Salespeople typically get a bad reputation for being untrustworthy. The odds are against you, but gaining your customer’s trust is crucial to your sales. It’s time to beat the odds.
In a 2016 study, customers were asked what they disliked most about the car-buying process. The customer responses to the study were compared with what car dealerships thought customers disliked most.
In most cases you’d think a dealership would have an understanding of what frustrates their customers. However, the study results showed that over 32% of dealerships completely missed the mark when it came to understanding the pain points of their buyers.
Most of the dealerships that participated in the study believed that customers were most dissatisfied with the amount of time it required to actually purchase a car. However most customers said that their no. 1 complaint about buying a car was not trusting the salesperson. Only 16% of dealers believed that this would be the most common answer.
This disconnect between perspectives is disconcerting. How can dealerships appeal to their customers if they don’t even know what the customer wants?
They want salespeople they can trust. In fact, 71% of consumers will buy a car “because they like, trusted and respected their salesperson.”
What can you do to step up your A game and be that trustworthy salesperson? Here are 5 simple steps:
1. Be Up front With Information
The internet has drastically changed the way customers approach buying a car. Customers today spend more time researching cars than they do looking at cars on the lot. If you are not up front with customers about market prices, they won’t stay to learn more.
Over half of your customers will leave if they are required to test drive the vehicle before hearing about prices from you. Don’t risk that. Be honest from the beginning so that your customers have a chance to trust you.
2. Be Aware of Your Nonverbal Communication
Think about it―who are you going to trust more, someone who is smiling or someone who is frowning? Our body language can communicate a lot more trust or distrust than we realize.
Check out this face-to-face communication guide for good nonverbal habits that build that trust instead of tear it down.
3. Remember That It’s All About Presentation
The statistics show that half of your customers will buy a car from you on the spot if they are satisfied and impressed with your presentation. They trust a salesperson who is confident in their knowledge and doesn’t hide the facts. The way you present a car can be even more important to the customer’s decision than the car itself.
Pay attention to how your customer responds. Adapt your presentation based on how they process information. For example, visual learners will not need you to tell them as many features as an auditory learner. Be observant and stay on your toes. Click here for more presentation tips.
4. Be Real
What all these steps come down to is being authentic with your customer. The mark of a trustworthy salesperson is their honesty and authenticity. Customers want to see salespeople who are real and are not hiding behind a fake persona.
5. Use Technology to Your Advantage
The conclusion of the study indicated that dealerships who used technology to close sales had a better reception among customers than dealerships who did not. The report stated that, “Mobile technology promotes transparency. As mobile solutions are utilized more during the sales process, consumer trust increases.”
Let Quickpage be your mobile solution. Quickpage is the mobile sales app that creates a personalized webpage for customers you want to follow up with. Cold calls and faceless emails can sometimes be effective for follow ups, but not like Quickpage.
Send your customer a link to a page you tailor for them with Quickpage. Why follow up with a written response when you can show and tell them in a video? Easily edit your Quickpage with pictures and videos you create and upload. Suddenly following up becomes much more personal than traditional methods have been.
Not only does Quickpage help make the follow up personal, but it also gives the customer an opportunity to trust you more. You implement all the above steps in one app―you give them the information they want right away, they read your nonverbal cues, they instantly are engaged with your presentation and they will have visual evidence of your authenticity.
This is one of the easiest solutions to promote trust and transparency in your dealership. So what are you waiting for?
Combat a lack of trust in salespeople with Quickpage. Start your free trial today!
