Car Sales

Their are a number of steps followed when selling cars for a living.  Below you will see one list of the various steps that are taught to people new in the car business.  You will see that “Meet and Greet” is the traditional first step to a car sale.  I do not agree.   All of the truly great salespeople have one skill in common.  That skill is developed through what I believe to be the first and most important step to any sale.  I will explain after you read the steps to a car sale below. The steps to a car sale: Meet and Greet. Fact Finding. Select a Vehicle. Presentation and Demo. Trial Close. Trade in Evaluation/Walk. Write-Up. Negotiate and Close. Grant Cardone has been very successful in the car business.  He says that all people are in sales.  I agree with him.  It doesn’t matter what you do for a living.  It starts for most of us at the beginning of our day.  That is when we sell ourselves on getting up and going to work.  All through the day we are negotiating with someone for something.  The better we are at it the more the day goes the way we want it to go.  For example.  Your wife might say to you on the way out the door.  Honey, I was thinking we would go to the mall after work.  Well, we both know that is the last thing you want to do.  She spends all day there and comes out with a pair of socks!  So, what do you do.  Well, I’ll tell you what you don’t do.  You don’t tell her you don’t want to go.  If you do you will get yourself in a conversation you can’t win.  The better way is to simply say.  Well honey, I guess we could do that.  Its just that I was planning on taking you to that restaurant you have been wanting to go to.  Hmmm……so much for going to the mall.  She is already on the phone setting an appointment to get her hair done!  Yeah, its going to cost you money, but you don’t care.  You are a successful salesperson.  What you just did is you got her to do what you wanted her to do and eliminated the possibility of her pursuing something you did not want her to do.  You controlled her without her knowing it.  In the car business, we call this “Control Unrealized”. Now we get to the REAL FIRST STEP IN CAR SALES which is not meet and greet!  The real first step in car sales is Preparation.  Part of preparation is practice.  Preparation is taking a shower and dressing in appropriate clothing before going to work.  Or, it could be walking the used car lot to see what new inventory came in.  Or it could be practicing the way you “Meet and Greet”.  However, what you really have to practice in order to be a great salesman is “Control Unrealized”.  You should practice it all day, everyday, in everything you do.  In other words, start training yourself to manipulate people without them knowing it.  I know.  It sounds underhanded and it can be if you are a con man.  However, you are in sales and what you are really doing is preparing yourself for a successful sales career.  Let me ask you.  How successful can you be if you don’t prepare for success? How good can you be at something if you don’t practice, practice and practice?  Do you practice your skills with the customer or do you practice your skills before you meet the customer?  What good is meeting and greeting a customer if you are not already good at what you do?  If you are not prepared you will blow the sale. The first step to sales is, and always will be, “Preparation”.  “Control Unrealized” will always be the single most important skill that all great salespersons have in common!