"Stop believing your customers! You're too nice!"

I want to touch on something I'm starting to see in my dealership. Just a quick summary, I work in a "negotiation-free" store where we display upfront pricing and make buying easier. With that comes some other changes in our culture; sales not paid on gross profit but units, and the way we hire among other changes. The way we hire and WHO we hire is what I want to touch on here.
We have been hiring more salespeople based on their personalities and potential rather than sales ability. The idea is to develop your people so they can "sell" to a customer. There has been a trend that I've seen develop...

...salespeople being too nice.
At least they think they're being too nice. When I talk to some of the salespeople on the floor and ask them how they're doing, they tell me not so good. Of course I ask why? They tell me they their managers tell them they're being too nice to their customers. Here are some of the things they say...

I believe their objections
I empathize with how they feel
I agree with my customers
When my customers says no, they're right

Does this sound familiar to anyone? It does to me. As a matter of fact, I was the same way for a long time when I first started in automotive sales, so I know how they feel. I want to give my take on this and have some feedback from others as to how you would handle these dealership challenges.

In my opinion...

There's nothing wrong with being nice.
There's nothing wrong with empathizing with your customers.
There's nothing wrong with believing their objections.

What IS wrong, is that's where we stop! I'm a firm believer in not selling, but consulting. There's a difference; don't you agree? (got you to say YES didn't I?) (just did it again ;) Customers want you to be nice, believe in what they're telling you, and being empathetic to their situation. They are scared of the commitment! Not the dealership, the process, or even you; the commitment. Being committed to something that requires courage, decision making, belief, and a little faith. Your customer WANTS you to tell them it's ok. They're making a good decision and you're going to stick by them. So when they say, "I need to go home and discuss it with my wife", it's ok. Be nice, empathetic, and believe them. BUT, now is time not to shake hands and part as friends. It's time to recap and ask him if his wife were to say yes, will this be the car they want to own? If he says no, go back. You missed a step. If he says yes, then maybe offer to have him take the car over night to show his wife, just do something different. The other thing is GET A T.O.! There's nothing shameful about a manager TO. They're not emotionally involved in the transaction, so they might pick up on something you will not see.

It's ok to be nice, just don't forget to ask for the sale... more than once!

I want to get some feedback to this blog. Has anyone else experienced this in their career?

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Comment by Ashley Poag on August 6, 2012 at 6:52pm: If you are not empathetic towards the customer you cannot solve their problems. Apple makes a lot of money by training their sales people to solve problems rather than make a sale.

Comment by Pat Kirley on August 5, 2012 at 10:21am: Daniel is right, the customer has a hugh fear of parting with his hard earned cash or the commitment to X a month, a lot of the time sales people are too focused on parting the customer from his funds.
They need reassurance sales people must sell themselves and their dealership more rather than just the metal in front of the customer. I explain to my customers that we only retail the cream of our trade ins, that cheaper car on the other side of town could be one of our rejects, all our car are prepared to the highest standard, no car has a budget for reconditioning and non franchise cars are serviced with genuine manufacturer parts. I tell that the advantages of our dealership, like we will cover warranty work in the nearest main dealer to their home/work, we would like you to come to us but we know that there can be times when this is not convenient. Very few other dealers allow this and it is a big plus for a distance customer. None of this cost anything it just take a little extra time it is just pointing out our advantages, we don't want to be the cheapest we want to be the best and serve our customers as they deserve.
I use this every day and it work very well, the bargain hunter still just see the numbers.

Comment by Daniel P Dugan on August 5, 2012 at 9:54am: Mike, great article but let's digg a little deeper. The fear of commitment is surface level analysis. The real fear is the fear of failure and looking stupid. Failure to make the right decision in the eyes of their spouse. fear that they did not get the best deal and the salesperson won. Fear that they may find something they like better if they just wait and shop some more. Fear they didn't do enough research. And most of all fear of parting with the dollar and being in a less favorable financial position. Clear the fear, seal the deal.

Comment by Mike Myers on May 22, 2012 at 8:59pm: Thanks guys and gals! HEY! Check out AutoCON2012!

Comment by David Villa on May 11, 2012 at 6:53am: Well said by a true "car guy"

Comment by Stan Sher on May 10, 2012 at 12:33am: I say this all of the time when I try. It is all about asking questions and dissecting the problem. Break each objection down and come up with a solution that will enable a close.

Comment by Dugan Anderson on May 9, 2012 at 9:49pm: All salespeople would like their customers to like them and all customers would like to do business with someone they like. All parties would like to establish a relationship. No relationship, no sale.

In my opinion, the reason salespeople fall into all the traps you have listed above (believe everything their customers tell them etc) is that they do not practice CONTROL. No control, no sale. How many times have we been at the sales desk and a salesperson comes up to update the desk on their last up and say, "They weren't today buyers". The manager asks, "How do you know that"?. The salesperson responds, "because they told me so".

When the customer objects, listen to the objection, respond to the objection and then keep moving forward. Treat your customer like a buyer, treat it like a car deal. Example: Customer says, "I won't be buying anything today". Salesperson says, "No problem, many of our customers like to gather information and then make a decision. Follow me, let me find out what is important to you and then I can point you in the right direction". Who is in control?

How many customers have proclaimed up front they will not be buying today and 3 hours later, there they are, signing up their new car deal.

Be as nice as you think you need to be but stay in CONTROL.

Comment by Stanley Esposito on May 9, 2012 at 7:22pm: Put yourself on the same side of the fence as your customer. This isn’t a battle. Don’t take it personally, they hardly know you. Listen to the objections and come up with a way to present the deal that makes sense to the customer. All of the deals make sense to us. It has to make sense to the customer for them to pull the trigger. They will give you most of the answers if you listen. If the salesperson does not find a way to make the customer feel comfortable with the deal there will not be one. As a dealership be prepared to have a good pay plan. The salespeople who are good at this are worth it. If you don't pay or try to use the "money ball" way of doing business you will have a revolving sales force. Everything in this business is changing rapidly except for the sales consultant pay plan. Consultants cost money so pay them.

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Stanley Esposito

215-290-4584

Comment by Chris Saraceno on May 9, 2012 at 6:53pm: Great blog post,Mike

Comment by Pat Kirley on May 9, 2012 at 5:23pm: Mike, very well explained. One thing that I noticed you said the sales people are unit paid not profit, I would think a unit payment plus a profit percentage gives a better incentive regardless of the non negotiable pricing policy. Just my two cent worth.