Get back to basics – Tips for car salesmen

Every once in a while, you’ll see a “green pea” (new car salesman) come out of training and hit the sales floor with their new car sales knowledge and start selling cars. This person follows his sales training and car salesmanship tips to the letter and starts making deals left and right. They are excited and quite proud of his success in his new car sales career. They smile all the time and greet their customers enthusiastically while racking up more sales and commissions.

Then, as time goes by, they begin to think that they can shorten their training steps and save some time and energy. They also begin to believe that they can get a safe sale at first sight and begin to pick and choose their customers. Then, before they know what hit them, their sales start to drop and so do their commissions. The new car salesman is scratching his head trying to figure out why no one is buying from them. It’s because they need to get back to the basics of their car salesman training and sales tips. He read on and you will discover the most basic and important car salesman tips to be a successful car salesman.

Basic Tip #1 for Car Dealers: Discovery

The basic meet and greet is the first meeting of the car salesperson and potential car buyer and a very critical step in selling cars. You know what they say about first impressions and it’s no different when it comes to selling cars for a living. Presenting yourself quickly and professionally is the right thing to do, but if you’re poorly dressed or smell like an ashtray, you have a good chance of making a bad first impression. You must look, act, dress and speak like a professional to make a good impression. This car salesman tip will help you get started on the right foot.

#2 Basic advice for car salesmen: Selection

This tip for car dealers may seem obvious, but novice car dealers often overlook proper selection. It will never sell and the buyer will never buy the wrong car at the right price. Every car buyer would like to have a top-of-the-line car at the price of an entry-level car. When you spend some time talking and determining their needs, you will save yourself a lot of grievances. If you show your client the full model and can only afford the base model, you risk embarrassing them. However, if you show them the base model and they can pay more, they’ll be shocked. It’s easy to get them up to the nicer models, but it’s very difficult and inconvenient to get them back down to a model that fits your budget.

Car Salesman Basic Tip #3: Picking Cherries

Cherry picking is the practice of a car salesman who believes he can determine a customer’s creditworthiness or buying potential by looking at them. They will then decide if they are going to serve that customer or let another salesperson help them. The downside of selective choice is that customers often dress casually and intentionally try to appear less desirable as a defense strategy. They want the seller to think they have no money or credit so they won’t be pressured. I have seen many sellers lose very good commissions for choosing. The moral of this advice for the car salesman is that you can’t tell buyers and onlookers apart by looking at them. The more people you help, the more you will sell; it’s about the numbers.

When you find yourself in a downturn in car sales, go back and read these very basic, but very important tips for car salesmen. You have to look like a professional from the beginning and know your client and his needs. Talk to as many potential clients as you can, stick to the basics, and your numbers will continue to rise as will your commissions.