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Selling to Overcome Price Objections
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To Sell You Gotta Listen
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Customers: It Takes All Kinds
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Do You Need a Consultant?
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Do a Check Up!
Selling to Overcome Price Objections
Can you compete on price alone? Dropping your prices
is a short-term answer to a crisis, (i.e., you're losing business
to competition). If the truth were told, your crisis probably only
got worse when you dropped your price. Right?
But do not linger on the negative. Rather, let's
look at some selling tools offered by sales consultants. Ever heard
of "Value Added Selling?".
The best place to start the value-added selling
is to package sell. The "package" is the detail services and packages
you offer to add value to the price you charge customers. What you
are fighting is the customers' belief that they should always negotiate
to see if your prices are lower. You need to change their way of
thinking. But first, you have to change yours. Read what package
selling can do:
- When you offer a package that increases the value of your
detail service, they may be willing to pay more for what you offer
to get those added benefits.
- The right detail package helps your customers to meet the
needs of the car.
- When you offer packages that meet the needs of the vehicle
with a better price, then price will be less of an issue in their
minds.
Throughout the process of package selling, you
must focus your customers' attention on how your service will maintain
the value of the vehicle and help it looking good. This is the essence
of what's different between simply selling and package selling.
Selling just means quoting a price for a certain
service. Package selling means being concerned about your customers
needs and the needs of the vehicle at a reasonable price...and at
a reasonable profit.
To Sell You Gotta Listen
What's standing in your way of you doing more detail
jobs? If you are lie most detailers, it probably is poor listening
skills. Seems so basic, doesn't it? But if you're honest with yourself,
you will admit there's room for improvement.
First thing you need to know about selling is that
real communication can't take place if it's one-sided. And, it's
something you have to work at very hard. The payoff is that it will
help you in every aspect of your detail business and your personal
life. For example, it will help you better serve your customers.
If you listen patiently, you will gain extra insight that you need
to answer a question or solve a problem. Or, in strictly sales usage,
listening to a customer's needs - before you start rattling all
the benefits of your service - will provide clues to what really
matters to a customer and, therefore, you'll be able to tailor your
presentation.
Here are a few tips that will help you improve
your listening skills:
- Humanize the speaker. Think
of at least one aspect of the customer that you really appreciate
or admire. This will help you feel more open to their ideas even
if you disagree with what they are saying or know it is incorrect.
- Take written or mental notes.
When a customer makes their main points, write this down or make
mental notes. Then, use the notes to create a summary at the end
of conversation to close the deal.
- Don't miss the forest for the trees.
By becoming too enamored with something interesting the customer
may be saying, you might fail to miss grasp their main point.
- Practice by asking questions.
Good listeners have a variety of questions at their disposal,
including ones that follow up on thoughts presented by the customer;
ones that request more information and ones that clarify or confirm
understanding.
- Create checkpoints. During longer
conversations, paraphrase points immediately after the customer
has completed making them. This helps to avoid potential misunderstandings
later on.
Customers: It Takes All Kinds
Ever have a problem customer a picky customer?
There's a difference between picky customers and
problem customers. The picky ones you can live with. And if you
keep them happy, they are usually very loyal and send you referrals.
But the other ones are going to hurt your business, so get rid of
them!
These are the ones who find something wrong with
everything, (Describe a dealer doesn't it?). They always want a
lower price or demand that you do more than agreed upon. They take
up all your time, create waste, ruin your mood and irritate your
employees. You can never make them happy, and they are likely to
complain about your business to other dealers and retail customer
which eliminates referrals.
There is no bottom line with these customers -
only frustration and aggravation. I'm sure you can think of a few
right now you would like to eliminate - do it! The time you save
can be used to concentrate on and service new customers. If you
take the time to quantitatively evaluate problem customers, you'll
see that they can suck the life out of your business. Ironically,
they can be more damaging to your business when times are lean,
because a healthy business can absorb some inefficiencies.
Do You Need a Consultant?
If you've ever asked yourself that question, then
you probably need to hire one. Basically, by asking yourself that
question you've recognized something in your business has gone awry
and you have probably tried to fix it to no avail.
Here are a few tips to use in your search for a
qualified consultant.
- Make sure the person you hire has experience in the automotive
service business. Although there are a lot of things that ring
true through all businesses, there's no substitute for someone
who can speak your language.
- Don't hire anyone who does not come highly recommended from
a variety of sources - associations, other detailers, etc.
- Interview them to see how well they know the detail business.
They should be able to give you a couple of free pointers off
the top of their heads.
- Tie their fee directly to the success of the program(s) they
suggest to fix your problems(s).
Do a Check Up!
Do you take checks? Have you eve had a bad one?
Of course you have. To avoid getting stung with a bad check,
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer offers
10 tips:
- Be sure the person signs the check-in your presence and
that the person's address and telephone number appear on the check.
- Do not accept checks with hotel -addresses, post office
box numbers or other temporary addresses.
- Be extra careful when accepting checks from out-of-town
banks and n/low-numbered checks.
- Do not accept third-party checks.
- Look over the check carefully, making sure the date and
amount are correct and clearly written. Avoid checks with crossed
out or rewritten marks.
- Do not accept checks that are postdated. You should have
the ability to deposit a check immediately.
- Accept only proper and valid identification. If you are
offered a driver's license, write the I.D. number on the check
and make note of the person's physical appearance. (Only one or
two responsible employees should have the ability to approve checks.)
- Call the bank where the account is held, especially when
the check is for a large amount. The bank can validate the account
and the amount of the check.
- Remember, you do not have to accept a check, and you may
require the person to pay only with cash.
- Do not give out cash refunds until the check has cleared!
What to do if a check "bounces" back to you?
- Contact the person who wrote the check and ask them to reimburse
you for the insufficient funds.
- If you still do not receive the money, consult your bank
and have them issue a "Certificate of Protest."
- Contact your local District Attorney's Office, and they
may be able to help you file a complaint.
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