Know when to be a friend
I could go on and on about the importance of making a friend in the business with every customer, but I am sure you know that. Yes, salespeople obviously should talk about the bike and things like features and benefits. But I am pretty sure people never call up their friends or their mothers to tell them about how great someone is because they know everything about the bike. They will tell their friends and moms that the salesperson they talked to was really cool.
Of course, we would like everyone to buy from us today, but that is never going to happen. What we can always do is make an effort to get involved in a common ground conversation to reassure the customer that there is more to us then just a salesperson. It really works great when it’s the truth. The simple trick is to not keep it a secret.
Ask the class: If you had a friend in the car business and you were looking for a car, where would you go to buy it? I bet they would say that they would go see their friend.
The customer will have several options of where to purchase the motorcycle, but there is only one place where they end up. If the salesperson becomes a customer’s friend in the business, that salesperson will get more motorcycle purchases from the customer that day. Also, the salesperson’s futures sales could double, especially if he or she does follow-up calls.
If the salesperson and the customer can talk about baseball, football, golf, racing, movies and music etc., then they have become friends. If the salesperson can’t get the sale today, he or she will have still increased the chances of getting it later.
Also, by discussing these things, a salesperson will find it easy to talk to the customer during a follow-up phone call. Now, the salesperson can discuss a variety of subjects with the customer besides just the motorcycle.
One of many things I always suggest at my seminars is to watch the news, sports and weather every night to catch up on current events. This strategy gives salespeople multiple things to talk about with their customers.
If the salespeople are probing the right way, they can mention a topic and wait. If the customer was interested, then the salesperson would let the customer talk all about it. Salespeople can learn many important and helpful things about customers by listening to their points of view.
Remember, the probing stage never ends. It is an ongoing process. The best talker is also the best listener. How do salespeople get into a position to listen? Simple, they just put a what, where, how, which, when or why in front of a comment made by the customer. If they do, it will not be long before the customer thinks of the salesperson as a friend rather than just a salesperson.
This is the 18th part in a series of blogs about hiring new salespeople. To read the previous blogs in this series, click here.
Steve Lemco is the youngest brother of the late Ed Lemco and has been doing sales training and hiring for motorcycle dealers since 1983. He is the author of three sales books, the new “Training and Hiring New Salespeople,” “Motorcycle Sales Made Easy” and “You Gotta-Wanna.” Steve has trained in every state in the U.S., as well as England, France, Australia and New Zealand. Steve incorporates motivational boards and games along with his training and hiring because he believes the best way to get the job done is to make it fun.
Contact: stevelemco@aol.com
Website: www.stevelemco.com
Phone: 253/826-6110
