Creating an Appointment Culture – Part 17

Creating an Appointment Culture – Part 17

TRANSCRIPT: Step four in the Perfect Appointment is “Show Time!” It is the in-store VIP Treatment. You want to greet and treat whoever the prospect is like a VIP, preferably by a manager. If not, you are going to do a management TO right away. Let’s assume you have that VIP parking area that was discussed in Step three. A woman pulls into the “Barbara Jones” spot in a 2008 Taurus, and you know that Barbara Jones has a 2008 Taurus because you memorized as many details as you could about the prospect according to step three of the Perfect Appointment. Imagine if a manager walked up to her and said, “Are you Barbara Jones? I am Steve Stauning, and I am so glad to meet you. Here, grab my arm and let’s go in and get the keys for your test drive. While you are on your test drive, we are going to go ahead and appraise your Taurus. Thanks for coming in.” Now, would that be different? Absolutely! Would she feel special? Yes, she would feel like a VIP.

That’s the difference.

Now, let’s say she is not greeted by a manager. Let’s say she is greeted by a salesperson. It should be the same scenario. The salesperson should greet her the same way except after they greet her, they might say, “Hey, listen, Steve is with another customer right now, but let me take you over to Bob. He is our sales manager. We will get you on your test drive right away. You are going to love the 2014 Camry.” Wouldn’t it be great if you could already set that tone in the Barbara Jones’ mind? That is the VIP treatment.

You have got to make sure that you don’t use any Road to the Sale questions because if you do, you begin to treat her like a traditional Up where you will close at twenty percent. So, no questions like, “Are there any colors you wouldn’t consider?” Nor do you ask any other ‘needs analysis’ questions. You are going to treat every appointment like a delivery. It needs to be a ‘Done Deal Attitude’.

Anything we say should be a trial close. For example, let’s say that Bob, the salesman, greets her on the floor and takes her to meet the sales manager. He brings her to the desk, and the sales manager pulls out that deal jacket that has got VIP circled and the keys attached. And let’s say your process is that whoever Ups her gets to sell her the car because you use a BDC. The manager says, “Hey, Barbara, so nice that you are here. I can’t wait to get a look at your Taurus.“ See, I say that right away because I memorized it. “You know we can’t get those at auction right now. By the way, here are the keys to the Camry that you are going to test drive with Bob. Can I get your driver’s license to scan, and you will be on your test drive in just a couple of minutes. When you get back, if you like it, we will start the paperwork.” See, that is a trial close, an assumptive close. We are going to start the paperwork. We don’t have to do the Road to the Sale questions.

By the way, when Bob goes out to test drive the car with the Barbara, he should not butterfly the car or do the walk around like he is competing in some sort of competition. That is for a traditional Up. This prospect is an internet customer. She knows everything about that car. Even if she is not an internet customer, maybe she is an owner-marketing customer, you are going to assume she knows everything about the car. The only thing you are going to change about Barbara, in this case, is that you are going to show her things that she may need to know about the car; such as, anomalies that aren’t like a typical new vehicle. You are going to make sure she understands those things. Point out just a couple things, but what you are not going to do is bore her with lots of details about the vehicle. You want her to get in, smell the car, start the car, and feel the drive. You want her to buy this car.

Another thing you did was tell her you were going to appraise her car while she was on the test drive because you are. You are not going to wait until she gets back to knit-pick her trade-in in front of her. You are going to do the appraisal while she is on the drive because you have a goal here. Your goal is to get her in and out in less than ninety minutes. Top dealers can get a prospect in and out in less than forty-five minutes, including the F&I department, in a true appointment culture. That is the last step in the Perfect Appointment.

If you’ll do all four steps, your team will close your appointments at eighty percent. I guarantee it.