Video Coming Soon
The customer must understand the need to make a change. We accomplish this by finding problems and making problems hurt. This is connected to the trigger event question: "What puts you in the market for a new vehicle?"
The customer responds to this question with a problem. We need to probe deeper. Brainstorm some possible problems:
Don't stop there. Use the phrase, "tell me more about that." to help the customer talk more about their problems. Be nice, but dig in just a little bit. Take every problem listed above and find a way to kindly ask a deeper question. For example, "I need more space - "
SP: "Ok, no problem - what kind of space do you need?"
Customer: "My kids are killing each in the back seat and it's driving me nuts. I need a third row."
SP: "Perfect. Just so I can get the picture, what's the setup right now? Like how many kids, and what kind of seats are they in?"
Customer: "I have one in a rear-facing carseat, one in a booster, and one that can sit on their own."
SP: "I man those rear-facing seats are huge. All that packed into your Chevy Malibu? So I assume the rear-facing seat is in the middle right? Because they stick out so far forward?"
Customer: "Yes."
SP: "So that's gotta be impossible to try to get the baby in there, having to lean into the middle and everything. And I'm sure the other two are crowded on either side."
Customer: "Yeah, it's tight. There's no space, they're always touching each other, and I'm totally sick of it."
SP: "Well we can absolutely help you with that, what model were you thinking for the upgrade?"
This is a basic example but it's VITALLY IMPORTANT. So often the customer says they need more space and we just say "ok" and start showing them a car. Then at the end when the payment is higher than they had hoped and they're struggling to make the decision and wondering whether they really should spend the money at all right now, we lose the deal to Status Quo Bias - the strong tendency to keep things the same unless there's a COMPELLING REASON to make a change.
It's the job of a salesperson to find the compelling reasons and make the customer aware of them, so they can confidently make a purchase decision even when the payments are a little higher than they'd hoped.
The customer responds to this question with a problem. We need to probe deeper. Brainstorm some possible problems:
- I totaled my vehicle
- I have an expensive mechanical repair
- My car has become unreliable
- My car makes me look bad
- My car payment is too high
- I need better gas mileage
- I need more space
- I need more cargo room
- I need some towing capcity
- I'm tired of this car
- This car has a funny noise that only I can hear, but it's making me nervous and it sounds expensive
- I'm due for new tires
- Etc, Etc, Etc, the problems are endless.
Don't stop there. Use the phrase, "tell me more about that." to help the customer talk more about their problems. Be nice, but dig in just a little bit. Take every problem listed above and find a way to kindly ask a deeper question. For example, "I need more space - "
SP: "Ok, no problem - what kind of space do you need?"
Customer: "My kids are killing each in the back seat and it's driving me nuts. I need a third row."
SP: "Perfect. Just so I can get the picture, what's the setup right now? Like how many kids, and what kind of seats are they in?"
Customer: "I have one in a rear-facing carseat, one in a booster, and one that can sit on their own."
SP: "I man those rear-facing seats are huge. All that packed into your Chevy Malibu? So I assume the rear-facing seat is in the middle right? Because they stick out so far forward?"
Customer: "Yes."
SP: "So that's gotta be impossible to try to get the baby in there, having to lean into the middle and everything. And I'm sure the other two are crowded on either side."
Customer: "Yeah, it's tight. There's no space, they're always touching each other, and I'm totally sick of it."
SP: "Well we can absolutely help you with that, what model were you thinking for the upgrade?"
This is a basic example but it's VITALLY IMPORTANT. So often the customer says they need more space and we just say "ok" and start showing them a car. Then at the end when the payment is higher than they had hoped and they're struggling to make the decision and wondering whether they really should spend the money at all right now, we lose the deal to Status Quo Bias - the strong tendency to keep things the same unless there's a COMPELLING REASON to make a change.
It's the job of a salesperson to find the compelling reasons and make the customer aware of them, so they can confidently make a purchase decision even when the payments are a little higher than they'd hoped.