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5 Great Strategies for Selling
More and Selling Better |
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Getting a new car is usually an
exciting and enjoyable experience – but not always. |
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I recently negotiated an agreement
with a New Jersey auto dealer for a shiny new car. Two weeks later the General
Manager tried to pull a fast one on me. He told me that I could still have the
car I’d selected, but the lease would cost $20 more per month. |
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I was disappointed. I was saddened.
I was outraged. Sales practices like this give salespeople a bad name. |
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I argued, but to no avail. I
certainly wasn’t going to agree to his unfair terms, so we killed the deal and
he returned my $500 deposit. |
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Enter Katie. At 7:30 on a Thursday
evening she was working at Mercedes-Benz of Devon in Devon, PA. She was 30
minutes from the end of a long workday – until I called. |
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I told Katie the exact vehicle,
color, options, and delivery date I wanted. I also told her where the price
needed to be. Because I had just gone through the process with another dealer, I
was able to state my terms with confidence. If she met those terms, we had a
deal. |
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It was almost closing time, but
that didn’t matter to Katie, who quickly checked inventory and crunched numbers.
We discussed several different vehicles with different options – all at various
price points. I told her that I would evaluate each of the three deals she’d
proposed and get back to her. She gave me her mobile phone number and 45 minutes
later I called with my decision. Somehow I ended up choosing the entertainment
package and navigation system – two options I had declined on my original deal
in New Jersey. |
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I've driven the car for weeks, now.
I'm very pleased with both the car and the dealership’s service. Katie was a
real pro throughout the entire selling process. Here are some lessons we can
learn from her about being an always-ready sales professional: |
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1.
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Not every prospect starts from
square one |
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Because my original deal fell
through, I was ready to buy. I had to buy. Katie didn’t waste time trying to
sell me on the merits of her brand. She knew I was already sold. Instead, she
immediately proposed vehicles, packages, and prices. |
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As sales professionals, we must be
able to decipher the window-shoppers from the deal-makers and take swift action with
the deal-makers. |
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2.
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At the prospect’s beck and call |
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How easy are you to reach? Are you
easily accessible by phone or do you hide behind voice mail? Are you prepared to
act immediately when a new prospect calls you and is ready to buy? Do you have
your price points memorized? If not, do you have them at your fingertips? Sales
pros who are always ready to sell can answer all of these questions with a
resounding “Yes!” |
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3.
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Always Upsell |
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When customers seem to know exactly
what they want, they’re not going to buy the extras unless you suggest them and
clearly explain their value. Katie convinced me that the entertainment package
and navigation system were features I couldn’t live without. Upselling is
something sales pros like Katie have learned to do well. |
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4.
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How many hours in a sales day? |
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Some salespeople think there are
only 8 or 9 hours in a work day. The real pros know that there are 24 hours in a
sales day. Would you stay late to help a prospect? Would you come in early? Do
you carry business cards everywhere you go? |
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Even though her dealership was
closed, Katie was open for business. She even arrived 15 minutes early the next
day to execute the contract in order to accommodate my schedule. |
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5.
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Turn yes/no situations into
multiple choice |
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Katie proposed three different
packages, each with a different price point: low, medium, and high. This allowed
me to choose the package that I considered to be the best value. |
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As sales professionals, our closing
percentage increases when we give prospects choices. If we give them just one
choice, their decision is whether or not to use us. When we offer multiple
choices, they decide how to use us. |
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Are you ready to sell? |
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Katie sees herself as a resource. A
solution to customer’s problems. A value-add. She gains new customers easily and
builds loyalty with every sale. Katie is ready to sell at any moment. Are you? |
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