Is Selling an Art Or Science?

by: Randy Sobel

Today the market is changing faster than ever before. The way banks buy paper, the strength of manufacturers, inventory levels, deal structure, flooring, size of staff, employee compensation, and threshold for risk by dealers; all change the way we do business
With all these changes, are your salespeople keeping up with the times?

If selling was an art, your salespeople would keep up with changing times. They would simply get the next client and creatively convince them to buy. Then what? I am always hearing dealers say they want to hire creative people who can think on their feet and can talk their way out of tight jams.Where are all these people today?

Selling is not an art, it is a science! If you ask the same question over and over, and get the same results, and they are the results you are looking for, keep asking that question. If you are not measuring the results of the questions you ask, you are winging it with each valuable customer. This is dangerous in today’s market.

For example, I asked a class how much money they were asking as a down payment. The students’ responses varied. I heard the following: “How much do you want to put down?” “What were you thinking you wanted to put down?” “Can you give me 10 percent down?” “The banks usually like to see 20 percent down?” “Our lenders usually require one-third down, so do you have your own bank or credit union to go through?”

The lack of consistency within a dealership is amazing. This shows that the salespeople are either winging it, doing the best they can, but mostly; they are not receiving the training they need to handle today’s customer. Let’s break down the most popular answers to these questions.

Q: How much do you want to put down?
A: As little as possible.
Q: What were you thinking you wanted to put down?
A: I don’t know. What do I need?
Q: Can you give me 10 percent down?
A: I will not give you anything. I may give my lender some money down to lower my monthly payments.
Q: The banks usually like to see 20 percent down?
A: I just came from another dealer who said that I can buy with zero down.

After looking at the above responses, it is easy to go to my principle of anchoring, “The way we ask questions greatly influences the answers.” As I said, the market is changing fast.We must ask the best questions possible. The shift that we need to make to be effective is not limited to the way we request down payments.We must use a customer driven method that follows the principle, “We are not allowed to open our mouth unless what we are saying benefits our customer.”

Measurable answers to questions must be consistent with what the market is doing in our industry. For example, our lenders are looking to strengthen their portfolios. In turn, we must change the questions we ask to fit the times without violating any of our principles.We must remember that when our customers decide to put more money down, they will qualify for shorter terms, and pay less interest. Here are some new examples that will demonstrate measurable changes in our questions that produce measurable results.

PRODUCT SELECTION
First, in the product selection step, we must not only ask the credit question, but we must ask it with more information before showing any product. One way to ask this question goes as follows, “We do business with several different lenders in order to get you the best rates and terms possible. In efforts to do this, have you ever had any credit challenges that would keep my business manager from doing his best work for you?”While this question was effective for the last 10 years, we are advising salespeople to add a little more when needed. “We ask this question because lenders have tightened up their lending requirements.With the challenges bankers are facing currently, we have seen customers with good credit and a reasonable debt declined for loans. So, if you have any concerns about what the banks will lend you, let’s fill out a credit application first, like in the mortgage business, and get you pre-approved. This way I will only show you what you want and what you feel financially comfortable purchasing. How does that sound?”

In the product selection step, we have also changed the way we ask for down payments. We used to let the customer know that the more they put down, the lower their payments.We asked if they wanted to be like most of our customers and have low payments. Again, that needs to be enhanced with a very aggressive anchor.We now should explain that they need to put down at least 20 percent down, and that by putting more down they have the opportunity to pay less interest and qualify for a shorter term, which will keep them in an equity position. Customers who take advantage of this are helping our industry secure a better portfolio with lenders and secure our business for years to come.

THE WRITE-UP
In the write-up section we are teaching effective new word tracks that are helping salespeople get more money down, and more deals approved. “Three to six months ago, banks would have requested that we present you with the lowest down
payment and the longest terms, so that they could collect the most interest from you. Today, banks are singing a different tune. Now they want the highest down payment with the shortest term for you to remain in an equity position throughout the loan to protect their collateral.” By explaining this to customer, we have been able to help them understand what they need today to get a loan.

Across the country we are still seeing good traffic in dealerships. Some have reported record sales for some months this year. If the traffic is there, and your skills are current, then you can expect more sales in 2009. Of course you know that you can only coast one way, downhill! Don’t wait until the season is over to get the skills you need to guarantee success now. Selling is a science, we must measure what we say, and the results that follow.