Most car salesmen sell cars in more or less the same manner: meet and greet, land them on a car, demo ride, write up, etc. These steps were developed by trial and error and have been handed down through the years from one generation of salesmen to the next. Generally speaking, if you don’t follow these steps, you probably won’t have a car deal. Trying to work a deal backwards is a fool’s errand, and even if it somehow works, it usually results in a lower gross.
But every once in a while a guy comes along whom defies the rules of the business, who develops a unique way selling cars that goes counter to all the established practices. These guys are a combination of maverick and visionary. They usually have big personalities and a lot of talent--and their method work for no one but themselves.
Nick was such a guy. His specialty was using a kind of reverse psychology to sell cars. Everything he said to a customer was designed to elicit a reaction opposite of what he was saying. It was utterly fascinating and an amazing thing to witness. I feel a little guilty writing about this because I don’t have the talent to convey the full impact his technique, but let me attempt to tell you just a little of how this guy handled ups.
Nick always carried a little stack of papers with him. If he spied an up, he would walk hurriedly in their direction. He wanted the customer to think he was not heading toward them, but was just on his way to do some unknown chore. When he got about ten feet past them, he would stop, spin around and with irritation on his face say, “Isn’t anyone helping you?’
No, the customer would say. Nick would utter something under his breath like, “I can’t believe those guys!” He would then shuffle the papers around in a distracted manner and act like he was doing them a favor for even stopping. It was important that he establish the thought in the customer’s mind that he was a busy guy, not really interested in selling them a car, who was simply taking a few minutes out of his busy day to talk to them.
For the next few minutes Nick would act irritated and pretend that he was only there because no one else seemed to want to wait on them. He would carefully establish what they were looking for while slowly shedding his prick act and making them feel it was their lucky day they’d found him. Heck, they now had a friend in the car business! For and even though he was a busy guy, he would actually help them find a car.
After that was accomplished, he’d would take them on a demo ride and sell them on the merits of the car. It was when they came back that the ride that the real fun began, because Nick would say to them, “I want you to go home now, and I will call you later with my best deal.”
What?
The customer, who was mentally bracing himself for the onslaught of would-you-takes, is immediately taken aback. This guy isn’t going to try to lure us into his office? He isn’t going to try us use every close in his arsenal to keep us from leaving? He wants us to go home? He’s going to call us later on with his best deal? How great is that?
Of course, Nick had no intention of letting that happen. The next series of closes would go approximately like this:
“Why don’t you come into my office for a second so I can get your number.”
“You’re going to finance the car? While you’re here why don’t you go ahead and fill out a credit app so I can call you later with the best rate.” When that was done, he’d add. “Heck, I might as well run the credit while you’re here.”
“Got a trade? Better let me take a look at it while you’re here.”
Remember, the customer thinks all these things are being assembled so that Nick can call them later when they’re in the comfort of their home with the figures. But what they don’t understand is that they’re buying the car right now. They just don’t know it yet.
I never knew for certain how he tied everything together. He tried to explain it to me once, but I couldn’t follow it. The bottom line is Nick extracted information and mini-closes out of the customer without them realizing what he was doing. By the time he was through with them they were going home all right--driving in their new car.
Management didn’t totally approve of Nick’s ways. He never actually brought a signed commitment to the desk, but he usually got the job done, and you can’t argue with success. Nick was a consistent high performer with good grosses and high commissions as a result. He was, simply put, a freaking genius!
And as far as I know, Nick never let a customer go home so he could call him with the best price later on in the day.
Years later I sold a car to a guy who had bought his trade-in from Nick. I casually asked him how he liked buying a car from the ol’ Nickster. The customer looked at me, and I swear to God this is what he said: “By the time he got me into his office, I realized I was talking to a crazy person, and that the only way I was going to get out of the place was to buy the car. So, I bought it.”
What a thing of beauty.
Talk to you later,
David
2 comments:
I love the stories about Nick. I mean how great an idea! I notice listening to Internet Radio the new "non-commercials" being played by a certain Japanese automaker. The commercials are mainly music with a very short tagline about the car company. It's more about "we know commercials are a pain, so in our 60 seconds, we'll talk for 10 and play music for 50...and the funny thing is those 10 seconds carry a LOT more impact because it's "different" and "unusual". Nick was different and unusual too. People compare buying a car with having sex. They want to be the ones doing the f---ing, not being the f-ckee, as it were. So the reason why Nick's non-sell worked was that he removed the THREAT OF SPENDING MONEY, which is most people's second greatest fear (after not being able to get and maintain an erection). Nick gave them a sure-fire way to walk, he TOLD them in advance HE WAS GOING TO WALK THEM. Of course, he lied. He never DID walk them. By the time he had everything in hand (credit app, insurance info, trade in appraisal and payoff) he also had time to find out where they wanted to be on payment or in terms of cash difference. After that, the customer felt like all the 'work' was done, so what the heck, this guy Nick has my payments at or below where I wanted them and he's giving me a better trade in than I hoped for... shucks, where do I sign?
Upon reading your comments on my friend Nick, let me warn you that what he did was very complex and beyond conventional analysis. Nick never lied to a customer. He diverted their attention like a magician. His methods were on a plain higher than the average car man. In this area he was a true genius, and a good friend I might ad. Who can analyze the thinking process of an automotive Einstien?
David
Post a Comment