I've been in the car business for almost 30 years, many of those years spent in Oregon. There aren't very many big cities in Oregon, but three of the bigger ones that I have worked in were Portland, Bend, and Eugene.

Portland is in the northwest corner of the state, Bend is about 160 miles southeast of Portland near the center of the state, and Eugene is about 110 miles south of Portland, and 120 miles southwest of Bend. The three cities form a large triangle, each city being about 2-3 hours from each other.

Portland is a wonderful city, and a great place to sell cars. Subaru is a big deal out there.

When I sold cars in Portland, I noticed that our customers were always able to go to Eugene and get a better deal there. It makes sense; Eugene is the hippie capitol of the world, so even the dealerships must be far out there. After selling in Portland for many years, I found myself in Eugene in the same business.

In Eugene, I soon noticed that many of my customers were able to go over the Cascades to Bend, and get much better deals over there...Well; I guess it makes sense, that's where all the cool skiers and rock climbers hang out. They all have Subaru’s also.

After a few years, I moved to persue my passion for skiing over in Bend. I of course was involved in the car business there as well, but there I noticed a similar phenomena...The cars were being sold cheaper in Portland now. How could this be? Wherever I was, the customers could always go someplace else and buy for less.

As I knew the cars weren't any cheaper in other cities, I wondered what was the real story here. The true story is this...it's not the price of the cars, but the perception of the customer! If the customer perceives that they will get a better deal someplace else, that's where they go, and that's where they get a better deal. It matters not if they got a better deal or not, it's how they feel about it. If they perceive (feel) they got/will get a better deal someplace else, they will. What’s the fix here?

You, as a salesperson have to help the customer “feel” that they are getting a better deal even before they actually sign on the dotted line. How do you do this?

To do this we start out by building a better and superior relationship of trust and honest rapport with the customer. We always need to remember that when we talk about price, model, trim level, equipment options, we are talking about the analytical side of the customer's brain. When we talk about family, love, life experiences, shared values, and common belief, we are speaking to the customer's emotional side. Emotion will always trump analytics.

The more we talk to the customer's analytical side, the stronger we build a foundation for objections. Objections are never built from feelings, but from numbers and perceived facts. Therefore, the more our relationship is built on feelings and emotions, the less likely it will be that the customer will have a foundation to build well-structured objections.

The less you talk about the car or cars themselves, the more difficult it will be for objections to be built based on that foundation of “facts”.

As we all know, objections are always best when addressed face to face across the desk. To try to address objections in email is folly.

It's like sending the customer out on a test drive without going with them. We all know that if we don't go on the test drive, the car does not have the ability to answer objections that come up on the test drive. It's defenseless. The customer invariably returns to the showroom, throws the keys on the desk and says, “I don't like it.” By then it's too late to successfully handle any objections.

If the customer perceives you to be his/her friend, confidant in the car business, they can then come to you and face to face – across the desk – listen as you carefully, systematically, and successfully address any objections that may come to the surface.

There's only one place to handle objections, face to face.

So by now it should be fairly clear, until the customer comes to the dealership, the less information they have about any car, the less likely it will be for them to have developed a foundation for objections. Therefore, more important than any information you can provide, is the development of a healthy, respectful, genuine relationship of trust 

Always remember, no one will ever buy a car from someone they don't like. Without foundation of sincerity and trust, no answer to any question will ever be perceived as truth.

To sum it all up, above all, build that relationship of trust first, and then start talking about the facts and details of the car. Build the trust, run your analysis of the customer's needs and wants, let the customer run through their analytical process, seek out and discover, as well as let the customer find the true objections present, and then with your relationship of trust and respect, address the real objections with real heartfelt and when necessary, real analytical answers.

Good deals are like gold – they're where you find them. For the customer, perception is reality. If they trust you, if they perceive that you have their best interest at heart, then indeed you do offer the best deal.