Section 3 Flashcards
Retail selling
Why do people buy tires from a dealership?
We touched on this in the introduction but we need to look a bit deeper at why people might buy tires from a dealership.
Section 3: retail selling
Our final and most important section is focused around retail selling strategies in hopes to maximize your sales potential.
You’re convenient:
- customer is already in the service drive
- 78% of maintenance customers buy from the first service professional that recommends tires.
First you’re convenient. This isn’t the kind of quick lube, 10 minute oil change, drive right in convenience. In most cases the customer is already in your service drive for non-tire work. 78% of maintenance customers buy from the 1st service professional that finds the need and recommends tires for replacement. Remember the last time when you were without your car. It’s almost impossible to have a normal day without it. Convenience sells tires. Your customer will be more likely to buy tires if you can save them from having to be without their car for another day.
You’re the expert:
- You know the vehicles better then anyone.
- owners are concerned about safety.
- owners want to keep that new vehicle ride
Second you’re the expert. You have the training, tools, and experience that a general repair facility can’t match. Consumers have two biases toward car dealership service. One good, the other not so good. What’s the bad bias that everyone thinks about dealership service? But what’s the good? The customer in your service drive this morning has already overcome the bad bias and accepted the good bias. They want the best service and safety. Consumers are more and more realizing not just any tire or part will do. They want quality, safety and professional installation and they trust you to do it best.
You have the right tire:
-your inventory is franchise-specific Original equipment
Lastly, you have the right tire for the vehicle. All the tires on the Toyota program are factory approved original equipment or OE alternatives. Cars and tires are designed together. Remind your customer that to keep that new ride they should replace their worn tires with factory approved fitments.
Selling opportunities
- tires that are worn
- tires that have been damaged
- tires that have been improperly repaired
- tires cannot be repaired
- tires that will probably be worn out before the next service interval
- mismatched tires (size)
- non-factory spec tires (wrong size, tread pattern, low quality)
Understanding our customers purchase decisions is one aspect, but understanding that there are a variety of sales opportunities present to us each day is another. This slide showcases a variety of circumstances that would created tire selling opportunities. Be on the look out for…
Inspect:
- 100% inspection is key
- consider inspecting tires during the write up process
It’s helpful to use the following sales process: inspect 100% of the vehicles coming through the service lane regardless of age or mileage. After-all tires on a new car are not immune to potholes. Also by establishing tire inspection as routine, our customers will come to expect to hear about their tire condition and begin to think of the dealership as a source for their tire needs. Inspection can be conducted by any member of the service team. The key is to complete inspection as early as possible in the service process in order to find replacement opportunities with time left during the service visit to make the sale and complete the additional work in a reasonable amount of time.
Open the conversation
1st- make the customers primary concentrate your 1st priority
Next-suggest a review of the customers inspection results
Emphasize- the value of the MPI from the customers perspective
Last- obtain permission
As you approach the customer, open the conversation beginning with the original concern or necessary work that brought the customer into the service department in the first place. Why is this important? Next move onto suggesting a review of the inspection results while making certain to empasis the value and importance of doing so from the customers perspective. What value does the MPI have for your customer? Finally gain permission before you proceed. Here’s an example of all the steps working together. “Ms smith, the technician is working on your oil change now. We’ve complete the multipoint inspection on your vehicles. I’d like to review it with you so we can be sure we handle all your vehicles needs. Is that ok?”
Get information:
- Listen
- Ask questions
- Confirm your understanding
- Advise
The next step is to get information. Don’t just jump in and try to get the tire order right away. Getting information shows your concern and understanding of the customers unique situation. It also can help steer you towards tire options that are more relevant to your customers needs making closing the sale that much easier.
Give information
- share your findings and present a solution
- inspection results
- DRSG
- quick reference guide
- describe relevant features and benefits
After developing an understanding of your customers needs you should give informations. Share your findings and present a solution. All the inspections in the world aren’t worth anything unless you share the results with your customer and present a complete solution. Replacement tires, mounted and balanced a complete price. Program tools like the DRSG and quick reference guides can help you aquire specifics about your tire offerings as well as the features and benefits of each product.
Here’s an example: “let me take a look at the inspection report. Your tires are worn to 4/32 of an inch and the front tires have heavy shoulder wear. We have several options. We recommend the michelins. These tires Feature a quiet and comfortable ride, with long tread life expectancy. The complete price is_____ and that includes installation and tire disposal. While we’re changing the tires, the technician can find the cause of that shoulder wear and correct it to prevent future wear issues.”
Close:
- a simple agreement to move forward and get the work done.
- summarize the benefits
- explain the next steps
Finally the closing should be a non-event. If you and your customer have followed the rest of the process, the close should be a simple agreement to move forward and get the work done. A simple example might be: “you’re right in wanting to get these tires replaced before the winter driving season so that you can be safe. Can I get your approval on this so our technician can start right away?” The key is you need to ask for the business.
Educate for future sales:
- promote the dealership- remind customers of the benefits of purchasing from the dealership
- document tire conditions on RO or mirror hanger
- talk to your customer about tires at every visit
- sell the green
- plant the seed for future visits
Not every customer needs tires and certainly we can’t close everyone. Regardless if a tire sale is made or not, you should educated your customer to enhance your opportunity for future sales. Remember what we said about people not thinking of their dealership for replacement tires? We can overcome that by reminding them at every service visit that our dealership is the first and best place to go for tires. Documenting tire conditions on either the RO or in an inconspicuous place like a mirror hanger can create awareness and allow for targeted marketing via operation codes in the future. Also mentioning the results of the tire inspection at every service visit regardless of the condition allows the advisor to sell the green allowing them, to point out what is good about a customers car and promote trust helping the customers realize that we only sell ethically needed services.
Overcoming objections
What are the most common sales objections you encounter?
Now let’s explore some of the reasons why customers don’t buy. What are the most common objections you encounter? Before we discuss strategies that can help you to overcome these, I would like you to take a few minutes and write down how you would currently handle each objection listed on page 14 of your workbook. After you have finished we will discuss your responses and add additional ideas.
I think I’m going to shop around
In order to manage this objection it can help to understand the psychology behind a statement like this. Do you think your customer really wants to spend a Saturday shopping for tires? What the customer is really saying is I don’t know if this is a good deal for me, and I don’t want to be wrong. They need to check you out. So phrased that way what would you do? Here’s an example of a possible talk track:”many of my customers are concerned about getting the tire at the best price. Is this your concern as well? I can understand why. Tires aren’t something we buy everyday. I can save you time and frustration. Our dealership has shopped the local prices on our most popular tires. Here take a look.
Your price is too high now
Now we would never say this, but think about it: how many customers could tell you unprepared what a good price is? Again the customer unconsciously fishing based on the dealership perception that everything’s going to cost more there. Having competitive information available can help you out in this circumstance as well.
