Customers today come into the dealership armed with more information than ever. In fact, today’s customers are likely more educated about your vehicles and prices than you are as a salesperson. You can blame google if you need to, but the salesperson isn’t the horse’s mouth anymore. Your customers can get all the information they need online.

Your job is only going to get harder! Think about the expectations your customers have when they buy a car. Everyone wants to know they are getting a great deal. More importantly, everyone wants to have a positive experience buying a car. Customer expectations are increasing, and your customers want to know they are not wasting their time or money.

You are competing for customers on two fronts, options and amenities.

Options — Customers have a much broader competitive selection to choose from in today’s market. The advent of automotive listing sites like AutoTrader, Cargurus, and Cars.com have expanded the customer search radius beyond the local market. The use of social media, like FaceBook Market Place, allows customers to connect with private sellers and dealers. Simply put, your customers have options!

Amenities — With so many dealerships and manufacturers competing for business and offering enticements to sell their product, you must have a deadly plan. Manufactures are offering their dealers incentive programs to help attract buyers. Dealers offer additional incentives like engines for life or oil changes for life. You must increase better relationships between you and your customers.

The Challenge Ahead — With more than 200,000 texts sent every second and more than 200 trillion emails sent a year, people are losing the face-to-face personal connections we once experienced. It’s your job when you are selling to make a huge impression of how much you care and how important the customer is to you. This is the missing piece to the puzzle in today’s sales.

The Solution — There are three simple things you can do to improve the car buying experience and make more money.

1. Listen — Actively pay attention to what your customers are telling you and not telling you. Acknowledge what they are saying and repeat back what you understand they want.
2. Ask Questions — There will be times you want your customers to clarify what they are saying. For instance, if your customer tells you they are looking for a cheap car you will need to ask them questions to clarify and narrow down the search.
3. Empathize — Empathy is a demonstration of understanding. If you want to build a connection with your customers, show them you understand what they are experiencing.

To learn more about how you can improve the number of vehicles you sell and your income fast follow this link to the $0 to $100K course.