goal is one of helping them find what they may be looking for without any undo pressure.

Now.....what would raise their defensive posture? Clearly any type of comment that would lead them to believe that our goal is to sell them a car today. How does this happen? When we use trial closes. Customers today are not dumb, they know when they are being closed. Why take the chance to raised their defensive posture, and no one can disagree that trial closes clearly do that.

Who is more likely to buy a car? Someone who has found a car they love, a Dealership where they would like to do business and found a Salesperson who never made them feel uncomfortable. I think the answer is obvious.

Most have to also agree that at times trial closes do make people more defensive. That is a given. But if you remove the trial close how could someone's defensive posture raise. You are going to get a chance to close the deal, and that chance will come soon. Why jeopardize it with a trial close?

Give it a try. On your next few customers eliminate all your trial closes, allow the Customers to fall in love with you, the car and the Dealership. Then ask for the sale and see how they respond. I think you will be very surprised.

Comment by Jeff Novak on June 4, 2014 at 3:30pm: I think the issue is one of semantics. The "trial close" of today is the process of soliciting verbal or non verbal cues from the prospective customer. The examples cited by David seem more akin to the harsh old school closing lines parodied by Johnson Auto Group's badger commercials.

It seems that neither the author nor the community at large are disagreeing that prompting buying signs in the midst of a value focused sales process is a bad idea or ineffective practice.

Comment by Marty on June 4, 2014 at 1:14pm: How about some good examples of trial closes that work well?

Comment by James Jarrett on June 4, 2014 at 11:53am: Trial closes no matter how you define them Do work!!. Years and Years and Years of results prove that. We can try to recreate the wheel all you want. Like Grant said people get pissed about the time spent. I Never have had a customer flip out during a test drive where I asked them basic questions. Trainers in this business have gone to the point of not asking for business for fear of offending a customer. These sales people can continue to sell their 10 cars and make 2K a month.

Comment by David Ruggles on June 4, 2014 at 10:04am: RE: "Not all trial closes are created equal and it is the intent with which you use them. BTW not all trial closes are verbal."

Tru Dat!!!!! It isn't the intent with which you use them but the perception of your customer that is most important IMHO.

RE: "The real value in the trial close is not for the salesperson but for the buyer to reinforce their agreement or disagreement to a purchase."

This seems to pertain to the often subconscious taking of mental ownership one can observe in customers during a proper trade evaluation. Non verbal cues are available for one to pick up but it seems Dave is certainly referring to verbal trial closes here.

RE: "When the buyer confirms with communication it raises certainty and certainty is ESSENTIAL to the purchase and close."

And an overt trail close done to early, before the sales person has earned the right to ask such questions, can be toxic.

RE: "What the customer doesn't like is the amount if TIME spent in car dealerships by sales people that aren't enthusiastic and confident in their skills."

Certainly a fact. For consumers, wasting time while a sales person acts like a sales person, based on consumer perceptions, the only perception that counts, is counter productive. Confidence, flow, enthusiasm, meaningful information, etc. all serve to engage the consumer and set the salesperson apart from others.

It can be difficult to know what is important to a consumer since they're all different. For example, trying to explain the functions of the info system to some folks is counter productive. Failing to do so with others can also be counter productive. Learning to form relationships and converse readily with all walks of life is a real talent. Training that tells sales people to interview people before a relationship is formed doesn't work well. Give me someone who can form relationships, even if their product knowledge is suspect, will take us farther than the most knowledgeable product specialist. Its all about relationships. Product knowledge can help earn that relationship so I don't want to minimize it.

IMHO -

Comment by Deward Gray on June 4, 2014 at 9:52am: Trial closes are prevalent in the industry because they help sell cars and gauge a customer's interest. The term "Trial Close" is used perhaps too broadly to define a lot of subtle bits of conversation used on the road to the sale. I agree that we should be aware of the customer's comfort level in the process and not take shortcuts in building value, but Mr. Lewis doesn't offer any real insight into when to ask for the sale. It seems to be a continuous process of adding value till some magic signal appears. If trial closes are causing customers to leave it may be a training or personnel issue.

Comment by David Lewis on June 4, 2014 at 9:01am: Thanks for all your great comments. I love this debate. Always remember the concept that you best agree with is going to be the right one for you. There is no right or wrong answers just opinions.

My opinion is and always will be there is no place for trial closes. Do not misunderstand me, I am still always going to ask for the sales, but only once the value has been achieved. And how can value be recognized of the customer remains defensive during the sales process.

Make the best presentation, create the best value and once that had been accomplished ask for the sale. Any form of trial close during that sales presentation that has been recognized by the customer as such will only raise their defensive posture.

Good luck and please keep your comments coming. I love a great debate.