Your presence is your leverage

[Tallcool1]

This is IT, in my book.

Reality #1: EVERYONE buys cars. Dickheads included. And dickheads are the ones we talk about because they get under our skin... (BTW... "dickhead" is my wife's pet name for me... I use it here lovingly )

Sooo... the trick is to engage with more of the "Regular" peeps, right?

Reality #2: You can't establish rapport and convert unless you get them to Reply/Answer the Phone/Return a Voicemail. You get ONE shot -- your initial response. And to set the hook, you have exactly the amount of time it takes to see an email while stopped at a traffic light, before the light turns green. If the customer isn't interested in re-examining that email when they get to the next light, or at home, or at work, you're done.

According to Jon Berna and Driven Data, we fail about 95% of the time. Much -- and sometimes most -- of the time, we never even establish there's a human being attached to these BS ADF's that keep landing in our BS CRM... We never hear back from these leads. And blame the leads... Bad Leads.

It's crazy that the following statement requires a fundamental shift in Dealership Operational Ideology:

Make a great first impression, and you talk to more people. You talk to more people, you sell more cars. That's it. No rocket science. No mystery. No skullduggery.

But Reality #3: Just get 'em in. We're still here.

[@Tallcool1 --Clint, rant not aimed at you! Your post was a good excuse to unload some of this caffeine energy this morning!!! ]

@john.quinn , I appreciate your rant, and want you to know that I have absolutely no problem if you WOULD have been aiming at me. If we want to improve and learn, we better be willing to take a little beating now and then! I appreciate your opinion here.

 

[Baron Ringler]

"your presence is your leverage" - what do you mean @Alex Snyder ? This is my favorite line of all time!

Sorry, Jeff. At one time "Your presence is your leverage" was effective. But now it's just a cliche. I stopped using it about 10 years ago after a customer flat out told me, and I quote, "You've got it wrong. My LACK of presence is my leverage." And he was right. If I'm a customer, and I contact 4 dealers, and all 4 of them use that same line, what use is it? Think of it like this: if you put a piece of tape on the back of your hand then pull it off, it's sticky. But if you do that 4 or 5 times, it's not sticky any anymore. The customer went online so they didn't have to go through what they perceive is a pushy experience and to put them right back in to that, and not differentiate yourself from the competition, you lose.

But we do have to have a replacement for that line. Every store I work with has online pricing and very few do not in this market. We have to be transparent. If you don't have online pricing, and your next dealer over does, you are at a disadvantage. So a customer asks, "What is your best price?", or something similar, try this line; "We gave you great pricing but we aren't unreasonable. If you have research showing you should pay less for this car, bring it in to my store and we WILL DO IT! Not a problem. We do your great price or you do ours. Either way, you win. No negotiation."

And we absolutely will do that researched price, as long as it's a legit source covering our specific market (Edmunds, KBB, a competitors Buyers Order, etc.), not a deal from CA in a NY market, or a blog, or your mother's cousins dog sitters best friend who claims to have purchased a $30k car for $12.5k. What almost always happens is that the customer brings their research and it's on a base vehicle meanwhile they are looking at a vehicle with leather and all the goodies. All you do is say that you will 100% honor the price they brought in, then add the difference in the equipment. Sign here, press hard, three copies. Move on.

I've used it for years and when done right is extraordinarily effective. One problem, however, is that experienced people weened on "Your presence is your leverage" almost always refuse to use anything else but that cliche, which is perfectly fine if they are performers but not for your regular rank and file. You would need to refrain from hiring any more experienced people, which is never a bad thing. A second problem is getting the sales floor to buy in, which shouldn't be an issue because you've removed the term "negotiate" from the vocabulary. The floor must be strong enough to present it the way I put forth. But if they do it right the gross goes up.

Anyways, this method does several things. First, it makes you stand out from the noise that is dealer competition. Second,, it puts some steel in to your pricing, and gives it credibility. By saying "your presence is your leverage" you are promising the customer a lower price through negotiation and your pricing credibility is shot. My way, I am asking the customer to prove to me that they should pay less and if they can there is no negotiation. As I mentioned earlier, "Mr. Customer, we will do your great price or you will do ours. Either way, you win". And, does it work on used cars? You bet it does, because you can always hit things like condition, miles, availability, Certification, and more.

 

[Baron Ringler]

"your presence is your leverage" - what do you mean @Alex Snyder ? This is my favorite line of all time!

Sorry, Jeff. At one time "Your presence is your leverage" was effective. But now it's just a cliche. I stopped using it about 10 years ago after a customer flat out told me, and I quote, "You've got it wrong. My LACK of presence is my leverage." And he was right. If I'm a customer, and I contact 4 dealers, and all 4 of them use that same line, what use is it? Think of it like this: if you put a piece of tape on the back of your hand then pull it off, it's sticky. But if you do that 4 or 5 times, it's not sticky any anymore. The customer went online so they didn't have to go through what they perceive is a pushy experience and to put them right back in to that, and not differentiate yourself from the competition, you lose.

But we do have to have a replacement for that line. Every store I work with has online pricing and very few do not in this market. We have to be transparent. If you don't have online pricing, and your next dealer over does, you are at a disadvantage. So a customer asks, "What is your best price?", or something similar, try this line; "We gave you great pricing but we aren't unreasonable. If you have research showing you should pay less for this car, bring it in to my store and we WILL DO IT! Not a problem. We do your great price or you do ours. Either way, you win. No negotiation."

And we absolutely will do that researched price, as long as it's a legit source covering our specific market (Edmunds, KBB, a competitors Buyers Order, etc.), not a deal from CA in a NY market, or a blog, or your mother's cousins dog sitters best friend who claims to have purchased a $30k car for $12.5k. What almost always happens is that the customer brings their research and it's on a base vehicle meanwhile they are looking at a vehicle with leather and all the goodies. All you do is say that you will 100% honor the price they brought in, then add the difference in the equipment. Sign here, press hard, three copies. Move on.

I've used it for years and when done right is extraordinarily effective. One problem, however, is that experienced people weened on "Your presence is your leverage" almost always refuse to use anything else but that cliche, which is perfectly fine if they are performers but not for your regular rank and file. You would need to refrain from hiring any more experienced people, which is never a bad thing. A second problem is getting the sales floor to buy in, which shouldn't be an issue because you've removed the term "negotiate" from the vocabulary. The floor must be strong enough to present it the way I put forth. But if they do it right the gross goes up.

Anyways, this method does several things. First, it makes you stand out from the noise that is dealer competition. Second,, it puts some steel in to your pricing, and gives it credibility. By saying "your presence is your leverage" you are promising the customer a lower price through negotiation and your pricing credibility is shot. My way, I am asking the customer to prove to me that they should pay less and if they can there is no negotiation. As I mentioned earlier, "Mr. Customer, we will do your great price or you will do ours. Either way, you win". And, does it work on used cars? You bet it does, because you can always hit things like condition, miles, availability, Certification, and more.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Great advise @Baron Ringler, love the word track.

BTW - my response to Alex saying was a me being a smartass. I personally HATE that line. Unfortunately most of my team were trained by Phone Ninjas and that's a line that they trained to use, A LOT. And you're right, it's hard to get them to stop using.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Great advise @Baron Ringler, love the word track.

BTW - my response to Alex saying was a me being a smartass. I personally HATE that line. Unfortunately most of my team were trained by Phone Ninjas and that's a line that they trained to use, A LOT. And you're right, it's hard to get them to stop using.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Your presence is your leverage, and let me elaborate on that a little more for you. We have the largest inventory in the are and often we'll have similar cars and they may have slightly different packages. Being that I know the inventory here better than anyone, not only will I find you the right car, but I'll also get it for you at the best price. Then sell your dealership!!!

Just giving out a price first without trying for an appointment is a recipe to get shopped. Of course as a last resort if I can't get the appointment, I'll give them an exact price, but not before I ask about the trade.

Believe it or not, but we track how many times customers ask, "What's the best price?" Currently it's less than 5% of customers who ask for the price over the phone. Most times is the sales rep who leads the customer to price.

You guys can chuckle all you want, but we have a handful of clients that set appointments as high as 90%. The clients who score on a scale of 4.5 or higher are setting appointments at 80% or better.

I'll take my skills to any dealership and we can have a little wager on who knows how to convert phone shoppers to appointments! Just make sure you bring 5K or more with you for our bet!

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Your presence is your leverage, and let me elaborate on that a little more for you. We have the largest inventory in the are and often we'll have similar cars and they may have slightly different packages. Being that I know the inventory here better than anyone, not only will I find you the right car, but I'll also get it for you at the best price. Then sell your dealership!!!

Just giving out a price first without trying for an appointment is a recipe to get shopped. Of course as a last resort if I can't get the appointment, I'll give them an exact price, but not before I ask about the trade.

Believe it or not, but we track how many times customers ask, "What's the best price?" Currently it's less than 5% of customers who ask for the price over the phone. Most times is the sales rep who leads the customer to price.

You guys can chuckle all you want, but we have a handful of clients that set appointments as high as 90%. The clients who score on a scale of 4.5 or higher are setting appointments at 80% or better.

I'll take my skills to any dealership and we can have a little wager on who knows how to convert phone shoppers to appointments! Just make sure you bring 5K or more with you for our bet!

 

[Joe Friedrichsen]

Everything about this thread is wonderful, haha.

 

[Joe Friedrichsen]

Everything about this thread is wonderful, haha.

 

[RickWillis]

View attachment 4485

It still happens today. Internet managers, BDC agents, and salespeople still send "your presence is your leverage" emails & texts to customers. Someone just showed me one.

A customer goes onto the dealer's website and clicks the "Get Price" call to action button to receive a slew of emails asking when they can come test drive, if they prefer to communicate over text message, or that their manager is super excited to work with them. And then the customer, in frustration, replies "I just want a price!" To be responded with "your presence is your leverage. We give the best deals to people who are in the showroom."

I shit you not.

Let's give the employee of the dealership the benefit of the doubt that he does not wish to message something so 1973. What happens to drive a perfectly good employee to send that garbage?

How many times can you ask a sales manager for a price before he starts saying "just get them in?" And how many times can you hear "just get them in" before you're tired of asking the boss for a price? You need to get back to these leads quickly. You have too many to answer already. And five more just came in. Screw it! Here's an easy answer.

Face it, we buy from people we like. If there's no one we like selling what we want, then the lowest price wins.

The industry has created the expectation that all salesmen are thieving dicks that will stop at nothing to get you in the showroom to strong-arm the sale. Is it any surprise the internet customer has no interest in engaging with you?

Unless you are willing to earn their respect, you can't expect them to think of you any less than piranha.

For the smart dealer, the TRUST YOU EARN is your LEVERAGE!

Rick