I'm a sales guy, been doing it for 10 years since I graduated college. While I would personally never do B2C sales, strictly B2B (business to consumer vs. business to business), there are a couple of things that you want to be sure to do.

1. Never make any assumptions. They guy on the lot whose dressed in his sweats and wife beater may have more money than the guy on the lot who's wearing the shirt and tie. This is a common mistake that many sales guys make. Your natural instinct would be to go over to the guy who's dressed better.

2. You do need to know a lot about a little, but you don't need to know everything about every car on the lot. Be straight with the customer, if you don't know the answer, tell them you don't know but you can find out. Don't lie about something because the consumer will bait you and ask questions they already know the answer too, just to see what kind of guy you are.

3. Make sure you address both parties and give them both attention. Typically, sales guys will focus primarily on the male and dismiss the female because they assume he is the decission maker. If they are looking for a car for her, she is the decission maker, not him. My wife gets what she wants, as do most wives, so if she likes you then half of your battle is won already.

4. You want to maintain relationships. You would rather sell 1 guy a new car every 3-5 years and keep him coming back, as opposed to just making the initial sale and never seeing the guy again. Take notes and send him a card on his B-Day, or drop a hand written note in the mail every now and then just to check in. It's the personal things that make your customers remember you and their pleasant experience.

5. Keep a sales spreadsheet. Organization is one key ingredient to being successful at sales. This wil also help you achieve your quotas as well. Understanding how forecasts work, the sales process itself and knowing what prospects you have in your sales pipeline will ultimately help you maximize your income potential.

6. Read a couple of books. There are tons of great sales books out there that explain the sales process, what to look for as far as "buying signals", how to overcome objections, etc...

7. Always, always, always ask for referrals. The guy you just sold a car to may have a jealous brother who now wants one. It never hurts to ask if they know anyone else who may be able to assist.

It is a learning process, but the more work you do upfront will only help you better prepare for the career at hand. Sucessfull sales people have a good grasp of everything from processes, to product knowledge, to follow ups and maintaining relationships.

The cardinal rule in sales is the 80/20 rule. And that is that 80% of all sales made are made by the top 20% of all reps. You want to be in that top 20% and doing the proper legwork up front will ensure that you are.

Good luck.

 

Sometimes that will be what gets you the sale. You have to develop a knack for "reading" your prospective customers to figure out what their priorities are. I hate to stereotype, but this area is primarily rednecks and hillbillies whose math skills are poor and incomes are generally modest. They don't care how much the car costs, they care how much they have to pay each month for it. They aren't going to give up their cigarettes and beer just to buy a car.

 

If you don't know something about a vehicle don't guess. Open up the owner's manual and look it up. I have usually known a lot more about the vehicle than the sales-person. The good ones will say "I don't know" and go look it up or ask someone else.

Don't do the "go back to the manager" thing over and over. I tell the sales-person before starting to deal that I want to deal with the manager and not the middle man. They are usually fine with that.

Girls in college who were looking at new cars would always recruit me to go along with them to help out. The tips from them were great!

 

Too bad the college girls didn't feel the same way about your tip. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Too funny!! Never had a complaint.

 

Nice write up jk007.....

 

You want to maintain relationships. You would rather sell 1 guy a new car every 3-5 years and keep him coming back, as opposed to just making the initial sale and never seeing the guy again. Take notes and send him a card on his B-Day, or drop a hand written note in the mail every now and then just to check in. It's the personal things that make your customers remember you and their pleasant experience.


I hate getting birthday cards from the dealer. I am not their buddy or releative; I am a client.

I don't need a birthday card to remember who treated me fairly at the dealership and who made me wait to see the finance guy...I take notes, too.

Tim C.

 

While you can't please everyone it's safe to say most would find it a nice gesture.

FYI I am in sales and I get Christmas cards from some of my clients. Sales is about a relationship with the customer, they can buy a car from any one of the lots, they clearly choose you and your dealer for a reason. And no I am not in automotive sales

 

Fair enough, but I don't see how it hurts? I'm not talking about the "auto generated" cards that everyone gets. I'm talking about "hand -written" cards that you take the time to fill out yourself. Are you upset that you get a X-mas card from the boss at work also?

 

Too funny. I read your post after I submitted mine. Looks like we're on the same page.

 

Yeah, I struggle to sell a product that has far too many dealers in one town. I have often heard from customers I was not the lowest priced, but they felt more comftorable with me and therefore paid more to purchase from me. I have many repeat customers and often get referrals, it's not tough. Be honest, know your product and take the time to get to know your customer.

 

jk007 Great advice!

Thanks for everyones input. It really made me see what i need to work on, from other consumers point of veiw! I guess we will se what next month brings!

 

Amen. In construction I sell the product, produce the product and service the product after the sale. Holy crap I need more money!

 

#1 thing - don't be a salesperson. Be a sales consultant. That was the first thing I learned in "sales school" and it helped me immensely. If you can leave my store with more knowledge than you came in with, I did my job -whether or not you buy is another thing. I can honestly say that I rarely fail to make the sale when I "wow" the customer with product knowledge; especially those hard-arsed ones who come prepared and 'think' they know everything.

I am not in car sales though - I've heard it's a whole new ballgame. A few more things is always be dressed for success, wear a smile, and greet the customer whether it's your "up" or not. Just some more thoughts to add to the great replies so far

 

This was perhaps the best advice so far imho