Training for Success is Two-Sided

When I was a dealer in the early 90s, I started my business in a building that was less than 100 square feet. I had a gravel lot, my tiny office, a shed and a burning desire to sell cars. In these humble beginnings, I worked and worked and gradually climbed the hill of success. I eventually built several new buildings. Each time I built a new building, I just waited for my sales to explode … but they didn’t!

Sales stayed about the same in my new buildings versus my older “shacks”. I was always flabbergasted by this, and it literally took me years to figure this one out. Buildings don’t sell cars, people do! Every good dealership has two key ingredients: People and Processes. Notice I didn’t say nice, new, big or shiny buildings. Buildings and facilities are nice; however, never lose sight of what is really important.

People and processes are the true key to success in our industry. With this in mind, let’s discuss some of the most important items we face on a day to day basis. Did you know that over 70 percent of customers will tell you they are “just looking” if given the opportunity. Wow! This was a key statistic for our stores. Once a customer says they are “just looking,” a salesman will have only a few options:

1. The salesperson can try to be cute and tell them he is “just showing” and work his way in.
2. The salesman can let them “look” and “holler” if they have any questions.
3. The salesman can try to persuade them how much he can help them and then they can look some more together.
4. The salesman can try to overcome the customer’s apprehensiveness, which is an uphill battle.

Wouldn’t it just be easier if the customer didn’t say they are “just looking” in the first place? I remember working and training my stores on proper greetings for hours on end. I planned training meeting after training meeting trying to get my people to welcome customers to my dealerships in a manner so the customer wouldn’t say “I’m just looking”.

I remember working especially hard in a training meeting one Saturday morning teaching my sales force acceptable greetings and qualifications. I was excited after the meeting and hung around the showroom floor to see what my guys had learned. The first up pulled in and was approached by one of my salespeople. I was hunkered down (trying my best to hide, which is kind of hard to do when I’m 6-foot-6-inches tall) listening for the magic words that would flow from my guy. He approached the customers and said exactly,” Hi, can I help you?”

After I about swallowed my tongue with the gulp I had to take, I heard the customers reply, “No thanks, we’re just looking.” I couldn’t believe after all my training and effort my salesmen went right back to what made him comfortable and he believed in.

I bring this experience to light to illustrate how difficult of a process it is to train and groom proper processes into our people. Training is paramount to success in our stores. We need salespeople to know and understand how important a good greeting is.

Another key statistic that dealerships can work and improve on is one of the first questions a customer will ask, “What’s your best price?” I see this question asked on a daily basis in showroom floors across the country. I see one of two things happen here:

1. The salesperson will start negotiating with them and tell them how low the price can go
2. The salesperson holds to his guns and tells them that the price is the price and it’s a “good one”

Allow me to throw out the proper option on this. Don’t negotiate, and don’t stick to your guns. Merely sidestep the conversation and focus on the car. “Mr. Customer, the best deal for you is the one I can get my manager to accept. With that being said, let me assure you we don’t lose many deals here based on price. Why don’t we make sure you like the car, and if you do, I’ll get you the best deal I can. Fair enough?” Every serious customer in the world will work with you on this.

Basically, customers say these things (and others) because they don’t know what else to say. They are way out of their comfort zone and don’t really know how to negotiate (i.e. have you ever seen a customer kick the tires on a new car). We, as professional car people, need to maintain control and help the customer with their needs and wants. This is actually very easy to do when a salesperson buys in on using proper processes and techniques. I heard a saying once that I have used hundreds of times over the years, “The difference between pressure and persistence is technique.”

Training good people with good processes makes a good dealership. Many techniques can be taught and used to make more sales and ultimately more commission dollars. The key to making this work is getting our people to really buy in and understand what the processes can and will do for them if they adhere to them. Remember my example of training in my stores? This salesperson did not buy in to what I was training him on, thus it wasn’t going to work. Good people understanding and using proper processes is the key ingredient to success, no matter how hard times get!