The Sins of a No-Sale

It’s a bit slow today, so I had a few minutes to read the latest issue of Automotive News. I was almost finished when I saw an article on the last page of the December 14th edition that read “Power study finds 6 no-sale sins”. Needless to say, with business being a little slow this week, I was intrigued by the headline.

What struck a chord with me was that we are all guilty, at one time or another, of these no-sale sins. Jon Osborn, JD Power and Associates media/marketing research director listed these sins in his study.

Dealership personnel:
1. Were rude
2. Not knowledgeable
3. Pressed the customers too hard
4. Ignored a customer
5. Wouldn’t give the customer a firm price.

Well, maybe I forgot to take my happy pills today, but I’ll bet many of us are thinking that this couldn’t possibly describe our dealership or sales staff. We sell cars despite what customers who didn’t buy from us think, and we do a pretty good job at it. We make sales, we make money, and after all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Many years ago, my dad, who I thoroughly believe was one of the greatest salesmen to ever live, told me the number one reason sales people don’t make a sale is because they never ask for it. Many sales people are so afraid of the customer saying “No” that they avoid asking for a sale to avoid hearing that dreaded word. Treat a potential customer well in the beginning and you’ll earn a be-back and a sale.

Trust me; I used to be the be-back king! I had one sales manager who called me a vampire. I couldn’t close a deal during the day, but when my customers came back that night, I was unstoppable. It got to the point where he thought about letting me come in after 5PM, since I was worthless during daylight hours.

We spend too much time telling a customer why they can’t buy a car or get approved for a loan, instead of telling them what they need for an approval. I tell my sales people all the time that we get the customer approved for a loan, but it’s up to them to meet the term and conditions of that approval. Even though they wanted to put no money down, they’re approved with $3000 down. It’s up to them to come up with the required down payment. But we don’t have to be rude when we tell them that. Explain what the lender approved, and if you take the time to explain why, it may make sense to them. We’ve done our job; now it’s up to the customer to do theirs.

I seen sales managers tell first time buyers that they can’t get approved for a loan. How many of us deal with sales managers who think they know finance? I have several lenders who will approve FTB’s ON THE RIGHT UNIT! If sales managers would just do their jobs and let us do ours, it would be so much easier. I spend way to much time dancing around someone else’s ignorance when I get a deal done.

Take your time with your customers. We used to call this step “Qualifying”, but I think a more appropriate name for this step in the sales process is “Discovery”. Once you know your customers need, you can address their wants without becoming overbearing or obnoxious. It isn’t hard to find out about a customer. Ask questions; people love to talk about themselves. Remember, selling requires a transfer of enthusiasm from you to your customer. If you get a customer that doesn’t want to talk, ask them if perhaps they’ve had a bad experience somewhere else. I’ll bet that they’ll have a horror story or two to tell you. Maybe they ran into a “shark” or a “badger” down the road. (If you want a laugh, Google “auto badger” and watch the You Tube videos.)

The worst sin you can ever make is to ignore a customer. Second to that is to turn your attention to something else while you’re with a customer. Put you cell phone in your pocket and forget about it. Ignore your pages; they’ll take a message or call back. I like to think I’m the center of someone’s universe when I’m spending my money. Don’t you think your customers feel the same way?

If you can’t give your customers a firm price, what the hell are you doing selling cars? Wait a minute, let’s stop and consider this…what exactly is a “firm” price? Is it the lowest possible price you’ll take for that car? Is it the advertised price your competitor has that you have to match? Actually, it’s a price that’s fair to both you and the customer, one that gives your dealership a profitable deal and your customer a fair value. Remember, a deal has to be good for everyone involved – the dealership gets a fair profit, the lender gets a loan they can collect on, and the customer gets a vehicle and a payment that they can live with.