Like I said in an earlier post, I was once what I now firmly disapprove of.  I was a young, happy kid who knew computers (at least as far as the management thought), I mean come on, kids these days!  I was a lucky one that was able to stick it out, and of course 10 years ago most internet sales managers didn't know much about selling to internet customers.  It was new even then.

Ten years later though, you have to be able to set yourself apart when it comes to selling to online shoppers.  No longer can you just be in the hunt for the lowest common denominator that is the lowest price.  That's no way to run a business and that's not what needs to be done to be successful online.  I've mentioned responding to leads properly, and of course you need to be the first.  Now though, what really needs to be done to set yourself apart from the rest of the "beat any quote" crowd is to inspire confidence in yourself as a consultant.

I know I'm beating this to death, but this is the truth...

The internet salesperson should be an experienced salesperson, who can quickly and easily function as the salesperson, finance manager, and sales manager.  They need to be able to quickly answer any question, and overcome objections with little to no hesitation.  They need to be able to inspire confidence in them from the customer and create rapport over the phone and through emails.  They need to do this by understanding what the customer is looking for, answering the questions the customer needs to come in without offering more information than necessary, and being able to answer possible questions about ANY aspect of the sale, financing or leasing terms, product questions, availability, trade value and more.

When a customer on the phone hears "Uh, umm...", what goes through their head?  I can tell you its one of two thoughts.  One is, "Hes trying to think of how he can screw me over", or its "This person has no idea what they're doing."  This is the 21st century, and people want what they want and they want it NOW, from you.  If the customer hears "I need to ask my manager" they think, "Great they're going to go to their manager who's the ultimate at screwing people over!"  People expect these things to happen, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if we don't stop it right at the beginning.

If the customer asks what your best finance rate is, tell them immediately!  "We currently have 0% available for up to 60 months sir!"  If they ask what their trade value is, "honestly ma'am, I couldn't say 100% without my pre-owned manager seeing the car in person, but I'd be happy to get you a loose range!"  "What is your best price?"  That's everyone's favorite question I know,  but answer it without hesitation and if you don't know, look it up right away.  This is all about confidence in the salesperson, because lets face it, more and more just saying "you have to come in to get the answer" is not a viable alternative to giving information over the phone.  (For all of you who are looking at this saying "That's why I hate internet sales!!!"  There is relevance coming next post, I promise)

Of course we're never going to be perfect and we'll never know everything.  In the meantime though, we need to make sure that our internet sales departments are staffed with salespeople who are some of our most knowledgeable in regards to both product and process.  When this happens and customers get that sense of confidence, that is when we can stop running on lower price, lower price, lower price, and start inspiring people to come visit the store and see how great their total experience can be.  When this happens, you can see internet deals become profitable, and if worked correctly, just as profitable as retail!

Almost done!  Next post is "Working the Deal", then "Whats the Point!?"