Selling the Appointment

–         Amazon of car buying – Vroom – CarVana – Fair.com/Beepi not quite there yet. They are all trying to “change” the way car buying is done.

Truth be told you’ve been able to search and buy cars online since I’ve been in the car business at least 14 years now. The difference here is they want to try to “deliver” the car to you. With the exception of Fair.com/Beepi (they merged by the way) they’re trying to get you stuck in a payment and let you pick cars based on your payment.

With all these new companies as much as you try to re-invent the wheel at the end of the day you still have to sit in the car and feel if it’s the right fit for you. My experience with “return policies” are that the reason customers return cars is they never drove the car and when they drove the car they didn’t like the feel of it.

When taking a call you have to sell the appointment. Your goal as a Sales Professional or BDC Sales Person is to sell the appointment. Whether it’s a phone call or an email you have to sell the appointment. BDC sales personnel can get so caught up on trying to fill an order and give the customer so much information that they cost themselves and the company a lot of sales. We have a saying in the car business “the feel of the wheel makes the deal.” This basic idea is what separates a great sales professional to an average salesperson.

The basic format for Selling the appointment consists of the following:

1.      Be prepared

a.      Computer works

b.      Pen and paper handy

c.      Call guides

2.      Call Format

a.      Introduction – Get the customers name

b.      Fact Finding

i.     Features

ii.     Models

iii.     Color options – dark, medium, or light options

1.      Key question: “If we have a similar option for you are you open to that.” This will help you sell the customer in the event the car they might be calling on is no longer available.

c.      Ask for the appointment

d.      Get the rest of customers information and give them yours

e.      Reconfirm time and directions to the dealership

Sticking to this basic principles will help you set more appointments and ultimately sell more cars.