Whether you’re selling used cars or manufactured products, here are some observations on how you can increase your sales success in the age of the internet consumer.
What do people employed in these vocations have in common?
- car salesmen
- journalists
- real estate agents
- travel agents
- librarians
No clue? Well, it occurred to me that people in these professions have probably all felt the encroachment of the internet into their work lives either directly or indirectly. While the internet is a wondrously useful tool, it can also be a double-edged sword. If you’re employed in these industries, perhaps you feel technology threatening your ability to make a living as most consumers migrate online to find cars, locate houses, plan vacations and read books or newspapers on e-readers such as Amazon’s Kindle.
Take the car salesman, for instance. My husband, Terry, (who I introduced to you earlier as my best online acquisition ), was in the market for a used car last week. Our objective was to trade in the old family van for a more fuel efficient, smaller car. Having done some extensive online research, Terry narrowed down his choices to a handful of cars. He felt confident he could make a purchasing decision within one week. Accordingly, we cruised through most of the used car dealerships in Kitchener and Waterloo in our quest for the perfect compact car at the right price.
Semi-Stealth Visits to Used Car Lots
All the car dealerships we visited will remain nameless, but here’s what we encountered at just three of the dozen car lots we visited:
Car Lot # 1 – At this dealership, if you wanted to see all the used cars you had to go inside to the “Auto Mall”, where a salesman could easily corner you. As consumers, we felt kind of like flies caught in a spider’s web! But this particular salesman sticks out in my mind. First, he enquired if we needed help. We responded in the negative, saying that we were just browsing. Seeming more desperate, this salesman proceeded to tail us, reciting all the latest cars available and how all of them were offered with 0% financing. We quickly made for the door as soon as we heard that line! That guy lost a potential sale because he didn’t leave us alone – and even worse, he launched into a sales pitch before understanding what we wanted.
Car Lot # 2 – At this dealership, the used cars were all displayed outside and we figured if we zipped quickly around, we would avoid detection by aggressive sales people. No such luck. A saleswoman peering out a window inside the dealership spotted us and made a beeline over to ask if we needed help. Again, we said, “No thanks, just looking.” But since she was there, I asked why the used cars on display didn’t show mileage along with price. She informed us that this kind of information was on a sheet inside the dealership which we could follow her inside to get. Being in sales myself, I saw this little gambit as another not so subtle way of forcing the buyer into a conversation with the seller. So I remarked mildly that such basic information is usually available on used cars in the lot. Her nonchalant response was that mileage wasn’t important to everyone buying a used car because some people were more interested in the car warranty. Fiddlesticks! Seems to me that was just another way of saying, “We’re going to make you talk to us one way or another so we can sell you something!” We never did step foot inside that dealership.
Car Lot # 3 – At the last lot we visited, we were greeted respectfully by a salesperson at who invited us to browse at our leisure and ask him for any help if required. Immediately, we both breathed a sigh of relief. Strangely, the car that met all of Terry’s criteria was sitting right there on that lot. I’m convinced we saw it because no one was pressuring us to buy anything. The salesman we dealt with was responsive rather than aggressive. He added value to our car evaluation process when we asked him for more information on the vehicle of our choice and took it for a test drive. The sale was made that day and I know for a fact that this successful salesman is taking Fridays off to play golf. He’s mastered the art of selling cars to the sophisticated consumer. He understands that his buyer has probably done online research and is closer to making a buying decision than a buyer might have been before the internet.
Moral of the story: In the age of the savvy online buyer, sellers must add value at the product evaluation stage of the sales process. Car salespeople like manufacturers can leverage the power of the internet if they understand that prospects prefer to research and evaluate products online before they talk to you. If you limit information about your products early on to force buyers to call you, they won’t because they don’t have to anymore. It’s easy enough for them to find another supplier website which gives them all the detailed information they need to take them further down the sales funnel without picking up the phone — and certainly before visiting a car lot. Additional word to the wise — make sure your website is up-to-date with product inventory and all your capabilities. Stale sites with incomplete information lose potential customers.
Your comments and questions are always welcome. For more online marketing tips, follow me on Twitter.
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