Blog

The following Blog post is in addition to this Video by Sean V. Bradley, I hope you enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxHltQCOlz4

Everyone is an up part 2/ How and where to prospect via the telephone.

    If you've been in sales for any length of time you have probably been told at some point to "get on the phone and make some appointments" by a sales manager. You know you have to do it, you want to do it, but you might not know where to start, you might be scared to do it, or you might work really hard at it but you haven't had any success at it. It doesn't matter if you are selling cars, houses or furniture- the phone sales process I am going to tell you about is the same for any business, use it effectively daily and watch your sales go up.

    First off you need to know a little bit about why the phone is so important to your sales. People that you contact off the phone, manage to bring in to your store on an appointment and show up are more than twice as likely to buy from you compared to walk in traffic*. So how do you get started? You are going to need to be organized, work effectively and stick to it no matter what, every day.

    1: Build a database of clients. All businesses keep a database of their sold clients (you should too by the way). Every morning before you start your day come in a bit early and start researching clients. A CRM** system can be searched just like Google. Refine your search by state/province, city, new/used clients. Use key words to further refine the search. For example " Jeep Wrangler", when the wranglers go on sale  type " Wrangler" into the search field and get a list hundreds of names long, call the people on the list and tell them that the wranglers they were interested in are now on sale and get them to come in. CRM tells me a clients name, contact information and what type of vehicle they are interested in. It tells me their current vehicle, current payment, interest rate etc. CRM is a gold mine and it is the best place to look for prospects. This is where you start!

     2: Have a hook for every call. What is a hook? A hook is the reason why you are calling that particular client. It is what entices them to come in and see you, so it needs to be clearly defined, it needs to be advantageous for your client and it needs to be real. Here are some hooks you can use, remember these are all straight out of CRM and they are real, strong reasons for clients to come in to see you:

A.) You are paying too much interest right now, what if I could get you a newer vehicle than you have now and lower your interest payment, could you make it in today (tomorrow, Saturday)? This is a super strong hook and you can use it on anyone who is paying non-prime interest rates. For example, CRM says client is paying 18% and owns a truck, Chrysler has a program on new trucks with subsidized financing for non-prime buyers at 6.49%. Boom! Strong reason to come in and buy.

B.) Are you still in the market for a new "blank"? Great! The owner is offering invoice pricing on the vehicle till the end of this month or until we sell out of stock, are you free today? Great hook to use on a client who walked without buying because of price. Now the vehicle they want is cheaper! I wouldn't tell them how much or they won't come in. Just tell them it will be on the invoice for them to see when they arrive.

C.) Are you still driving a 2010 "blank"? Is it in good shape? Perfect! I have a young client that wants a new one of those but can't get financed on it. Would you consider trading yours in for a new one if I could keep you in a similar payment? Can you bring the vehicle in tomorrow morning so we can get it inspected?   Every owner would trade in a vehicle they love for a newer version if the conditions were right, so this call is super easy to make. Make sure you have a similar vehicle to the one they own before you make this call.

D.) How are you liking your 2010 " blank "? Did you know the 2014 has more horsepower, better fuel economy and tows more? Would you be willing to trade in your 2010 if I could get you a similar payment? I use this one on service clients. I can look in CRM and see which clients are coming in for service the next day, and why. If they are in a good position to trade in and keep their payment the same I give them a call the night before they come in for service and let them know they can upgrade for less this month because of; manufacturer loyalty programs, finance pull ahead, etc. Everyone wants a newer better version of their car/truck you just have to present a deal in the right way so they see advantage in upgrading.

    3.) Keep track of all your calls: Create a notebook, excel spreadsheet, etc. that you can use and fill in everyday. You need to call clients at different hours and sometimes as much as 5 times before you get a hold of them on the phone, so be prepared to leave a strong voicemail message or send a text that will entice them to call you back! Call the client over and over, nicely and professionally until you get them on the phone. Remember, you are saving them money and getting them the vehicle they really want, so it's okay to call them repeatedly.

     4.) Sell the appointment not the car: Don't talk price, payments or trade value on the phone unless you absolutely have to! Be truthful but say as little as possible. Your only goal is to sell the client on coming in using one of the hooks above. That's it!

     5.) Confirm the appointment using your managers: Everyone likes to feel that they're important to your business. Coach your clients that a sales manager will call them a day before their appointment. This accomplishes two things: It flushes out people that may waste your time; it sets the tone for a serious business discussion to take place in the client's mind, the sales manager himself called me, so it must be good!

       Finally, keep at it! Nothing great and worth having is easily done, but once you get the ball rolling and you are booking 3-4 appointments for yourself a day I will guarantee that your sales will increase. Keep taking ups, keep answering the phone, but book yourself 4 appointments per day no matter what and get your money right!

Sincerely,

Eduardo Aragon, Sales Consultant, Okanagan Dodge, Kelowna, B.C., Canada

* Check out the Mind Map here and see the stats on selling cars by appointment prospecting   https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/yourphotos?pid=5992537944900930466&oid=115827040417935774939

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I haven't always been a positive person, but I have learned that a positive mental attitude is the single most important tool I can bring with me to work in the morning. Selling cars requires an exceptional amount of positivity. How do we cultivate positivity in a world that is desperate to depress us and keep us down, and why is it that positive people attract positive outcomes in their business and personal life? I want to share a few tactics you can use to get positive and stay that way, as well as explain to you why being positive is so important.

If you've been selling cars for a while you've probably noticed that when you are on a roll you tend to stay that way. Selling cars is easy when you're selling cars. It's sounds ridiculous but it's true. Why is that though? Is it because we are working any harder or better than when we are in a slump, or is it something else?

People are attracted to happy, positive people. We have a deep rooted urge to get happy and stay that way. It's why we buy cars and houses, it's why we get married, have kids, go on vacation and buy new clothes. We like to have fun and enjoy life, it's practically genetic!

By capitalizing on this urge a sales person can make a lot of money in a short amount of time. With practice, dedication and hard work they can make a career out of making and keeping their clients happy. But before you can make someone happy, you have to be happy!

Here are some things I picked up in the course of my life that I want to share with you. I hope they help you and that you can one day share them with someone else.

1.) Find Faith/Get Spiritual: It can be tiring grinding it out sometimes and it is good to see past the material things in the world and seek out a Faith or a spiritual Belief that helps you rationalize and accept the inevitable negative things that will happen to you over the course of your life. Going to Church, Temple or hanging out with like minded people is a great way to revitalize yourself and get in touch with your spiritual side. It's also a great way to meet future clients!

2.) Get a good nights sleep/ Eat right/ Work out: I put these things together because they all go hand in hand. Your brain produces endorphins which make you feel good. It's the same chemical the brain produces when a person uses drugs or alcohol, but it's healthy, relatively cheap and definitely legal! Plus when you look good you feel good and a lot of clients judge you by your physical appearance so looking good in that suit or dress is only going to help you sell and enjoy a long stress free career.

3.) Listen to music while you work: If you can, listen to music while you get ready for work. The right playlist in the morning can get you pumped up and feeling great. Currently I am listening to Tupac, the ballad of a dead soldier, Aloe Blacc, I'm the man, and some techno music. It doesn't matter what you listen to, what matters is that you like the music, it gets you motivated and get's you going.

4.) Surround yourself with positive people: This is easy. Find the happiest guy/girl in the office every day and strike up a conversation with them. Happiness is contagious!

5.) Call a sold client that rally loves there car and likes you too! Whenever you have a bad experience with a prospect and they put you in a bad mood, call up the first guy you ever sold a car to and tell him/her that you were thinking about them. They will be happy you called and will talk your ear off for 5 minutes telling you all about how great the car is and how awesome you are as a salesperson. I do this all the time, I call my sold clients once a day and chat them up. It's awesome!

6.) Finally, pick the thing you love most about your job and do it right now! For me it's a particular car on the lot, whenever I feel down I jump into the most macked-out car on the lot and drive it around with the music cranked and pretend I own it. Then I park it where I can see ups hitting the lot while I make phone calls to prospects. Just don't forget to turn down the radio and change the music to something the owner would like, just in case the dealer principal has the same idea later on in the day!

Being positive is easy once you make it a habit, it will take work sometimes just like anything else worth doing will from time to time. But if you follow these steps and have some fun with it, you will notice that clients will loosen up and start having fun with you. Once you get a client laughing in your office and having fun with the sale you have a client for life, and that's what gets you paid time and time again.

Feel free to add to this list and use it in your day to day. Another great day is just around the corner for you!

Sincerely,

Eduardo Aragon

Vehicle Sales Consultant