2nd hand car salesman essentials

Just watched a reality TV show (Alan Sugar’s Apprentice) pitting two teams against each other to sell cars in an enormous London car supermarket,  They got initial training from an expert sales manager.  His most-used phrase ended up being “End Of”, as he kept having to give bollockings and when the novices tried to answer back, this signified the ‘end of’ the debate!  He gave good insight into something I thought was well put.

He identified 4 stages of a sale.  The one that’s interesting is the second, after the ‘meet and greet’ (when a prospect walks on to the forecourt and you engage in initial chit-chat).  It’s Qualification.

Qualification, according to the expert, is the single most important part of the process.  Why spend time with anyone who’s not really looking?  The phrase “tyre-kicker” springs to mind …  

The Three Big Questions recommended were: 

1  What car are you looking for today? – their answer shows how serious they are, as apparently car buyers that will buy are more likely to if they already know what they want.

2  What you driving at the moment? – think how different it is from what they seek, and if quite a step up/down, understand reasons why.

3  Looking to part exchange? – and this could lead you straight into negotiations…

The message is, that qualification is vital, so work out what questions rapidly qualify a prospect.