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When was the last time you took a course on selling? Or on attitude? When was the last time you provided SALES training to your staff? I’m talking about training that actually makes a difference in your ability to make a sale…not product training that helps you to know how many pan bolts are on a 4L80E, or how the heck a dual-clutch transmission operates. I’m talking about training that impacts your PROFIT.
In many ways, the automotive aftermarket is years behind the rest of the world. One of those ways is my favorite thing about the industry—business is still done on a handshake. Your word means something. Your business is built on your reputation—trust, respect, value, and integrity. It’s still about the little guy’s right to earn a dollar on his own. But another remnant of the past is the automotive aftermarket’s failure to adapt to the sophistication of the average customer. Most shops still focus on selling techniques instead of uncovering buying motives.
Most shops are afraid to use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Most shops still use the old “base price plus hard parts” routine and fail to address customer fears until after the customer pulls his car out of the shop. That same shop wonders why its FTA rate is so high.
Most shops fail to capitalize on the power of video testimonials from ecstatic customers and instead are forced to do all the selling themselves.
Most shops still have a waiting area decorated with negative signage (think, “NO CHECKS”, “STORAGE FEES WILL ACCRUE AFTER THREE DAYS”, “WE DO NOT ACCEPT AMERICAN EXPRESS”) instead of creating a Sales Preparation Area that helps the manager warm up the customer for the sale.
And some of you will read this and say “Hey, Noah, that’s not me! We’ve become very professional.”
Right, and that’s the problem. You have to be friendly, not professional. Be helpful to the customer, not just the car. Be relatable, not scientific. Be a customer resource, not an encyclopedia of how transmissions work. Customers are coming to you for help, and you’re trying to sell them. Customers are coming to you in hopes that you’ll treat them fairly, fix their cars right, and stand behind your work—and you’re still trying to sell them.
The decision to have a major automotive repair done is an emotional decision, made first by considering WHY the car should be fixed.
So why should a car be fixed?
Only after that decision is made does the customer begin to justify the decision with logic. Logic is the price, cost, financing, warranty, etc.
But most shops foolishly start there.
I’m going to give you a few ways to start things off right with YOUR customers, and then I’m going to give you the opportunity to share your best questions.
6 Best Ways to Start the Sales Conversation for Automotive Repair
1. “What is your favorite thing about your car?”
2. “After we fix your car, where will you drive it first?”
3. “Besides the fact that your transmission is not working, what one thing would you like to improve about your car?”
4. “What has been your experience with your car so far?”
5. “How have you cared for your car over the years?”
6. “Tell me about your relationship with your car. When did you buy it? Where did you buy it? Why did you buy it? How long did you plan on keeping it? How long do you plan to keep it now?”
The questions above will help you to uncover buying motives, to establish a friendly relationship, and to begin your journey to becoming a trusted advisor to your customers. The questions that you ask can differentiate you from your competition, IF you ask questions that they aren’t asking.
I’ll bet one of your CSM’s first questions is “tell me what your car is doing or not doing at the moment.” Sound familiar? That’s a question that sounds exactly like every other shop on the planet.
Focus on asking emotional, intelligent, engaging questions that get to the heart of the sale.
If you spend your time preparing questions, your customers will spend their money with you.
It all boils down to four words: Don’t Ask. Don’t Sell.
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN:
Click here to send me your best question (one that you use to engage a prospect over the telephone) and I’ll send you a REMAN U t-shirt…and you’ll earn a spot in a future edition of the REMAN U “Tune Up” ezine.
Yours in Sales,
Captain Reman
Watch this week’s video here.
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