Whether you’re a seasoned pro or you’ve only recently started selling cars, you can benefit from car sales tips that have proven effective.
The world of selling cars has with gaps of slow times followed by spurts of intense activity. You might make your entire income for a month in only one week, which makes that week the most important one for your survival and happiness. Put these ten tips to work and dominate the numbers at your dealership this year.
1. Show Customers How A Car Can Solve Their Problems
You could deal with some customers who aren’t sure what a new vehicle offers that makes it special compared to their old model. It’s your job to show them these things. Whether you demonstrate the advanced safety systems of a vehicle or you show them how more efficient a hybrid model can be, you’re solving some of their problems. When a customer is starting a family, you need to demonstrate the flexibility of the interior where car seats will latch in for the ride. People are looking for vehicles to make their lives easier.
2. Use Continuous Role-Playing at your Dealership
If most of your time is spent with your sales team and not with customers, you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity. One of the best car sales tips is to practice role-playing with your team to sell cars to each other. Someone could be a difficult customer one day or a wealthy business owner the next. You might have customers looking for sports cars while others need a family van. You never know what customer is coming through your door, and you need to be ready; using roe play can help.
3. Offer Alternative Models
Shoppers begin their search for the next car online, which could lead to conversations about a vehicle that sold before they ever came to your dealership. Instead of simply ending the call with the car sold they were interested in, offer an alternative model. To do this, you must be familiar with the vehicles you have on your lot. Let the customer know you have a similar vehicle and how long you will be at the dealership if they want to come in and check it out.
4. Use a Hybrid Sales Approach
Your social media platforms are a great place to showcase vehicles and help bring leads to your dealership, but that’s not all there is to the sales process. Cold calling is rarely successful but some dealers use it still. You need a hybrid approach that brings the reach of social media and the personal nature of phone calls together. Once you have a lead from your online efforts, put a voice to your communication by calling and speaking with your potential customer. This hybrid approach can be one of the most important car sales tips you use every day.
5. Ask a Lot of Open-Ended Questions
The conversations you have with some customers might entirely be online. Some shoppers prefer it that way, and you have to adjust to that desire. Whether it’s over the phone or through online messaging, the questions you ask should be open-ended and eventually lead to a few models that could be right for your potential customer. They might already have a vehicle in mind, but you should ask them what makes them want to drive that model because another vehicle could fit their needs better, but they aren’t aware of that fact.
6. Personalize Your Sales Approach
One of the most important car sales tips, which works for all industries where sales are part of the process, is to personalize the experience for the customer. Learn their first name, get to know them and anyone else they bring to your dealership, understand their situation, and work within the guidelines they give you. If a customer tells you they can afford a specific payment, make sure your selling approach uses monthly payment amounts that don’t exceed their quoted limit. Whatever is most important to them, use it as part of your sales process to show how the vehicles offered will meet their needs.
7. Be an Active Listener
If you want to turn your customers away, don’t listen to them. Nothing is worse than having a salesperson ask questions only to have them offer you products that don’t align with what you’ve told them. One way to show you’re actively listening is to repeat back to the customer what they’ve told you but using different words. This technique will not only show that you’re listening to what they are telling you but that you’re also thinking of ways to meet their needs with the cars you have for sale.
8. Use Videos for Communication, Especially Early On
There’s only so much you can get out of text messaging and email, set up a video call, and bring a more personal approach to the customer experience. This is done in many industries today, especially where large purchases are involved. It might take some time to schedule, but when you take the time to use a video to show a customer around a vehicle, communicate with them on their terms, or answer questions, you’re adding the non-verbal parts of communication to the mix.
9. Don’t Oversell the Car
Many customers don’t want a pushy salesperson pointing out every obvious detail of a vehicle, especially common to all cars. One of the most important car sales tips you can remember is to let the vehicle do some of the selling for you. While a shopper is looking around at the interior is not the time to point out the measurements. No one cares that a rear seat has 42 inches of legroom if they sit in the rear seat, and it’s uncomfortable. Let them explore the vehicle and only point out items unique to that car.
10. Remember the Incentives
Does your dealership offer incentives for customers? If so, let them know. If you can save your customers some money off of the price of the vehicle, add an extended warranty for little to no money, or give them promotional financing, your customers want to know this. Be certain to mention anything that will benefit your customer, especially as they get closer to selecting the vehicle they want to drive home. This will help them feel you’re on their side and want to help them get the best deal possible.
This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning a commission is given should you decide to make a purchase through these links, at no cost to you. All products shown are researched and tested to give an accurate review for you.
