Ever had a situation where you called a 1-800 number and didn’t like the way the call was handled? David Lewis of David Lewis & Associates suggests doing several things when customers call your dealership so that they can avoid the same scenario.
Well I’m going to share something with you that’s very interesting, and I think most of you know this. You see, people call the dealership for two reasons. Number one is they want to get information. “Is the car available? Do you have a specific color?” And maybe a certain price. The second reason why they call, which we don’t always seem to understand, is they call to size us up as sales people. Are we the people that they want to come and visit with? Do they feel comfortable with us?
Think about this, how many of you have called an 800 number? A customer support number? A technical support number? The person on the other end answered the phone, you didn’t like the sound of their voice, their tone, whatever it may be, and you hung up and redialed hoping to get somebody else. Well if you’re like me, most of you have done that. See that’s what’s happening. When the customer calls the dealership, they’re sizing us up. “Why should we come to that dealership? Are we going to be pressured?” I’m a very big fan of removing all that pressure. People want to come to an environment where they feel safe, where they feel secure. I use words like informational gathering. “I’ll give you information to take home.
“When somebody calls my dealership and I start a conversation with them, throughout that conversation I’m going to say to them, “Look, I’d like to recommend a visit. What we’ll do is we’ll make this visit purely an informational gathering event. You know it’s your first trip to the dealership, come, look at some cars. If you haven’t driven any, you can take some for a drive. And before you leave, let me give you pricing on all the cars that caught your eye, then you can take that home and think about it. Consider it, compare it with the other dealerships you’re going to be shopping at. So are you available this afternoon at 4:45.” You see what I’ve done is I’ve removed the fear of having to buy a car today and that makes people more comfortable. They’re more likely now to come in for their schedules appointment and a visit.
Now please, do not misunderstand me, do not misunderstand me. Am I going to try to sell that person a car when they’re there today? Of course I am. My job is to get them into the dealership and then I’m going to make a great presentation, they’re going to fall in love with a car, they’re going to fall in love with me, they’re going to fall in love with the dealership. I’m going to give them a fair and reasonable price, and by all means, am I going to ask them to buy that car today? Of course I am. But if I don’t get them into the dealership, I don’t get that opportunity.
Let’s use verbiage that is different and unique. “Informational gathering. Come and look at some cars. You can drive a few of them. And then I’ll give you prices and brochures to take home on all the cars that caught your eye so you can think about it, consider it, and compare it to the other cars you’re going to look at.” Then I go right for the appointment. In most cases I get the appointment, and in most cases they show up for the appointment. Give it a try, I know it’s going to work for you.
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