The Perfect Appointment – PART 4

The Perfect Appointment (PART 4)

TRANSCRIPT:

I told you a minute ago, the reason that they call. There’s this great call review study out there that shows seven out of ten consumers call about availability. Seven out of ten of your sales calls are about product availability. Is it in stock? The others, price, financing, ads, appraisals. Here’s the deal, every call is an order. They’re trying to buy. They’ve done all their research. They’re wanting to buy the car from you, so stop asking silly questions and just set the appointment.

Now, let’s talk about what they’re really saying. Okay? Let’s take a close look at this. They called us and said, “Is it still in stock?” What they’re really saying is, is it still in stock, because I’ve been searching online forever and this is the exact vehicle I want to buy, so I’m hoping you’ll sell it to me without taking advantage of me, so I hope it’s still in stock, is it?

The reason that they are not telling us all those things that are in white, the reason they’re only saying what’s in blue. Is it still in stock? Is because they’re afraid of us. They don’t want us to take advantage of them. What they’re really saying, they’re not taking a poll. Is it in stock, because I want to buy it. That’s why we come back with … if someone had said that what would you come back with? You’d say, “I saw that vehicle this morning, but the price we have it listed at, it’s not going to make it through the weekend. Now, I have two test drives open on that vehicle this afternoon. I’ve got a 12:45 and a 1:15. Which one works better for you?”

You see, once we understand what they’re really saying, what the customer is really telling us. We can keep the urgency in there, and set an appointment that shows. Let’s look at another. What are they really saying? The customer says, “Does it have third row seats?” Well, guess what they’re really saying. They’re saying, does it have third row seats, because I really want to buy it and I thought if I asked you a question where I already know the answer, I can create some smoke screen while also testing to see how authentic you are, so does it?

They want to buy. No one’s asking about third row seats because they don’t want third row seats. No one’s asking about third row seats, unless they really want them. In the old school training, we would have said, does it have third row seats? Our sales managers would have taught us to say, “Are third row seats important to you?” That’s inauthentic today. That customer will not buy from you. They will not set an appointment, and if they set an appointment they have no intention of showing. Because you’re inauthentic. They said, “Does it have third seats?” They’re only asking that, because they don’t know … they don’t want to say, “I really want to buy that minivan. I really want to buy that SUV. Will you sell it to me?

Our answer to: Does have third row seats, if it does have third row seats. Yes. That vehicle does have third row seats. At the price we have it listed for, it won’t make it through to the weekend. Now, I do have two test drives open on that vehicle this afternoon. I’ve got a 12:45 and a 1:15, which one of these works better for you? Are you noticing a trend? I hope you’re noticing a trend.

This is where BDC’s and internet sales people fail to set strong appointments. Fail to set say a 25% show to lead ratio, which should be your minimum. Let me say that again. That means for every 100 leads you get, you get 25 minimum warm bodies to show up for an appointment on time. You can do that easily if you take control of the call right from the beginning. You keep that only goal in mind. An appointment that shows, and you don’t use weak talk tracks. You understand what they’re saying, and you go for the appointment every single time. No matter what question it is they’re asking.

Again, let’s go through one more. What are they really saying. Okay. They ask us, is that your best price? What are they really saying? They’re saying, Is that your best price, because it’s actually already a great price and I just want to be sure you’re not trying to trick me somehow; so if that is your best price, I’ll drop everything and come down right now to buy it, so is it your best price?

Why don’t they tell us the stuff in the white, because they know that we’ll take advantage of them. At least that’s what they believe. They say, “Is that your best price?” You know what you do. You stumble around. You fumble around. You say something like, well, you know. We’re not really allowed to give a better price over the phone, but I do know that my manager usually knocks two to three or four hundred dollars off of that. Yeah. When would you like to come in and see it?

Completely weak. Completely weak. They’re calling you about the vehicle, because your priced to market. They’re willing to buy it for what you have it listed for. They’re just not sure if that’s truly your best price. They want to give it the college try. They want to just get one more shot. Maybe they can get two or three more hundred dollars off. Don’t do it. You’re giving away all your grosses.

Now that we know what they’re really saying. Let’s give you a strong word track to respond to that. They’re really saying, “Is that your best price? Because I want to buy it, because it’s a great price.” You’re going to respond back with, “Listen, if you’ve been shopping online you know that we price all of our vehicles competitively right from the beginning. We would never dream of insulting our customers by showing you our second best price, and then making you jump through a bunch of hoops to find some hidden best price. Now, that Ford Focus is priced to sell at $16,300, and it likely won’t make it through the weekend at that price. Now I do have two test drives open on that Focus this afternoon. I’ve got a 12:45 and a 1:15. Which one works better for you?”