Friday, May 23, 2008

Automotive sales training tips to building rapport

By Mak

Why can't car salespeople take the time to build rapport?

To earn professional wages in the car business, you must stop from meeting the customer and trying to close right away. And the worst part about it is, using price as your closing tool. Closing on price might sell you a few cars but it limites your earning potential to earn as a professional car salesperson.

Since most customers buy the vehicle because they liked the car salesperson, why not get them to like you? Now don't brag about yourself to try to get them to like you. Instead build rapport with them. If you start to build rapport with them, you'll notice it will slow down the sales process and you can go through the basic steps much more smoothly.

The customer is completely aware that they walked into your dealership to buy a car. And they are also aware that you are there to sell them one. Since all of this is common sense try making the customer feel as if they are here to own a vehicle rather than you are there to sell them one. There is a difference. Because customers in general don't like being sold to.

If you've been selling cars for a bit now then you know people don't like being sold to. So start by asking tons of open-ended questions to make them feel comfortable and at ease through the entire process. Break the ice as quickly as possible. Ask them questions such as:

How long the have you lived here?

What type of work do you do?

The idea is to slow things down and get off topic and talk about something else other than selling them a car. This is called building rapport and it's the easiest way to make the customer feel comfortable. Now don't just build rapport, qualify at the same time. Building rapport and qualifying should be done side by side. If you do these 2 things then you ease the tension and at the same time figure out what vehicle to present to the customer when it comes down to showing them a car. It will also save you time and help you close the sale.

How long should the car salesperson build rapport?

There really is no set time. The correct answer would be as long as it takes. You can go through the basic steps and still keep building rapport, as long as you have control over the conversation you should be okay.

If one of your strong points is that you're very humorous, use that to your advantage. Just don't be rude. Customers are much easier to close when they are having fun, laughing and having a great time. Mastering these selling skills is a must. There are tons of others I teach. But building rapport is a must to succeed in the car business as a salesperson.

About the Author:

No comments:

Blog Archive