Sell cars like a PRO - Our 11 tips on training car salespeople
Elevate your car sales business with our salespeople training tips, and ensure your buyers always get an exceptional experience.
Training your salespeople is one of the most important updates you can make to your business that will produce both short-term and long-term benefits, making your dealership business grow.
New passenger car vehicle registrations in Europe experienced positive growth during the final months of 2022, meaning that 2023 opened with a bang. More than 11% rise in numbers means there’s no time like the present to perfect the sales technique and strategy of your dealership team.
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1. Ask for and remember the buyer’s name |
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2. Listen twice as much as you talk |
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3. Build rapport |
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4. Your tone of voice matters |
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5. Avoid misleading language |
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6. Treat your buyers equally |
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7. Be patient instead of pushy |
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8. Stay away from trash-talking other dealers |
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9. Discuss payment last |
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10. Always follow up |
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11. Keep learning |
Our 11 tips for training car salespeople
1. Ask for and remember the buyer’s name
Once you learn a buyer's name, use it immediately. Ask them to repeat it if necessary, letting them know you don’t want to mispronounce or misremember it.
You can build rapport and establish trust by making customers feel like they are not just another email address or phone number. Learning your customer’s name is the first step towards creating a personal relationship with them.
Even if they don’t buy from you the first time, you can start the conversation off where you left it when they drop in again. It makes the buyer feel appreciated and creates a positive image of your business.
Remember, selling cars (or anything, really) is not all about the cars. It’s about the human connection, too.
2. Listen twice as much as you talk
Knowing when to talk and when to be quiet is a salesperson’s superpower. People like to talk about themselves. Listen to your buyer’s needs, ask questions to clarify any doubts, and be helpful in resolving their potential insecurities about making the purchase.
Active listening is a great way to build meaningful connections - focus on what the other person is saying, instead of thinking about what you're going to say next.
Getting to know your client through and through is one of the most important things you can do as a salesperson. Listen to their story - who they are, what they sell, whom they sell to, etc. That way you can build a full picture of them that you can rely on for any future conversations.
Buyers' trust increases when they feel they are listened to by the salespeople. That is why many companies will have sales representatives discuss their products and services with buyers in-person or on the phone, emphasizing the human connection. This kind of interaction can stimulate all kinds of beneficial conversations about your services - see Tip 9.
3. Build rapport
When you get the details right, you build a good rapport. Listen to the buyer’s concerns and desires and you both get what you want. The buyer gets the right car(s), you get the sale. The bonus is you earn their trust and future business.
You need to be able to build rapport with all sorts of personalities and cater to all sorts of budgets and needs. Make a good introduction, ask engaging questions, and if you’re making an in-person sale, be aware of your body language. If you’re communicating with your potential buyer via a phone call, make sure there is no background noise and make them understand that they have your undivided attention.
4. Your tone of voice matters
Have you ever heard the expression “it’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell it”? Confidence is one of the most important traits of every successful salesperson. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if you don’t write or talk about it with confidence, you’ll struggle to sell it.
Your tone of voice makes all the difference. If you’re speaking in a shy manner, clients will feel that you’re not too confident and they’ll instinctively trust you less.
On the other hand, if you practice speaking a bit more loudly and in a happier tone, your clients will immediately feel more confident and taken care of as well.
Show that you’re confident even if you have doubts about something or you don’t know the answer right away. There is nothing wrong with saying you’ll double-check and come back to them with an answer. Clients will appreciate your confident honesty more than making up a random excuse or giving them wrong information. Emphasis on the “confident” part!
5. Avoid misleading language
It’s tempting to please someone in hopes of a sale, but lies don’t work. If you don’t know the answer to a question, that’s okay. Just tell your customer you will take some time to find the answer out, and get back to them.
Then, ask a reliable source for the information and report back to the buyer. Some polls show that car salespeople can be perceived as one of the least trustworthy professions, so always think twice before sugarcoating facts and information your potential buyers are requesting from you.
Make sure you know exactly what you’re selling, so that you can anticipate any potential objections. Be upfront about the costs associated with purchasing the vehicle, any potential damage that the vehicle might have, detailed mileage and warranty specifications. Tip: be prepared to provide a solution or advice for their concerns instead of misleading them. The car has a dent on the door? Point out how easily minor damages can be repaired and the car can be sold for a higher profit margin.
6. Treat your buyers equally
Assuming is tempting, but steer clear of this potential trap. Never assume anything about your potential buyers and leave all your options open. If you’re making an in-person sale, never judge the buyer based on their appearance, and if you’re closing a sale over the telephone, don’t make judgements based on someone’s way of speaking.
In our increasingly competitive world, customer expectations are continuously growing. Unless you go out of your way to guarantee that they feel happy, you might risk losing them. Remember: appreciated buyers are happy buyers, and happy buyers lead to a thriving business.
7. Be patient instead of pushy
Sales staff should be approachable, pleasant, and trustworthy. Mirror the buyer’s way of communicating - if they get excited about closing the final sale, feel free to show genuine excitement as well and offer your services if they ever need them in the future.
A patient and thought-out sales process creates long-term clients. A good car salesperson can assess the correct time to nudge the buyer into making the final sale. If it looks like your potential buyer is indecisive, instead of trying to push them, try to understand what’s causing their indecisiveness. Empathy and understanding the issue are crucial in order to find a solution to their doubts. Sometimes a little goes a long way and this last piece of the puzzle is all that is necessary for the buyer to decide that yes, they absolutely want to purchase vehicles from your dealership.
8. Stay away from trash-talking other dealers
Professionalism includes how you talk about competition. If a buyer mentions a negative experience with another dealership, listen with care to see if you can resolve any of those issues during your own sales process. A good tip for salespeople training is to have them create a list of benefits your dealership provides, so that when a potential buyer comes in and says they received a better deal somewhere else, a salesperson can then offer all the cool things that the competition does not have, like after-sales services, a personal account manager, etc.
When you pay attention to what competitors are doing and how they go about doing it, you can pick up on some of their more successful sales tactics and improve upon them, while also avoiding a repeat of any of their mistakes. Turn their failures into your successes.
9. Discuss payment last
When you have the final confirmation from the buyer that they will be making a purchase from you, only then go into the details of payment. If the buyer did not 100% make up their mind yet, pushing pricing details and payment options into a conversation can be a deal breaker.
Use your time with the buyer wisely to promote your products and the benefits of your sales process. You don’t need to wait until you shake hands, but give the buyer enough time and space to agree on the purchase, and then offer them the payment options your sales team prepared in advance.
10. Always follow up
Good manners are essential for salespeople. Follow up with a text, phone call, or an email. If you didn’t close the sale, follow up and offer to answer any questions that the buyer might have and make sure they know you are at their disposal to dispel any doubts they might have about purchasing a vehicle from you.
Every happy buyer is a part of your marketing team - they will return to do more business with you and they will recommend you to other traders. Invest in these relationships in order to achieve free word-of-mouth advertising. Research shows that 88% of consumers trust these recommendations over traditional media advertising. Remember, the goal is to create a long-term buyer who will return whenever they need to make another purchase.
11. Keep learning
The best way to tackle working in an industry that is constantly changing and evolving is to invest in educating your team on the latest sales trends, as well as tips and tricks of the psychologies of making a sale. Car salespeople need to rely on communication, negotiation, and people skills - it is imperative to understand and brush up on these to stay a few steps ahead.
Outdated sales approaches are ineffective considering the level of information available to buyers today. Manage your sales team and dealership sales process in such a way that the existing and future customers can trust your expertise, so that they will be convinced to purchase from your dealership. To elevate your business strategy and boost your car dealership success, you can use our 5 online brand strategies.
Share these car-selling tips with your team
Car salespeople training never stops - the way buyers feel about your dealership, the car, the salesperson, and the price affects the outcome of the sale. The economy is slowly rebounding, so it’s time to elevate your strategies to drive more buyers into the dealership, increase car sales, and boost revenue.
Using the 11 tips for salespeople training that we provided will make sure your sales team is always ready for new challenges in order for your business to stay profitable. Be patient and support your buyer through this big purchase - the results will be worth it!
