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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.

On every Saturday, when the show room is jam packed with customers, he would walk out of his cubicle, put on these silly glasses with the moustache and big nose, and start this hilarious speech in front of every one. Trust me he was a great public speaker. It’s true that it’s a gimmick, but guess what? It works! So, there is no reason for you not to get creative and do silly things to make your customers laugh and build rapport. Just remember 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.

Be aware of getting caught up while building rapport

Doesn’t it feel good when you sell a vehicle and have a happy customer because you made a friend? Well then you need to build a lot of rapport. But remember your main objective, and that’s to sell a car. So try not to get emotionally involved with the customer. There is a big difference between getting emotionally involved and building rapport. Avoid believing everything that the customer tells you. If you start to sympathize for the customer then you’ll have a tough time closing the deal.

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.

Empathizing with the customer is the way to go. Everyone of your customer is buying a very expensive product when they buy a car. So yes it is good to understand their feelings. If you understand them then it will become easy for you to gain their trust. But don’t loose track of the sale by sympathizing. Rather empathize, make a friend and sell the vehicle properly.