Salesperson 101: The Trade's the Thing

You may or may not realize it, but the majority of your deals likely hinge on how you treat the customer's trade-in. Many a deal have been blown up because a salesperson, or even a manager has failed to identify the trade as the key hot button in the deal.

Have you ever heard a salesperson ask a customer, “Do you have to trade in your car?” or even worse, a sales manager ask the salesperson, “Do they have to trade in their car?“ I’ve seen the scenario play out over and over as sales staff make the fatal mistake of ignoring the trade. Fear of the trade syndrome. The client is trading in a vehicle, or “thinking about” trading in their car but there is a roadblock. Either the customer wants way too much for their vehicle or owes too much on their trade, so the salesperson tries to pull the trade from the deal.

Then the salesperson asks the fatal question: “Do you have to trade in your car?” If they're lucky the customer says yes and you haven’t completely screwed your deal, but it’s certainly not the message the client wants to hear about their trade-in. “Maybe you could sell it privately!” That’s another good one. Tell your customer that they are better off selling their vehicle privately because they want too much for it. “Hey Mr. Customer, maybe just go away, do all the work yourself and sell the car privately, then come back and see me! I’ll be finished my smoke by then!” Maybe you should just cut your losses and say, “Listen, I’m not very smart, or good at my job, so maybe you better check out that dealership down the road!”

The trade that you’re trying to cut out of the deal, is the key to the deal.

Here’s the thing. The trade that you’re trying to cut out of the deal, is the key to the deal. If the customer owes too much, then they have to trade it or they have two payments. No trade means no deal so you may as well just roll with it. If the negative equity kills your deal, then so be it, but at least it wasn’t stupidity. If the customer gives you an unrealistic desired value for their trade, then that tells you that the trade is the absolute key to the deal. It’s going to be how you close your deal.

The trade is the one element of the deal that will lead you to a closed deal. The entire deal revolves around the trade. Much of the qualifying and relationship-building conversation revolves around their vehicle. Conversation about their ownership experience, experience at other dealers, who uses the vehicle, how the vehicle is used and endless talking points that start with the trade. Not to mention that all the eventual negotiation will likely centre around the trade. The trade is the thing!

The customer wants to do business with someone who will pay extra for the trade.

Beyond that the customer wants to do business with someone who will pay extra for the trade. Maybe even has a reason to pay extra. “We have a customer looking for a vehicle exactly like yours!” sending the message that you want a client’s trade. Also sending the message that they will get more for their trade from you, and that they have a reason to do business with you rather than the idiot down the street who asked if “they had to trade in their car.”  Ask yourself: which dealership would you want to do business with, one that actually wants your trade, maybe even pay a little extra, or one that is so uninterested in your trade that they ask you if you have to trade it in?

The next time you run into a scenario where a customer either owes too much, or wants too much for their trade, whatever you do, do not try and run away from it. Embrace it because it’s the key to making a deal either way, and if you can’t make a deal, then don’t sweat it, you wouldn’t have had one anyway. Good luck and good selling.

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