A small but true story on using humor with your customers...
I have a friend that's a salesperson in the car business. Now, he is extremely good at what he does. He is very good at following the basics, a great closer, following up, prospecting etc. But one of his strong points is making people laugh.
Here is what he used to do. Picture a jam packed showroom on a Saturday. My friend would get out of his cubicle wearing these silly black glasses, with the big nose and the moustache and come to the middle of the showroom and start this hilarious speech in front of everyone. He did have a talent for being a great public speaker. But a gimmick like this worked very well for him. So get creative and see what works for you. But the idea is to be humorous and not rude.
Now I'm not saying for you to turn into a stand up comedian like my friend, but all I'm saying is if you have a great sense of humor, use that to your advantage. In my experience selling, I have noticed that superstar salespeople in this business are ones that work smart, follow a plan and has a great sense of humor. All superstar salespeople are very likeable and they spend a lot of time, effort and money on educating themselves to get even better. But the ones that think there is no room for improvement, those are the ones that never grows. Learn to make a friend before you sell them something. Making a friend is the same thing as building rapport.
What to avoid when building rapport...
Don't you feel good about yourself when you can sell a car, make a friend and get a happy customer? Sure you do. And that all comes down to building rapport. But don't forget your objective. And that's to sell a car. Try NOT to get emotionally attached to the customer where you forget your job. There is a clear difference between getting emotionally involved with the customer and building rapport. Master the skill of building rapport without getting emotionally involved. You'll have a hard time closing the sale if sympathize on every situation the customer has.
Think about this; if you're emotionally involved, how will you present your deals to your managers? All you'll end up doing is sympathizing for your customer. If you approach the sale this way it will weigh your judgment and affect your selling ability.
Rather than sympathizing with your customer, learn to empathize with your customer. Remember most of your customers are buying a very expensive product which ranges in the thousands. So yes, you do have to understand their feelings. If you can understand their feelings, the customer will begin to trust you. So understand them and learn to empathize to build rapport and gain trust. But don't sympathize, once you do that, that's when you'll lose track of the sale.
I have a friend that's a salesperson in the car business. Now, he is extremely good at what he does. He is very good at following the basics, a great closer, following up, prospecting etc. But one of his strong points is making people laugh.
Here is what he used to do. Picture a jam packed showroom on a Saturday. My friend would get out of his cubicle wearing these silly black glasses, with the big nose and the moustache and come to the middle of the showroom and start this hilarious speech in front of everyone. He did have a talent for being a great public speaker. But a gimmick like this worked very well for him. So get creative and see what works for you. But the idea is to be humorous and not rude.
Now I'm not saying for you to turn into a stand up comedian like my friend, but all I'm saying is if you have a great sense of humor, use that to your advantage. In my experience selling, I have noticed that superstar salespeople in this business are ones that work smart, follow a plan and has a great sense of humor. All superstar salespeople are very likeable and they spend a lot of time, effort and money on educating themselves to get even better. But the ones that think there is no room for improvement, those are the ones that never grows. Learn to make a friend before you sell them something. Making a friend is the same thing as building rapport.
What to avoid when building rapport...
Don't you feel good about yourself when you can sell a car, make a friend and get a happy customer? Sure you do. And that all comes down to building rapport. But don't forget your objective. And that's to sell a car. Try NOT to get emotionally attached to the customer where you forget your job. There is a clear difference between getting emotionally involved with the customer and building rapport. Master the skill of building rapport without getting emotionally involved. You'll have a hard time closing the sale if sympathize on every situation the customer has.
Think about this; if you're emotionally involved, how will you present your deals to your managers? All you'll end up doing is sympathizing for your customer. If you approach the sale this way it will weigh your judgment and affect your selling ability.
Rather than sympathizing with your customer, learn to empathize with your customer. Remember most of your customers are buying a very expensive product which ranges in the thousands. So yes, you do have to understand their feelings. If you can understand their feelings, the customer will begin to trust you. So understand them and learn to empathize to build rapport and gain trust. But don't sympathize, once you do that, that's when you'll lose track of the sale.
About the Author:
Mak has many more proven Automotive sales training articles. For a limited-time get your free must have e-course only available for car salespeople
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