A Guide For Used Car Salespeople Everywhere
Selling used cars was once a golden opportunity. In the 1970s, 80s, and even early 90s, it was possible for a high school drop out with a little personality and the ability to bypass moral roadblocks to make over $100,000 a year. I heard a joke about it once: A parrot flies into the bar. He lands on the shoulder of a wealthy looking man.
The parrot inquires, What is your IQ? 170, the guy says. The parrot says, You must be a successful lawyer?how many trials have you won? He keeps flying and spots a very wealthy-looking lady with designer clothes and jewelry. He asks her, What is your IQ? 180. She replies.
The parrot wants to know, How many operations have you done this month? The parrot flies off to find someone even wealthier. He spots a man in an expensive Italian suit, surrounded by bodyguards, next to his fancy sports car. Whats your IQ, rich guy? The parrot asks him. The man grins and answers, 80. The parrot has one question for the man: How many cars have you sold this month? Today, however, its rare to meet a salesperson making over $50,000 a year.
The advent of the Internet in the car-buying arena has really hurt auto salespeople. It has shifted the power from the hands of the unscrupulous salesperson into the hands of the consumer. All over, you can find sites like Used Cars in Oklahoma that allow people to learn everything there is to know about the car they want before even stepping onto the lot. But do you know how to use that to your advantage to sell even more cars? The consumer has access to TOO much information, and will rely on you to help him sort it out. You can overcome even the most intelligent Internet shoppers objections.
Here are some of the things that you can do: 1) If they have a trade, go to all of the trade evaluation sites and find the one that has the lowest amount. 2) If they think youare priced too high, repeat tip one, but look for the highest value instead of the lowest for the car youare selling. 3) Send emails to everyone all the time. People love receiving emails from car salesmen. After you send the emails, call them and tell them you sent an email. They love this as well.
4) If they search the cars history and dig up negative information, be ready with articles detailing the inaccuracies of vehicle history reports. 5) If the vehicle history report comes up clean but the customer doesnt believe it, assure him that Carfax guarantees accuracy. 6) If they complain that the cars Internet price is lower than the price you quoted them, blame it on hackers on the system. If they persist then its best to avoid the topic or steer them toward another car. 7) Ask someone to make a website with negative rumors about the competition, and refer customers to that site if they are thinking of visiting or already have visited the competing dealer.
8) Post on forums and blogs that aCompetitor Aa does something really bad. People will believe anything they read on the internet, so if you post (using a fake name) that Competitor A is a known drug dealer and that Competitor B helps to fund terrorism, people will stop going to them. 9) Find a free auto classified site and make up an account. Post a fictional car similar to one of yours but priced much higher. Print it out and show it to your customers. 10) If there is anything not covered here that is Internet related, tell the customers that there is a virus going around.
So dishonest and shady salespeople, lift your chin up. If we work together we can overcome the power of the Internet and continue wringing profits out of misinformed consumers like we did in the old days. If youre an honest salesperson or a consumer, forget you ever read this entire article. Its only written for fun.
Filed under: Training