Many career salespeople stay in the car business because they like helping people. It’s a great feeling, to help people make a major purchase by showing empathy, professionalism and by using a non-pushy, consultative approach.
Even with all that to offer, why are buyers not coming in as willingly as they used to? Here are five reasons shoppers decide against you.
A Cumbersome Web Site
Today’s shoppers expect instant information. If your website is slow to load, shoppers will simply exit and go to their next Google hit. Speed is the name of the game these days.
Mobile friendly? Many of your website visitors will shop your website by smartphone. Try navigating your website with your phone. Be honest. Could a total stranger find what they are searching for quickly and easily?
Poorly Written, Self-Centered Website Text
Career salespeople will tell you that good selling is all about the customer. Keep the focus on the prospect. But that falls apart when placing words on a website.
No, shoppers don’t want to read about your plans to be the biggest and largest dealership around. They don’t want to read all about how you became number one – that’s bragging and bad manners. So why do dealers write that stuff?
Who knows. But if that is the way your website reads, then it’s worth investing a little money to have a good copywriter rewrite one single page of your website – just to show you how much your words can be improved. The difference can be dramatic and powerful. Try it.
Poor Phone Manners
Have you ever called your own dealership, just to see how incoming phone calls are handled? Try that, for sales, parts and service. Calls should be answered on the 2nd ring, handled courteously and expedited confidently.
Hold times are always an irritant. It’s a universal complaint in the business world. How long is too long? When the callers hang up and call your competition.
Most salespeople make their best impression in person. On the phone, though, they talk constantly about themselves and the car for sale. Bad manners. That makes the shopper feel alienated, so they lose interest. The cure? A little evaluation, feedback, and training will go a long way.
It costs a lot of marketing money to make your phone ring. Don’t let it go wasted.
Poorly Written Emails and Text Messages to Prospective Customers
We’ve all know top-notch salespeople who absolutely detest putting words on paper – or on a keyboard. The written word is their weakest method of communication.
So, when a prospect sends an email to inquire about a vehicle for sale and receives back a jumble of words laced with bad grammar and incomplete sentences, it turns them off. It makes your whole operation look bad.
Used Car Inventory Bloated with Trucks
Yes, trucks are big sellers and money-makers. But another valuable asset is your reputation in the community. You can change that over time, for the better or worse.
After a few years of inventorying more trucks and fewer cars, you will have built the reputation as a place to shop for a truck – but not much else. Is that what you want? Probably not. In marketing terms that is called ‘cannibalization,’ sacrificing some types of sales for others. It’s not always a great idea. The adage used to be ‘carry something for everyone.’ Maybe it’s still true.
