Do you have an EFFECTIVE Closing Strategy? Really?

If you aren’t closing well you aren’t eating well. If you aren’t closing well too many people who intended to buy a vehicle today are disappointed…maybe even a little angry.
Your customers want you to be good at closing. People really want you to be good at what you do. Why? They really want to buy a vehicle! Your customers want to solve their vehicle problems. They want out of their old vehicle, now. They want to get on with their life.

Closing the sale is not an event at the end of the presentation. It is a process. A process that is designed to help your customer come to a buying decision. That is what closing is by my definition—helping people make positive buying decisions. Help more people and you will make more money. But,
Ø It is not about you and it’s not about your commission.
Ø It is not about making a sale.
Ø It is not about getting a sticker on the board.
Key Point - Your customer’s love to buy and hate to be sold.
It is about helping your customer make a comfortable, timely buying decision. If you have an effective closing strategy it leads to a customer saying “yes” and being delighted about it. Closing is all about your customer. Closing is all about pain relief. It is about looking forward to driving a new vehicle—good stuff if you are a customer. Good thing if you are a sales consultant.

The Automotivator Closing Strategy that works. Quit selling and start helping and you will make more money. Lots more.
¨ The client has to trust and like you. How do you come across at first impressions lately?
¨ You need to know the trade is a big part of deal with 70% of your clients. Even when your customer says it is not. If don’t know how to handle their trade early in the sale you lose. Do you?
¨ You both have to be comfortable with the right vehicle, based on an accurate understanding of the customer's real needs, desires or problems. Do you wander the lot hoping to get lucky?
¨ You have to present your vehicle powerfully from your customer's perspective…and better than your competitor salesperson! Do you really?
¨ You have to help your client make the vehicle decision first—BEFORE you serve up numbers. Do you?
¨ You have to present the payments, trade-in value, price and down payment in a ‘value-based’ write-up closing presentation that is natural and comfortable for your customer to say “Yes”. How do rate your write-up process to help your customer’s close?

You are saying right now in your mind, “Duh, this not new, I know this stuff.” Success is not about what you know—it is about what you do! Every time. I lay a wager you really adlib your sales approach most of the time. How would you like your heart surgeon adlibbing his way through your operation? I bet you don’t like those odds! Ask your sales team leader about your consistency. Attempting to close a sale without all of the above steps is to invite a 'no sale' result and a walk. Humm…doesn’t seem like a plan.

Do too many customers say they have to “talk it over”, “sleep on it”, or “shop around”. NO decision… or was there? The decision to stall is a decision….and you wiff your commission Why? Because your sales process was out of step with your customer’s buying process.

My mystery shopping tours prove too few automobile salespeople actually have a 'closing strategy'- a process that they follow with each and every sales opportunity. They meet and greet, ask a few questions, jump into a vehicle presentation and go for bumbling close. Don’t’ be one of them!

There is a very powerful closing process that I coach in my Skill Specific Coaching workshops. It works! Successful salespeople are following my sales process and are eating very well.

If you really want to improve sales and improve your personal income, improve your closing strategy.

(Sales Managers and Dealers, contact me dave@automotivator.com for my dates available for the Automotivator in-house workshop - Coaching on Closing.) *** See note below.

Sales Quote - "Your past sales process has determined your sales success at this moment. What you do today and from now on will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or coming to a standstill?" Dave Kemp.
Have a great selling day! Dave.
Dave Kemp, the Automotivator, The Automobile Sales Coach.
Dave@automotivator.com http://www.automotivator.com/
Call - 1-800-668-0326
Dedicated to improving the buying experience in the nation’s showrooms.
*** Dealers and Managers to receive your own Sales Skills Evaluation Form to pinpoint where your specific team members can improve their sales results just email me. It is no charge to our sales training bulletin dealers. Valuable accurate insights you need to succeed.

Think Lack of Negotiation Room is Your Problem?

Don’t be fooled! Negotiating room is not a substitute for effective selling skills. Many salespeople believe that they need to be better negotiators, when what they really need are improved sales skills to close more sales and make more money. One of my favourite Sales Team Leaders said to me recently, “Some guys get the cart before the horse and blow the sale.” I bet you have heard this from your Sales Manager too.

We are in a marketplace where almost every vehicle sold by any sales professional, by any manufacturer is a no mark-up deal. There is no negotiation room. And what little may exist is given away in factory promoted discounts.

Want to know why people buy from one sales consultant over another? A recent survey of 1000 purchasers of vehicles rated the two major influences on buying as a combination of competitive prices, (not the lowest price) and professionalism of the salesperson. Location and brand loyalty were next but much lower on the scale.

If you want to improve your sales results and your commissions in this market condition you have to deliver a better buying experience. Period. It is not about price because your price is competitive now.
It is all about your brand, your image in the mind of the buyer. My automobile dealer clients deliver a better brand of professionalism because we focus on it. Their profits show it also.
So what should you do to improve your sales performance today, this week, this year? Focus on delivering the best buying experience your customer will get anywhere, anytime from anyone. And you can.

Do you know that most salespeople start at the end of the sale?
Most salespeople meet a showroom prospect and head to their desk. At their desk they make a short ineffective effort at rapport that degenerates into a discussion about the customer’s vehicle preferences and then price. Next it is out to the lot to show some vehicles. There is something wrong with this picture.
Where do you start? Be honest with yourself, is this your basic selling approach too?
You already know this. If your customers aren’t sold on you, they aren’t buying your vehicle no matter what your price. If they are not sold on the vehicle, they are not buying, period. End of story! It doesn’t matter if you are a great negotiator. Premature negotiation is deadly.

When do you and I negotiate successfully? We close more when the sale is made on us first and our vehicle second. Two sales are required before we negotiate, right?
Negotiating is finding a way to reach a payment and price point after your prospect agrees they want your vehicle. This is a win/win for both of you.
After observing hundreds of sales presentations, it is my belief that most of these salespeople didn't really know how to sell in the first place and learning to negotiate better was not their biggest problem.
Change your focus and change your results!! Guaranteed… ask Tiger Woods.

It is all about relationship. If you aren’t good at building a trusting and friendly relationship, forget about negotiating. People only buy from people they like and trust. Get your priorities right and negotiation, when necessary, is easy. So enjoy this business more, have FUN and let your customers enjoy you more. You will improve the buying experience and improve your payday.

Automotivator Action Plan – Make a decision today to focus on the steps that build your customer’s confidence in you and your vehicles before you negotiate.
Ø Learn how to build rapport and trust, even with the price shopper and aggressive clients
Ø Qualify well first—find out what gets them turned on.
Ø Don’t wander the lot—select specific vehicles to present
Ø Deliver a power presentation that is like Sid the Kid heading for the net.
Ø Disarm sales resistance, with good closing questions.
Ø Close by getting the commitment on the vehicle before you write
Ø Write-up the deal based on value, not price.

There are no short-cuts in this area, my friend. If you don’t do this well you blow sales and commissions you don’t need to lose. Success is all about delivering a better buying experience than your competitor. You CAN!!! Start today!
Once you have made the two key closes then mastering the art of negotiation is the solution. I love to coach negotiation skills. I get greaaaat results with my course Mastering the Art of Negotiation, but first things first.
Sales Quote for Success: "Four short words that lift most successful sales consultants above the crowd—a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more." Lou Vickery

Take advantage of this day and month! Dave

Dave Kemp, the Automotivator, The Automobile Sales Coach.
Dave@automotivator.com http://www.automotivator.com/ Call - 1-800-668-0326
Dedicated to improving the buying experience in the nation’s showrooms.
There are many sales consultants who can become "High Performing" Sales Professionals. But they won’t… if they don’t get professional development and sales training in how to close the sale. Seriously consider the powerful sales advantage of having custom designed in-house Automotivator Professional Development. Many of the most profitable dealers and manufacturers in the country do. Call Dave to discuss opportunities for growing your sales and profits today. Contact info. Dave@Automotivator.com 1-800-668-0362.
Print permission - Copyright 2008 Dave Kemp, author. Dave Kemp Seminars. Permission to print is granted only if you retain this copyright credit to the author and contact information on all materials copied and printed or transmitted by any means electronically. 1-800-668-0362 Email Dave@automotivator.com http://www.automotivator.com/