Selecting a Vehicle for Your Customer
Step 4 On The Road To The Sale
After you find out what your customer is interested in, YOU select the vehicle based on what they told you. Remember when you were a new salesman trying to figure out the inventory? Wouldn’t you have liked help having your top salesman finding the right vehicle for you while you were with a customer? Well, if you do it in the right way, your customers will appreciate your efforts.
If you are on a new car and don't have the color or precisely what they want, It would be uncommon that a dealership did not have something very close or missing one small detail like the right color. The good news is all of the colors drive the same, and you have at your fingertips the ability to find whatever your customer desires as long as it exists as apart of your "shared dealership inventory." However, first, make sure you are on the right vehicle for them and don't skip a beat in your sales process if you don't have the exact one, that can wait. In most cases, it is best to find something close to what your customer is looking for that is in stock and get them sold on the vehicle before doing a locate, who knows they may fall in love the car you have on the lot.
A little note about finding the right vehicle, don't forget your job is a salesman if you were not hired to sell people on things your manager would have hired a minimum wage employee for providing keys and test drives.
If your customer told you they had hoped to be at a price or payment that is much less than the vehicle they described they wanted costs, show them something similar in the budget your customer told you first, they would probably show a little dislike for it or who knows maybe they will change their thinking in an instant. If they say something like "I said I wanted ___" just let them know that the vehicle you suggested was in their price range and seemed close to what they described and this is why you pointed it out. Doing this should help avoid sticker shock or your customers running away as soon as you tell them how much something is.
If you are new to the car business, try not to forget that you can add almost anything to a pre-owned vehicle such as sunroofs, power door locks, DVD, leather and more. Also, some used cars may have a Hollywood side or some used car character, and just because you have a problem with a small dent does not mean they will. I am sure you also have access to vendors or body shops that can get things repaired and if your customer points something out that could be easily fixed, reassure them that it is something that can be taken care of and move on. If they like the vehicle and you can correct whatever it is, it is not a problem, and they will let you know if it is a deal killer or just a minor objection, you must learn to see the difference between the two.
The second or if possible, even the third vehicle you show them should be the right one, the one to drive, the one to buy.
"You said you wanted _____, ______ &_____ features right? I have the perfect one!" Take them straight to the vehicle, no need to kill the excitement by explaining precisely the year, miles, price, etc. before they have even seen it.
Especially if you are at a new car dealership where you will hear these questions more often, It is good practice to have a solid blanket pitch for questions like what's the difference between GMC and Chevy, what does Duramax or Allison mean?" and start with the question back to them of Do you want the long version or the short version?
Your customer may ask, what is your best price on this? As soon as you get to a vehicle. As long as you had the proper pitch for your dealership in your introduction you can quickly move past this by acknowledging what they said, saying a small statement about it such as what is detailed below and then move on by asking them another question.
On a new vehicle reminding them that the manufacturer controls much of the pricing and the incentives are VIN specific, always changing and nearly impossible to keep every individual vehicle current incentives memorized and you will make sure that you get them the best price before they go but first let's make sure we are on the right vehicle. Also, if you have some great incentives at the moment, it may be a good idea to throw in something like "I know incentives are insane right now some are even around $______ off or more and we have interest rates as low as 0% on some models."
For a used vehicle you can say nearly the same thing, as I said earlier we do try to price our vehicles competitively to make shopping easy for our customers. However, the great news is everything is negotiable, and before you go, I will make sure to get you the best price on whatever vehicle you would like but first let's make sure we are on the right one. Then move on by making a statement such as "What do you think about this."
After you found your customer the right vehicle it is time to do a presentation and walk around.
If you can't get to the next step TURN
As with all of our car sales training blog posts, please email or place a comment below if you have any thoughts about changes or additions that you think should be made to this post because the goal is to provide the most value to the readers.