Sign the commitment and buy right now... Or Else!

[subi101]

This is a brick wall I seem to keep hitting and am hoping for some opinions on the matter. This is about the 4th time a manager has tried to convince me that asking a customer to sign a piece of paper with a loosely worded commitment to buy TODAY if we get them the best price we can... is the only way to spot a real deal. In my opinion, it seems pushy and old-school. If my goal is to change the culture and create a warmer customer-friendly environment... it seems there are better ways to get them to commit.

Or am I off base for writing off a technique that works? It just seems so ancient and pushy in a world where customers are turned off by old-school phrases and have way more information at their fingertips. The whole process of convincing a customer that we're only going to move forward if they sign this darn paper just grinds my gears. Why can't we evolve just a hair faster? Gah!

 

[ryan.leslie]

This is from my personal FB feed this weekend:



What I'm hoping to highlight is that the impact of these strategies is much further reaching than a single customer. FB may or may not be good for client acquisition, but it is certainly good at client prevention.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Subi,

I agree with what you wrote. I always presented first offer (full pop) to a customer and that offer was all about choices. The customer would pick certain aspects of my offer and we would negotiate from there. When I made the negotiation process tough, the customer perceived a better deal. When completed, a handshake would close the deal and a deposit would be secured.

There are many different ways to work a deal and I believe one must conform to meet customers expectations. It's always good to let your customers feel like they are in control.

 

[john.quinn]

"Price depends on availability at the time of sale... Price depends on availability at the time of sale... Price depends on availability at the time of sale..."

I had that drilled into my head from day one. I think, like just about anything else in the car business, it's how YOU go about things.

Now I never had to ask people to sign a commitment to get a price, but if I did, OH Geez O Man -- wait, I did!!!

In the early days, when negotiating with the customer, if they wanted a better price, I would ask them to take a check out of their checkbook so that I could present it to the manager to show the manager how serious they were about buying right now.

Was it hard to do? Sure -- takes some guts, no? But -- like I said, it's HOW you go about it. Be creative -- be an advocate for the customer -- have fun with it! Try something like, "I've come-up with this idea to help my customers. Every time I've presented this to the manager, I've been able to get a better price for my clients. Shall we try it?"

I think half the things perceived in the dealership as "negative" are because we make it so. As salespeople, creating some urgency is not a bad thing, and you do need to ask for the sale every single time. Is that "bad?" At the end of the day, if it's too schlocky for you, there's LOTS of dealerships out there.

Now, I didn't ask for checks forever -- but then again, I didn't have to -- I was able to generate my own commitments and sell a lot of cars after I "matured" in the business a bit. I imagine that sheet is similarly a training tool as well, no?

 

[Eley Duke]

What about simply putting yourself in the customers shoes and treat them the same way you would want to be treated if you were on the other side of the desk. If you like being treated pushy or being told to sign here or you will not get the best deal, then maybe that's for you. But that doesn't sound like you, but sounds like your desk manager.

What you describe is "old school", still being used, of course. But as Jerry said, make your customer feel in control, yet any good sales person has to guide the process so it stays on track. Most customers already know the vehicle they want before they come to your store, what is the stat now, 1.3 dealerships visited vs 8 six years ago? If you really want to win, don't try to "convince" them on signing a piece of paper to move forward. Instead, "explain" and "show" them the positive's of why they should buy from you and they will want to if you did a good job.

Most people don't mind paying a little extra for good customer service. Holiday Inn Express and Ritz Carlton's both have beds, its the experience that sets it apart and why people pay more.

 

[ddavis]

I enjoyed reading through this thread because I noticed everyone that has responded are my friends on DealerRefresh.

What you are describing sounds like a guest sheet. I'm pretty sure that Ryan, Jerry, John and Eley were in the business before dealerships started using them. Why did dealerships start using them? They were experiencing a great deal of turnover and had a lot of inexperienced salespeople.
To be successful, in this business, you have to be able to control the customer and ask for the money. I am not going to show a vehicle without qualifying the customer. I will have control and I don't need a piece of paper to qualify a customer. I think it is absurd to ask a customer if they are going to "buy a vehicle if numbers are agreeable" before I have presented a car. Stores that are heavy in experienced salespeople don't do that.

 

[William Bryant]

Why did dealerships start using them? They were experiencing a great deal of turnover and had a lot of inexperienced salespeople.
To be successful, in this business, you have to be able to control the customer and ask for the money. I am not going to show a vehicle without qualifying the customer. I will have control and I don't need a piece of paper to qualify a customer. I think it is absurd to ask a customer if they are going to "buy a vehicle if numbers are agreeable" before I have presented a car. Stores that are heavy in experienced salespeople don't do that.

I'm having this struggle in a store I'm training, we teach the stores to use a 9-option worksheet that lays everything out to the customer. The store has had high turnover lately and wants to go to a 4-square where the salesperson gets a "I AGREE TO BUY THIS VEHICLE NOW IF NUMBERS ARE AGREEABLE" signature before presenting numbers. Ugh. The symptoms management keeps telling me are the reasons they want to move to the 4-square will not be solved with any worksheet they use. Management needs to train their people how to overcome simple objections, how to do trial closes, or he needs to at least get off his butt and do a TO on customers BEFORE they walk out because his green pea salesperson can't yet get the customer to commit. If you're selling 70 cars/mo and you have two desk managers, you're not too busy to go do an intro TO and to train your salespeople on how to present numbers.

The real symptom could be hiring managers with "experience" instead of those with desire and determination. I don't know....

 

[ddavis]

When the customers sit down at the desk, they are not expecting to play Gin Rummy. If they are sold on the car (big if) it is simply a matter of negotiating the price. The car is sold on the lot.

When I was learning, managers didn't come off the desk to close my deals. They sent one of the ace salespeople (for half the deal). This might mean, re-presenting the vehicle, re-evaluating the trade or putting the customer on the right car. When the sales manager is coming off the desk to close all of the deals, salespeople race through the steps of the sale to get them back to their desk. Their goal is to get as many customers sitting down as possible (numbers game). If the customers are not sold, on the vehicle, it is very hard to close the deal and make money. If the managers are not going to T.O. deals, they are not going to re-sell the vehicle.

A good salesperson will often hear, "what will I have to pay for this car" (or something of that nature) before they sit down. They will know if the customer wants a shopping price or wants to buy the car. Do customers want a shopping price, if they are really sold on the vehicle?

There was a time when a salesperson would be fired if they quoted a payment on a car. All customers were "box closed" in F&I. In those days, we presented price and trade value.

Honestly, I like electronic pencil. We need to establish a Win-Win situation and the transparency just gives you more credibility.

 

[Kelly Wilson]

I'm having this struggle in a store I'm training, If you're selling 70 cars/mo and you have two desk managers, you're not too busy to go do an intro TO and to train your salespeople on how to present numbers.

Whew! 70? Then it's not us!
Subi, I personally don't do well when given ultimatums ...though some do.
JQ says get creative and own it
Fighting a battle you can't win is one thing; standing up for what you believe in is another. :geezer:
It could be the right tool for the right customer. But Doug's right, knowing where a customer is on the vehicle is more important.

 

[ddavis]

What you describe is "old school", still being used, of course.

Eley, I guess some of my ideas pre-date "old school". I remember when we considered it high turnover when the bottom third of the sales floor left every quarter. Now, I see stores that do more than that every month. Much of these "new processes" are a direct result of high turnover and poorly trained salespeople. They are stopgap measures.

When I trained green peas, I gave them a credit application and a highlighter. We did an exercise going block by block on the credit application, starting with the name. Why would we need to know this to sell a car? To teach them how to qualify, I drilled them until they could ask all of the questions (without sounding like an interrogation) to fill out those boxes. That is the "old school" way but we didn't need guest sheets. We didn't have salespeople putting customers on too much car. I had a two week course (12 days). On the first day, we spent about an hour on the greeting. The rest of that day and the next on qualifying. On the third day, we went over the greeting, qualifying and presenting. Every new step began with the previous steps. There was a lot of word tracks and memorization.

There is no doubt in my mind that Duke Automotive doesn't have high turnover and has a lot of tenured employees. Unfortunately, that is not the norm. Relationship selling is "old school".