ALWAYS BE

CLOSING

PART I

JUST SIGN HERE.

Closing can seem nerve racking but can be a slam dunk if you follow through confidently and speak with conviction. If you've followed the sales process so far then you should be in a great position to close this deal and sell a car. Let's reflect back on said process so far. 1. Built common ground/made a friend.  2. Customer interview, hot buttons, wants & needs discovered.  3. Landed on the right vehicle.  4. Demo/Build Value/Test Drive - Each one of these steps is absolutely pivotal and has put you on the road to closing the customer and writing up a car deal. Let's follow through and close this deal.

COMING OFF THE TEST DRIVE

As the test drive comes to a close you should have overcome any objections or questions your customer may have had as you guide them to the finish line in the sales process. You also should have asserted some type of control during the test drive - telling them when and where to turn in order to arrive back at your store. As you approach your store you should also be telling them where to park the vehicle - again this helps put you in control of the process as you leverage the final stage of closing your car deal.
You have the prospect excited, engaged, ready to buy - if you've done your job and followed the steps of the sales process. As your customer finishes parking, you should be demoing any last minute features you feel will build value in the sale (enter/infotainment, touch screen, technology, safety, etc - IF you have not already done so during your initial demo. With all of the actual selling and demonstrating complete the next question you should be asking your prospect is...

OTHER THAN PRICE/PAYMENT IS THERE ANY REASON YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO TAKE THIS VEHICLE HOME TODAY?

Ask. For. The. Sale. I cannot stress this enough, especially if you are a new salesperson. Don't be afraid to ask for the money. This is going to set expectations straight for both your customer and you. They are either going to respond positively "I want to take it home if the numbers look good." or negatively "Not today. I have more research to do. Etc." So lets break both scenarios.

ASK FOR THE SALE

Customer: I really like the car, I just need to think about it.   Salesperson:  I completely understand Mr./Mrs. Customer, I usually need some time to think about a big purchase too.  What was it exactly that you wanted to take some time to think about? At this point they're either going to tell you or for customers that are a little more reluctant you should ask on a scale of 1  - 10 how likely would you say you are to wanting to purchase this vehicle? If you're 5 or below, something has scared them earlier in the process and we need to figure out what that is. If you're 6 and above, ask them how you can get them to a 10. They more than likely will let down their guard and you have successfully flushed out that objection.

Ask any seasoned sales person how many times they've had to overcome "I need to think about it." If you're new to the sales game, don't worry, you'll hear it soon enough and then 100 times a month for the rest of eternity.  When the prospect responds negatively we want to acknowledge it, agree (if necessary), and overcome the objection. "Was there something wrong with the car? Wrong color? Wrong equipment?" Did it ride and drive to your expectations?" Isolate what's stopping them, acknowledge and/or agree that it's perfectly normal,  and overcome it.

  1. (NEGATIVE) I’M NOT READY TO TAKE IT HOME TODAY.

    I WANT TO “THINK ABOUT IT.”

2. (POSITIVE) READY TO PUT A DEAL TOGETHER.

“LET’S TALK NUMBERS.”

Invite your customer inside the store and sit them down at your desk. Offer them something to drink and get ready to "go to bat". You want them to feel like you are going to take care of them & beat up the big bad dealer for the best price.  The customer interview you performed before the demo should come back into play here. As you prepare to hit the desk make sure you have ALL the information your sales manager needs BEFORE you involve them for numbers. The questions that you should be asking your customer should boil down to something like this. (Check with your stores process to be 100% sure.)

IS THERE A VEHICLE YOU ARE TRADING?

ARE YOU FINANCING OR PAYING CASH?

HOW MUCH MONEY ARE YOU PUTTING DOWN TODAY? UP TO WHAT?

WHAT MONTHLY PAYMENT WERE YOU HOPING FOR? UP TO WHAT?

AND FINALLY, SET THEIR EXPECTATIONS CORRECTLY.

SET EXPECTATIONS

This is something I don’t see discussed often. What do you mean set expectations?  You asked all of the price/payment/financing questions,  customer(s) filled out the credit app and you're about to leave your customers at your desk to grab those precious numbers. STOP. Remind your customer why they're sitting in front of you:

90% - 95% OF CUSTOMERS

ALREADY SHOPPED ONLINE

BEFORE SETTING FOOT IN YOUR STORE.

 "Mr./Mrs. customer, you saw this vehicle online correct?" (ask this if you already know they saw it online. Not if they’re a fresh walk-in/up.) They're going to say "Yes." Salesperson: "Mr./Mrs. customer before we go any further I just want you to understand our online price is our very best price. The days of overpaying for a vehicle are long, long gone. We know in today’s market, with the internet, we HAVE got to price aggressively in order to have anyone even come in and look at our vehicles. With that being said, if you're looking for thousands off the online price, I can tell you it's not there. If you're looking for a couple of hundred bucks off, we'll do our best to put a deal together.  Control the deal, hold gross, and prepare to negotiate.

COVER MORE CLOSING QUESTIONS AND STRATEGIES IN PART 2

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