Which Step In The Road To The Sale Is MOST Important?

BY: Dave Benson

Which Step In The Road To The Sale Is MOST Important?

At many of my workshops, I ask this question… Which Step In The Road To The Sale Is MOST Important?

Many say the close, many the meet and greet and needs analysis, and many say the presentation and demonstration. Everyone having good reason why their pick is the right answer.

So what’s the RIGHT answer?

Hi I’m Dave Benson from Reaching Your Potential, and in this episode of Telling It Straight, I’m going to share with you Which Step In The Road To The Sale Is MOST Important!

So what do you think?
The Meet & Greet? Because you can’t close why you don’t correctly open. You must make the customer feel welcomed, and build rapport to connect with that customer.
The Needs Analysis? Because we know that customers only buy based on THEIR needs and wants, so we have to know what they are?
The Presentation & Demonstration? Because no customer will buy something they aren’t emotionally or intellectually connected to and can see the value in your product and service. If they don’t take a test drive, they are 80% less likely to buy…
The Trade in Valuation? Because if you can’t make the numbers work, especially on their current car, you aren’t a chance of selling them a new car
Or The Close? Because if you don’t ask for the sale, and don’t understand ways to overcome customers stalls, fears and objections, you won’t sell buy order take.

Which one did you pick?

Well let me state the obvious! The right answer is, they are ALL important steps and you cannot, i repeat, you CANNOT miss any of the steps.

In what is often described as the most price driven, competitive market place we have ever seen for new cars, it is easy to fall in to the dangerous trap of believing the only way to sell more cars is by discounting them lower than everyone else, and then dropping the price until the customer buys.

But that’s not selling, and therefore that’s not what you are employed to do.

Recently I was at a dealership coaching staff on incoming phone calls. They had previously been trained just to get commitment on price over the phone, bring it to the manager and see if they can do it. But see this dealership were struggling with the amount of gross profit they were making per car. See the problem with that model was the salespeople were going straight to the close without running through the entire sales process.

I believe the Road to the Sale Process has worked for so many years because it’s treating customers like they want to be treated.

In fact, we should now simplify the ROAD TO THE SALE to 3 categories that you cannot miss a step every time, with every customer, without fail.

So what are the 3 steps?

Discover customers’ needs and wants
1. This is all about building rapport
2. conducting a professional appraisal on their vehicle
3. finding out their motives are
4. You show the customer that you are interested in them and their needs not just the sale.
Present and demonstrate the vehicle/s
1. This is where you build value so great they can’t help but buy
2. This means conducting a 6 position sell every time based on their buying motives
3. test drive everyone!, even if they have driven it before, make sure you build rational and emotional connections to the vehicle with the customer
Close the sale
1. This means you must ask for the sale every time you present and demonstrate a vehicle. You must be unapologetic for asking for their business based on the value you have shown them in the presentation and demonstration.
2. You must propose a price in writing to every customer every time. Gone are the days of keeping the price and the value of their vehicle to yourself until you obtain commitment. Customers don’t want to play your games anymore, and when you do this you tell the customer you are a “typical salesman” who they can’t trust.
3. You must ask more than once and in more than one way. Be persistent and confident to overcome objections without being pushy and manipulating your customers. There will be pressure felt, but all good diamonds were created under pressure. So don’t shy away from it.

So what was the answer? The answer is EVERY step of the road to the sale must be conducted with every customer, every time, without fail! Customer service is lacking right across Australia because people are missing steps in a proven process. So don’t miss any step of the Road to the Sale to ensure you succeed in sales!

See you next week on Telling It Straight.

Great Selling!

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Comment by steven chessin on March 27, 2015 at 11:20pm: Re : The 1st step. Does it begin with the "meet & greet" ?

I drove into a dealership and saw "CUSTOMER ONLY PARKING". This did not make me feel welcome so I tried to find a spot on the street but could not find one --- so I left.

Dunkin' Donuts has signs that say "20 Minute Parking Only For Customers - All Others Will Be Towed". Starbucks encourages customers to stay with comfortable, upscale ambiance and Wi-Fi. Stores either don't realize they are not being inviting or just don't care.

Comment by Steve Richards on March 26, 2015 at 12:01pm: Well done.

Comment by steven chessin on March 24, 2015 at 2:04pm: I like that - especially "you must do something right to get them there".

This is often taken for granted."Road To The Sale" can start with a 100 mile drive to the store. Internet customers need a good reason to pass many to come to you.The game is on from the 1st glimpse of the car and where many are immediately lost.

Comment by Virgil Stanphill on March 24, 2015 at 1:54pm: While I agree that each step is most important - when you get to it - the title of the post asks the question which STEP is the MOST important.

If you've ever hired a copywriter, or know copywriting principles, you would answer the FIRST step, because without it accomplishing it's end the other steps won't even come in to play. That's why in copywriting they've proven the headline is the most important part of any sales letter or marketing piece, and fully 80% of the time invested in the entire piece is in crafting the right headline. Here's a quick example. Which book title (headline) would sell more copies - "How Men and Women are Different" or "Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus"? The difference between the two headlines (titles) is millions. Which is why 80% of the time is spent there. How many people bought the book and never even read it? Or read it all the way through?

Crafting the perefect headline is a result of really knowing the market you intend to sell to, i.e., creating the perfect profile of your perfect customer. I would suggest the most important step comes before a salesperson ever gets in front of the prospect. That is if he or she wants to sell like a professional, and earn a professional's income. The professional car salesperson will target specfic types of consumers - and know them inside and out - and create a perfect approach which sets the sale in motion before they even meet. Then, once they've met they have a prospect who is "pre-sold" from which point they then proceed in a step by step fashion (much like the steps above) to create results which are predictable and repeatable.

Or, they can just do what the average car salesperson does ... work "ups" and live on Happy Meals.

Comment by Ian Woodward on March 24, 2015 at 11:51am: I will be a little controversial and disagree with you!

The most important step of the process is the step that you are at. The meet and greet is the most important step when you first meet with the customer, get it wrong and you won't be getting to needs analysis.

When you do your needs analysis you have to do it right and build that rapport, show genuine interest in your customer so you know how to present the car.

If you have completed these steps, and confirmed your understanding of the customers needs, wants and desires, then you can move on to presenting your product, present it badly and you won't get to go for a drive with the customer and so on.

So, whilst I disagree, its just a minor disagreement. Inject a little English spin on your question and re-hash that answer a smidge so you engage with your delegates and get them to see "the most important step is where you are" as you must be doing something right to get there.

Comment by steven chessin on March 22, 2015 at 7:27pm: Dave - If you ask a carpenter what the most important thing is for ending war - hunger - and disease ..... the answer will involve wood, nails, and a hammer.

The answer to your question depends upon where that road begins. Pull-the-plug on all internet activities and see if there is any drop of business - or - if there is any business left.

I guess the answer is do everything - prepare for the worst - and hope for the best.