As a salesperson, you might think your number one goal is to get shoppers on your lot and sell inventory by telling them how great the newest model is. However, there is a better way to sell cars: form relationships, build trust and go out of your way to help customers.
Do you remember an old sales technique known as FORM? When a salesperson struggles to make a connection with a customer, use FORM as a conversation guide. F stands for family/friends, O stands for occupation, R stands for recreation and M stands for motivation.
People buy from people they trust, and people trust people they like. People like people who share common interests. The best way to form a relationship with a new customer is to get to know them, and let them get to know you.
Real success is more than a series of transactions. Building a book of business requires years of hard work and dedication, and more than anything, it requires the ability to form relationships.
Use Video to Go Above and Beyond
One challenge to forming relationships that salespeople have today is that they often don’t have the opportunity to meet a prospect until the very last part of the sales process, when the person has selected a car and may have already figured out financing. Face-to-face time is limited, especially since the pandemic.
Another challenge is that most car shoppers aren’t looking for a relationship. They are looking for transparency, speed and a painless shopping experience. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t open to forming a relationship. As interested as a car shopper is in finding the right car, they are equally interested in finding a salesperson that they feel they can trust.
This is why it’s so important to use video in the initial lead response. However, don’t just send a quick video response. Set yourself apart by delivering a video experience.
Send every lead a response video on a Video Experience landing page that includes your (the salesperson’s) personal introduction video. Tell the car shopper about your FORM (family, occupational experience, what you like to do for recreation and why you are motivated to assist customers in having the best shopping experience possible). Mention sports, clubs and other organizations that you and/or family members are part of. Mention if you are a member of the military or a pet lover. Let the customer know the real “you” so they won’t label you as a salesperson just trying to sell them something.
In addition to the personal introduction video, include a couple of customer testimonial videos for yourself and your dealership. I also recommend including videos of other vehicles that you have in your inventory that might fit the customer’s requirements. Go above and beyond and you will be rewarded.
Once the customer is engaged, use live-streaming video calls for conversations and for conducting a live walkaround of the vehicles that the customer is interested in. Remember FORM again during this process. Strike up a conversation involving friends, family, occupation and interests. What is the customer’s motivation for buying a vehicle? Tip: don’t try to jam every single FORM topic into a single conversation. Get to know your customer slowly, or your efforts may seem forced or overbearing.
Once a prospect has engaged with you several times via video, they will feel like they know you and that you care about them and their needs. This gives you an instant edge over other salespeople out there.
In today’s market all this effort may not be necessary; however, you are not just trying to sell a car, but to create a customer for life! That is one of the main benefits of modern video technology; it can be combined with old-school sales approaches, like FORM, to build relationships and create a better customer experience.
