There’s no better time than the start of a new year to focus on your sales process and strategy. But you may ask yourself, where do I begin? David Lewis, President and CEO of David Lewis and Associates, joins us on the latest episode of Inside Automotive. Lewis explains what today’s dealers need to know about the sales process, especially when the trial closes.
Key Takeaways
1. In the last three years, salespeople haven’t had to sell cars as aggressively as they did before the pandemic. However, now that COVID is no longer a major concern, inventory is a thing of the past. Lewis believes it’s time to return to basics and create an environment where customers want to buy from you.
2. At David Lewis and Associates, they teach their dealers that the salesperson must lock in and focus on three things:
- Finding the perfect car for the customer.
- Building a good rapport and relationship with them.
- Making them want to do business with the dealership.
3. When it comes to trial closes, Lewis argues that salespeople often run into problems when they receive a negative response from the customer. This can lead to confrontation and ultimately harm the sales process. Instead, Lewis suggests that salespeople should invest more time in understanding the customer’s needs and preferences and only ask them to buy the car after presenting the numbers.
4. When you ask: “Would you like to buy the car,” Lewis believes you’ll get one of the two answers back- Yes or No, followed by a reason, “to me, both are closing comments.” But, according to Lewis, one of the worst statements a salesperson could say is: “What price did you have in mind?” Once you do that, you have lost all of your gross profit and control of the negotiation.
5. Selling a car should be a fun and enjoyable experience for both the buyer and the seller. To achieve this, managers need to train their salespeople to avoid asking such questions.
"At the management level, we've got to retrain the manager to stop asking the questions, but rather the managers have to be in sync with the salespeople who have to be in sync with the customer." – David Lewis
