How To Attract & Sell More Trade-In Leads (PART 13)

How To Attract & Sell More Trade-In Leads (PART 13)

TRANSCRIPT: We’ve got the customer to show up for the appointment, right? They showed up for the appointment. Now, we’ve got to close them. There are different ways to close different trade prospects based on how they got in the store. See, our in-store process is going to vary based on how we got there. For example, an Instant Cash Offer customer who only wants to sell us their car outright for cash, they’re going to have a different process than an owner marketing customer who I called on the phone.

For example, the Instant Cash Offer customer who only wants to sell us their car for cash, and we know their story. They’re low on money. They just got to get out of this car, and they bought a motorcycle. They’re not interested in another car. That person, they’re going to get there, I’m going to give them a bottle of water. I’m going to sit them down. I’m going to go get them their appraisal. I’m going to look at their car, and make sure that we can match that ICO number. I’m going to run them a check. I’m going to get them out of there, okay?

If I can get them to test drive something or if I can get them to go look at inventory, maybe they catch new car fever, maybe the person that came with them because somebody’s driving them home, right? Maybe that person can catch new car fever. I’m going to work that like a tradition up is really what I’m getting at.

That owner marketing customer, I called that guy, I said, “I’ve got a buyer and I’ve got an immediate need for your 2012 Tundra.” He shows up. I got to have him catch new car fever. See, I’ve got to get him behind the wheel of a new Tundra in order to catch new car fever. Realize this. My process is going to include this. When that guy walks in with his truck keys, he’s going to do this. This is what you’ll see. He’ll hand those keys to you. You’ll hold them out and he’ll say, “Hey, I got 10 minutes. My truck’s out there. Give me a price.” Okay? Because this guy hasn’t even got a range yet.

You need to slow him down. You need to take his keys from him and you need to say, “Great, Mr. Jones. I’m glad you made it in, but just so you know, it’s going to take us 45 minutes to do a proper appraisal on your vehicle to make sure we get you the most for that Tundra. Now, I can’t just have you sit around and do nothing. I actually have 2 brand new Tundras sitting over here, cleaned, gassed, ready to go. You can take one or both of them for a test drive.”

See, I’ve picked out a couple of vehicles that are similar in color, but not the same that are similarly equipped but actually a little better Tundras that are very close to the one he has, but not that close because they have to be new cars. He has to catch new car fever. He has to make sure that it’s not the same color because his neighbors have to know he bought a new truck, right? I’m going to have a different process for that guy than I am for the Instant Cash Offer customer. It’s important to know that.

No matter what we do, you got to give them a “wow” experience. This is all about the experience. It means we want to have a shortened road to the sale. We want to make sure that we do what’s called in-store transparency. This means that every step of the way, whether they’re an Instant Cash Offer customer or that equity mining customer, they know what we’re doing. There’s never a time they’re sitting at my desk, and I’m over at the sale tower, right? They know exactly what’s happening in the entire time.

Keep them abreast of everything that’s going on. Give them that in-store transparency, and talk to them constantly. Be a human, okay? Talk to them like a human being in active language. Great. Mr. Jones comes in, he hands you those keys. You tell him in active language, “It’s going to take us 45 minutes to do a proper appraisal, but I’ve got these 2 Tundras over here for you to test drive. Oh, and by the way, can I get your license, so I can scan it, so we can go on the test drive?” I’m just going to tell him what I need him to do. I’m going to use active language to take him through everything. I’m keeping him engaged the entire time.

See, a 3-hour experience, customers are not happy about that, but they are happier with those experiences when they’re engaged the entire time because 3 hours doesn’t feel like 3 hours. When I’m a customer and I’m sitting at that table, and you’re off talking to the desk manager, it may seem like 3 minutes to you. It may only be 3 minutes, but it feels like 30 minutes or an hour to me sitting at that table. Keep them engaged, be a human, give them that in-store transparency, and use that active language, and always have a one goal strategy.

We’re going to talk about that real quickly. What I mean with one goal strategy in the store is up walks on the lot. We’ll talk about just a traditional up. Up walks on the lot, my goal is to sell them a car, right? That’s not my first goal. See, my first goal should be to get them to take a test drive, right? Because I know I can’t get them to do the numbers until we test drive, right? I can’t get them to buy the car until we do the numbers, right?

I’m not going to think about the end. I’m going to start with each step of the process. I’m going to have one goal strategy throughout the entire thing. No matter what, assume the sale. Assume the sale at every step and with every breath. You assume the sale.

The fact of the matter is you can close people at 80% today if you assume the sale, and they’re there for an appointment, 80%. No silly road to the sale questions ever with your appointments. Don’t ever ask them, “Are there any colors you wouldn’t consider? Are you going to use this primarily for business or pleasure?” None of that stuff. Assume the sale throughout. If you’re using a closing process, I want to give you a quick warning. I love a closing process.

A lot of dealers aren’t doing the road to the selling, where they have a closing process. From the second the customer walks on the lot, a traditional up walks on the lot, their first question to them is. They meet and greet, “Hi, I’m Steve. Welcome to Steve’s Honda. What vehicle did you come to see today?” See, the dealership do this. They know that every customer has been online. They know that every customer has done 19 hours of research, looked at 24 different sources of information. They understand all of that. They go right in for that.

They don’t do the road to the sale questions, and then they appraise the trade on a kiosk like these before the test drive because they give the customer the bad news, but they still take them on a test drive. They select the vehicle, then they go do the trade appraisal at a kiosk. They showed them right there what the book says their trade is worth, and then they go out on a test drive. It gives the customer a time to calm down, and catch new car fever at the same time.

Then part of that closing process is as soon as they come back from the test drive, the offer is presented, both to buy their car and to sell them the new car. That’s called a closing process, but what we want to make sure of, if this customer is a trade appraisal customer coming for an appointment, we may still do the kiosk thing to schedule the test drive, but they already have a ballpark. We don’t want to give them a new ballpark at this point. We’re going to skip that step, and when they come back in from the test drive, then we’re going to have the firm written offer.

It’s important though that you be prepared for that most common greeting that I gave you a minute ago, right? Guy walks in with his keys. I say, “Hi, I’m Steve Stauning. Welcome to Steve’s Honda. What vehicle did you come to see?” He’s an appointment guy. He says, “You guys wanted to buy my truck. It’s right out there. I got 10 minutes. Give me a price.” You got to be prepared for that. You got to be prepared to take those keys and say, “Great, Mr. Jones, but just so you know, it’s going to be about 45 minutes,” and take him through that step.