If you take a moment just to enter in a Google search, you’ll see thatthere are many, many articles on the web dedicated to this one subject. Salespeople are everywhere from car dealerships to the server at your local restaurant. We’ll be going over the top 5 bad habits that drive your customers crazy and even out the door.
- Being a know-it-all. Whether you only think you know everything about the cars you sell or you truly know just about everything there is to know about the inventory, acting like a know-it-all is guaranteed to turn customers off. If you’re the client and you are listening to a salesperson drone on and on about what exactly “Bluetooth-compatible” means, you are likely to lose interest, get bored, and want to go home. There is a fine line between being informative to answer the questions of your client and being a nuisance who thinks he/she knows everything.
- Being too pushy. Being pushy goes hand in hand with acting like a know-it-all most of the time. In typical Type A behavior, those who seem to know it all and those who push people into decisions will likely shove prospective clients out the door faster than you can say “Mercedes-Benz.” People love the act of buying but when they feel pressured into buying something (whether they wanted it in the first place or not) they are less likely to buy it because you told them to than if they thought it was their idea.
- Using the word honestly. According to HubSpot, The word ‘honestly’ might be the equivalent of ‘um’ to a salesperson but it comes off very differently to your audience. Those who are honest, don’t need to call attention to their honesty. The use of the word, especially more than a couple of times in the course of a sale, will cause the customer to mistrust and dislike you. Picture yourself in the shoes of your customer; you have a few questions about the condition of the vehicle. The salesperson says “Honestly, this car is in perfect condition.” Are you likely to believe them or do you think that the ill-placed verbal tic is implying that there is something wrong with the vehicle?
- Not listening. We all do it; in the middle of a conversation all of a sudden, you realize that you’re thinking about the concert tickets you snagged from John internet sales. In panic mode, you also realize that the customer has been talking to you this whole time. You use your go-to response that will work no matter what they were saying. You think it is effective, but the reality is that they know you weren’t paying any attention. This goes the same for multitaskers. You think that you can make the deal go twice as fast if you enter information into the computer and listen at the same time but you’re sending the same signals. Being dismissive will lead to a poor customer experience, and they won’t be likely to say good things about you or return for their next purchase.
- Following prospective customers around the lot. Imagine you’re a customer, heading out after doing your research online to the nearest dealership that has the car you’re looking for. As you step out of your vehicle, the salespeople begin their formation and circle their prey, eyeing each other to see who will make the first move. This causes a lot of tension for you as a customer, and you will automatically be on the defense for every point we’ve already covered and more. You’d think that this outdated tactic would have dissipated into the stone age once the customers got savvy to the techniques of the “used car salesman.” However, this is something that still happens to customers when they walk onto a lot.
There are ways, however, to put an end to all these terrible and cliché habits of salespeople. The first step to any solution is to recognize there is a problem. Now that you have read about the 5 irritating habits of car dealership salespeople, you can take a step forward in correcting the problem whether in yourself or your co-workers. Learn more about the 10 biggest dealership screw-ups to make more improvements in your customer satisfaction.