Salesperson 101: A Tale of Two Appointments
I’m going to tell you the stories of two appointments, both for a used car on a new car dealership's lot. See if one of them sounds familiar and figure out which one likely has the better outcome.
I’ve spent decades watching salespeople prepare for their appointments. New car appointments, used car appointments, and appointments for consultations about car loans. It is astounding to me how someone in sales can be so unprepared for the most important part of their day. Especially when it comes to used cars.
It is astounding to me how someone in sales can be so unprepared for the most important part of their day.
Let’s look at this one. Bob has done all the work to get an appointment to show a used car. The prospect called a few days earlier and Bob spent a ton of time sending emails and following up until he got the appointment. Customer will be in at six! Bob even made sure to call the client the morning of the appointment, and send an email, just to make sure his client would show. Good job!
Bob gets on with his day, makes some calls, has a few smokes, maybe ten cups of free coffee. He’s in for a long day! Has several appointments, definitely going to sell some cars.
Six o’clock! The customer arrives and Bob spends a few minutes talking and making a friend. Bob’s pretty good at making friends. “Let’s go see the car!” Bob gets the keys and walks the client to the car. It’s a little dusty, no big deal. “Nice car! Here let me fire it up for you!”
Predictably, the aged used car doesn’t start. “Oh sorry! That’s normal. When cars sit for a long time, sometimes the battery dies, don’t worry, if you buy it, we will make sure it’s perfect!”
Off Bob runs for the booster pack. Still doesn’t start. “Sometimes you just have to let the battery charge for a bit before it will start! So we’ll just stand here, and wait.”
The car eventually started, but unfortunately the vehicle had almost no gas in it. “It’s no problem, I’ll go get some gas right away!” Any of that sound familiar?
Now, Mary comes in early every shift. Mary also has made an appointment on a used car at six o’clock. It's an aged unit and has been in stock for six months. Mary, like Bob, confirms her appointment early in the day as part of her regular follow up.
Mary knows if she’s going to give herself the best possible chance of selling that used car, she needs to be prepared.
But now Mary knows, if she’s going to give herself the best possible chance of selling that used car, she needs to be prepared. So, Mary actually walks out to the car! She wants to inspect it, start it, make sure it’s good to show. It’s dusty and it won’t start because the battery is dead. Mary wakes up her manager at the sales desk and gets him to write a work order to get the car inspected and washed. Sure enough at three o’clock the car is back on the lot and ready to show!
Still wanting to be prepared, Mary is off again to inspect the car. Looks great! Starts even! But very low on gas. So, Mary is back to the sales manager again to wake him up for a gas card. Ten bucks should do it.
Next Mary does something special; she grabs one of those paper signs, the kind that hang from the vehicle's mirror, from her desk and writes on it. “Vehicle prepared for Mr. Smith”. Wow. Impressive.
It’s six o’clock and the customer arrives. Mary also takes the time to get to know the customer. She’s not quite as slick as Bob so it doesn’t come quite as naturally. She walks the client to the vehicle and there it is, clean and shiny. Tag in the window saying, “Prepared for Mr. Smith.” There’s even enough gas for the customer to take a test drive without the fear of running out of gas!
So…who do you think made a deal?
The next time you have an appointment, of any kind, be prepared. If it’s on a used car, inspect it, start it, wash it, and make damn sure it has enough gas in it! Then put the cherry on that by placing a nice welcoming sign in the window so the client knows it was prepared just for them.
Here’s the thing, it’s not brain surgery, deals are built on a customer experience, product selection and customer commitment. Having the vehicle prepared properly dramatically increases the likelihood the client will actually enjoy the experience and want the product. Sending the clear message to the prospect that you have done the work to prepare the vehicle, just for them, drives up the level of commitment in the client by increasing their sense of obligation. That deal was closed the moment the client looked at that window hanger. Good luck and good selling.
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