You should have a commitment from your customers that this is the car they’d like to buy today. You can get this commitment before doing a full presentation and going on a demo drive to make sure you are presenting and demonstrating the right vehicle. You should confirm this commitment at the end of the test-drive while sitting in the car. Before you take your customers into the showroom through your dealership’s service entrance, you and your customers should be in agreement that the vehicle is the right vehicle, they love it and they will buy it today. There is no reason to move to the next step to close the deal if you do not have a solid commitment. You cannot build a deal without a commitment. Note that there is no discussion of price at this point. It is just an agreement that you helped them find a vehicle they love to take home today. Your customers will bring the price and terms up by saying something like “It depends on the deal.” Of course it does and you will make that right for them too.
What am I trying to accomplish?
Get a verbal commitment from my customers.Why do I want to accomplish it?
I can’t work a deal if the customers are not committed to buy the vehicle Today.How am I going to accomplish it?
By getting incremental verbal commitments while presenting and demonstrating the vehicle that this is the right vehicle and they are ready to move forward. By asking them to buy after the demonstration drive at least three times and uncovering objections during the process.
Handling Trade-ins
You should have found out right after the greeting if your customers have a trade and if it is the car they drove in. Trades are great conversation starters and rapport builders. During sales process until this point, you should have gathered quite a bit of information about their trade.
After the test-drive and getting the commitment, start walking towards their trade and ask them for their key to the trade so you can get the basic information. Getting them to give their car key to you is part of establishing trust with them. People give their car keys to people they trust. By getting them to give their car key to you, you are helping them see you as a person they can trust. You will also pick up their registration and title from their glove box.
After you get the key, open the doors and start walking around the trade. Almost all of us are pretty bad about recognizing the changes in our familiar places. We get used to the things the way are. So there is a good chance that your customers do not know the exact mileage on their car, they forgot about the dents and scratches they put over the years. They may be used to driving with the crack on their windshield or the squeaky noise of the wipers. By reading the odometer out loud, starting the car, turning the wipers on and off, checking the tires out, walking around and touching all the dents, scratches and marks without making any comments you’ll get your customers to look at their own car with a buyer’s eye. After you are all done with that, your customers will have a much lower expectations for their trade value.
You must do the trade walk around exactly the way it is described with every customer who has a trade. You will have a much easier time closing the deal and your commissions will be higher.
Putting it all on paper
“We get paid for doing write-ups.”
Setting up the proposal and the negotiations is critical to the close.
Make sure that you already know the answers to the following questions:
Is all preliminary the paperwork completely filled out?
Did I double-checked stock and serial numbers of the vehicle I’m selling and the trade-in?
Can I give an accurate description of the trade-in? (tires, condition, color, miles, 5 speed or auto, one owner, smoker car etc.)
Did I do a complete presentation and a demonstration drive of the vehicle I am selling?
Why is the customer looking to trade?
What do they like most about the vehicle?
Is there anything they don’t like?
What is their current payment? When is it due?
Have they given you inclination as to whether they are a payment buyer, trade buyer or price buyer?
Where does the customer work and what do they do for a living?
Have your customers sit in your office or wherever the designated area is. Make them comfortable. Offer them something to drink.
Have your desk clean and neat. Have all paperwork you will need on your desk and ready to go. If you need to get them from the sales office, make sure to get everything you need. Talk to your sales manager or used car manager about the trade and get a starting figure. Once you go back to your desk you do not want to leave again for any reason before you have a committed write-up and a complete customer statement. You do not want to break the momentum and potentially scare your customer.
If it is going to take a little for you to gather all necessary paperwork, hand your customers your evidence manual or brag book.
Dealerships may have different processes. Some may expect you to do a four-square write up while others may expect you to get the starting numbers from your sales manager. As long as you understand what your purpose is you can do this any which way your dealership is asking you to do it.
Your purpose is to present a proposal to your customers showing what it is going to take them to buy the car today and get them to show you what is going to take you to sell them car today.
That will be your commitment to build the close on. There will be a little give and take in between. Make sure to stay positive, pleasant and have fun. As soon as you get your commitment, turn the write-up form down and start filling out the customer statement.
Start your initial paperwork with asking the assumptive question: “How would you like to register and title your new [MAKE/MODEL]?”
Have your customers take their Driver’s Licenses and proof of insurance out so you can get the accurate information. You will also need to take these documents with you to make copies.
If your dealership requires you to do a four-square write-up, do it properly.
If you are given a proposal by your sales manager, present the proposal starting with price and ending up with down payment question: “Will you be putting the down payment by cash, check or credit card?”
Handle customers’ reaction to the proposal in a friendly manner and find out the terms customers are hoping to have. You want to have the focus on only two numbers: Down payment and the monthly payment. Those are the only two numbers you should be discussing. You should not bring up price, trade value, term or rate into the discussion. If a customer tries to talk about them, always response in a way that you end up talking about down and monthly payments. Unless of course your customers are paying cash.
After hashing out customers’ offer, quickly summarize it and confirm the commitment and then start filling out the customer statement.
Do not leave your desk until you have a complete and committed write-up.
After all that you can go to your sales manager and say “I got a deal for you.” and turn in all the paperwork.
You may have a closer/team captain/assistant sales manager who may take over and close the deal for you. If your dealership does not have those personnel, your sales manager may want to send you back with a new proposal or s/he may decide to close it herself/himself.
Anytime you need another person as a closer, make sure to introduce that person to your customers properly as a sales manager who is going to help make the deal happen. The trust and authority you earned from greeting to this point need to be transferred to the closer who does not have much time to establish rapport. In front of your customers, always treat the closer respectfully as someone who has a higher rank and more authority than you do. Do not speak, interrupt or interject when the closer is talking with your customers. Do not try to answer customers’ questions regarding the details of the deal. Always stay with your customers while the closer is working on your deal. When he is not around, talk about anything but the deal. When the deal is finally reached, congratulate your customers and thank your closer and continue with the process.