Three Elements of Sale
There are THREE things involved in every sales transaction:
- PEOPLE
- PRODUCT
- PRICE
Who are the PEOPLE?
BUYERS and SELLERS of course. Your customers including the family and friends they may bring along are the BUYERs.
You and your entire dealership are the SELLERS.
The PRODUCT is the CAR.
PRICE includes the price, value, trade, term and conditions. This is very important to remember.
Three ‘P’s and the Sales Process
The Three ‘P’s of a sales transaction are PEOPLE, PRODUCT, PRICE. Notice the order: People – Product – Price. That is what your game plan is based on. Your sales process or the steps to sale demands that you sell yourself (People) first, sell the Product second and finally sell the Price. Bring every buyer you connect with into the sales process and move them along smoothly. You want to get to know your customers, get them on a car and go for the close.
What about your customer’s game plan? You will meet customers whose entire game plan is the exact opposite of yours. They want to know the Price right away. They treat your Product as a commodity. They are in no mood to spend time with you the People. They want to get your price, get out and go shop.
So how do you deal with the conflict of game plans?
The P in the middle
What is the P in the middle? It is the Product and it is in the middle of both game plans, yours and the customers. Look:
Your game plan: People – Product – Price
Customer’s game plan: Price – Product – People
That is where the pivot point is. Why? That customer who wants to get the price, get out and go shop wants you to believe that the product is a commodity and the only thing differentiates it from others is its price. He also wants you to accept that you are nobody special either. You are not bringing anything to the transaction, he claims. He will not give you the opportunity to move to your game plan’s first step: Getting to know him.
How do you pivot on the middle ‘P’ the product?
If you really care about this customer, you can’t just give in to his demand and provide him with a price. He will get out and go shop. He will drag himself and his family from dealership to dealership, spending more time, getting confused and unfortunately being misled and misinformed. He will waste his time and energy and settle for a deal that is not any better than you could have offered. Unless of course he meets a salesperson who knows how to pivot on the middle ‘P’ as described below:
Step One: Agree with the customer that the Price is important and you do not expect to earn his business unless the price, terms and conditions of the deal are not agreeable to him.
Suggested word track: “I totally understand that price is important. Believe me, I don’t expect to earn your business unless the price, trade value, term, monthly payments, rate and all the other terms and the conditions of the deal were not agreeable to you.”
Note how you rephrased the price to include all the other things. Just a little information overload to get the customer to think that there is way more than just a number — a price — involved, which is true.
Step Two: Here comes the pivot. Immediately follow with a word track like below with a tone of concern in your voice.
Suggested word track: “I want to give you the most accurate information on pricing and available terms so I’d like to find out more about what exactly you are looking for. Make, model, trim level, options and features etc. I want to make sure that you get the right car with the right features. I’m sure you will agree with me that it really does not matter how good a deal you got if the car does not work for you and you are back within a few months trying to get out of it.”
Note how you started to change the idea of your car being a commodity. You also started selling yourself by demonstrating that you care about your customers and you want the best for them. It is important that you start walking towards the cars while talking after you say “Let’s go find your perfect car.”
Step Three: Congrats! You are back on your game plan. Focus on the car, its features, benefits and values. Remember that the customer wanted to convince you to believe that your product was a commodity. Now you will make him feel like the car you are landing him on is unique, rare and hot. While you are presenting and and demonstrating your product, you will have the opportunity to get to know your customer and make friends. You are on your way to a profitable deal. Great job!