Get Control

Have you ever said or been told to “get control of your guest”? You usually hear this when there is a problem with the deal. But think about this for a second. Dictionary.com defines Control as “to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command”. How many customers you know who will let you dominate them?

In today’s marketplace the customer has so much control. There is an abundant supply of the product. In many cases they know, or at least think they know, what you paid for it. They don’t need it right now.

So how are we supposed to get control of our guests? Simple. Get control of yourself. Rather than push the guest where you want them to go, lead them to where you want them to go.

If you look around your dealership to the top salespeople I bet you would agree that they don’t have problems controlling their guests. They have mastered the following things:

1. Control your attitude. Often we have decided before we open our mouths whether or not the guest will buy from us. Be careful, because our attitude affects our body language. The customer may decide before you open your mouth not to buy from you.

2. Control your process. You can’t skip steps. They are there for a reason. You will be more efficient and more effective if you know your process and use it every time.

3. Control your product knowledge. Learn what you are selling. I mean, really study it.

4. Control your objections. Everyone has heard the objections are opportunities. If that is the case, you had better be able to handle all of them. You are going to get objections often. The successful salespeople have heard every objection multiple times. These objections help them sell. The quicker you can learn how to handle these effectively the faster you will succeed. This brings me to my last point,

5. Control your time. Most of us have a lot of downtime. We can waste it and talk about fishing of lunch, or we could role-play, do follow-up, study, you get the idea.

Control your guests by controlling yourself. I’m sure there are more that I am missing, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.