Sales Manager 101: The Salesperson Told Me
Would you like to know what the number one complaint from customers is in the car business? Actually, I’m not sure what it is, but I can tell you most of them start with the words, “The salesperson told me…” That much is certain.
I’ve been at this a long time. Very few things are as frustrating as a complaint that starts with, “My salesperson told me…” Would you like to know why that’s so frustrating? I’ll tell you why. Because it’s so preventable yet it seems to happen over and over again, like some warped version of déjà vu.
“My car’s engine just blew but the salesperson told me I had a six-month warranty, so no problem.”
“I bought my car six months ago and I’m here to get the snow tires put on that my salesperson told me were included in the deal!”
“I still haven’t received the extra set of keys I was promised for my five-year-old Mazda!”
“The salesperson promised me a referral cheque and I still don’t have it!”
So many issues and problems start with “the salesperson told me'' or some variation. All preventable. You know what it is? It’s laziness and bad paperwork, that’s what it is. And it’s friggen' hard to fix I can tell you that.
So many issues and problems start with, “The salesperson told me.”
I vividly recall witnessing a Sales Manager, never mind a salesperson, making that mistake in the most unbelievable way. We had a customer purchase a used SUV. A pretty tough finance deal, we weren’t even sure we would be able to get it done. An old school car person might say this person was “Lucky to be driving!” In this case, after several weeks of hard work, we got the client approved, but the vehicle they originally purchased had been sold. Sometimes it's hard to hold a vehicle when you really don’t know if you have an approval when someone else wants the same car. Check out my video on the vehicle switch if you want to know more about that.
Anyway, back to the story. The client finally got approved. Excellent. Even better, we had another SUV exactly the same as the one the customer wanted to purchase originally, just a different colour. And oh ya, no hitch. Never a part of any deal, so on we go. Bring the customer in, test drive, close, customer super happy. Done.
Customer walks out the door to leave, takes a look at the SUV and turns around. Walks back in the door towards the sales desk where the sales manager is sitting. “Hi Mike,” (the name has been changed to protect the innocent), “The other one had a hitch, this one doesn’t have one.”
The sales manager turns, casually says, “No problem, we’ll get you a hitch!” and off the customer goes, happy as anything. Just unbelievably lazy for that Sales Manager.
What kind of hitch? Class one, two three? How about wiring? Four pin? Seven pin? Or what the hell are you towing? Does the vehicle even tow it? How about, “This one doesn’t come with a hitch, it’s a used car!” No. Oh ya, I’ll just make a hitch magically appear.
Three weeks later, a thousand dollars’ worth of hitch. An expensive lesson for that sales manager I can tell you that.
Here’s the issue: what a salesperson, or even a manager might see as a casual statement to a customer, the customer will translate to whatever suits them best. “You promised me a hitch. I want a new hitch. Not used. It needs to be a stage three and have seven pin wiring, and of course it has to include a sleeve and ball, what good is it without that?” All that from the statement, “No problem, we will get you a hitch.”
What a salesperson might see as a casual statement, the customer will translate to whatever suits them best.
It could be tires, extra keys, some phantom warranty. Any number of things said in passing that end up coming back on you, because you didn’t do one thing. Tighten your deal on delivery.
That moment when you’re doing the paperwork. When the customer is so excited to get their new or used vehicle. That moment when all the momentum is in the deal. That is the moment when you tighten your deal down. Wrap it up clean. A clear conversation and clear document that says, and I’m paraphrasing, “We have given you everything that is included in your transaction. Nothing is owed or promised to you.” If you do owe them something, have a clause that details it! “The company has no other warranties and makes no representations other than those written in this agreement.” And finally, “No verbal statements, disclosures or agreements make up any part of this transaction.”
And one more thing, don’t just do the, “Sign here and sign here,” thing while you hold your hand over the document and mumble over the verbiage. Have a conversation. Now is the time, on delivery, to clean up any issue and tighten up your file or you will endure never-ending heat from customers.
Whether you are the salesperson, the sales manager, or a finance manager signing up a client on delivery, that is the time, when the deal has the most momentum, when the client is at their most positive point, when you can deal with issues in the most positive way, that is the time to tighten down that deal completely. No loose ends. Clean. It won’t get rid of all the complaints, but it sure will cover your ass. Good luck and good selling!
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