Automotive Addict

There are several different Closing Tools or Techniques taught to Car Salesman, but I believe it all comes down to one! This is just one of the steps in the road to the sale, but the one many focus on.

I believe if you do a proper meet and greet and interview, you will land a customer on the correct vehicle at the correct price and payment. If you follow the process from start to finish, Closing The Deal is the easiest part. Also, the biggest suggestion for Car Salesman is a proper Walk Around and Demonstration of vehicle operations and features. Remember this, Function-Feature-Benefit. When doing a walk around, you have to tell the option or Function, What it Does, and the one many salesman miss--how it will Benefit the consumer. For Instance, this car has dual stage air bags which will come out at a speed according to the severity of the impact; the benefit to you Mr/Mrs Customer is that in a small fender bender, the air bag wont come out at a rate that will injure you more than the accident like earlier designed air bags. Many salesman will say; This car has front and side airbags. What if you were to add that the National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration has proven in test results and real world accidents that side air bags were proven to save lives in side impact accidents. You would want to be protected from an unfortunate accident in the side wouldn't you Mr/Mrs Customer? This builds VALUE!!! Value in the vehicle means more money in your pocket. Customers do not mind paying for information. If you build a penny more value than the list price of the vehicle, the customer will pay list price! If you lack information concerning features and benefits, you will get "I'm really not ready to make a decision," "I have a doctors appointment to get to," "My wife or husband or dog needs to look at it." Or Worse, "How much are you going to take off the sticker."

Anyway, that's enough on that, now for some Closing Techniques:
THE BEN FRANKLIN CLOSE or BALANCE SHEET CLOSE:
This is where you list things the customer liked about the vehicle in one column and dislikes in the other column. This will let you know real quick if you are on the correct vehicle. If there are more negatives than positives, you have some work to do. This is where you bring out every positive you gave the customer; you remember, Mr/Mrs Customer, the side air bags are a positive, the anti lock 4 wheel disc brakes, etc. etc. If you presented the vehicle correctly, you should be able to fill up a sheet with positives.

REDUCE IT TO THE RIDICULOUS CLOSE:
This is where when a customer says you are $30 dollars too high in payment. You break it down by the day. Mr/Mrs Customer, that is only $1 dollar per day. Everyone blows $1 per day. Drink one less coke per day.


TRADE IN CLOSE:
This is great for those with a Trade In. After you pick a vehicle and are getting ready to write up the trade, have the customer come with you and tell you about their trade in. Be sure and touch any little scratches or dents without saying anything. The customer is going to tell you everything they have done to the vehicle. "I put a new Transmission, new brakes, head gasket, etc. etc." Make sure you write everything they have done to the vehicle down, Especially things they have done in the last 6 months to 1 year. Even ask them how much money it cost them to perform these standard repairs. Now, when you get to the table and you are $50 dollars away on payment, you have some ammo. "Well, Mr. Customer, you said you put a new transmission that cost $2000, brakes cost $300, Misc. cost $100, that means you have put $2400 in your trade in the last year, correct?" They will always reply, Yes. "Well, that comes out to $200 per month on Standard Maintenance items, that if not performed would make your car worthless. This new car is under Factory Warranty and is going to save you money at a cost of only $50 a month." Or whatever it comes out to be. It could be $200 more in payment and makes sense to buy the new car instead of repairing the old car.

This is just a few Closing Techniques that may help you, but be creative. If the customer is saying "NO", You have nothing to lose.