How many times have I asked a sales person, "Have they driven the car?" Do you have any idea how many times I hear, They drove it at the other dealer or they don't have time to drive it or my favorite. They already own one that is three years old.  Really?  You are going to waste all that time on a write up when your chances of closing a deal without a demo drive is about ZERO! (Okay you fleet people with huge corporate accounts. You are not in the conversation.)

If you are having trouble getting the customer to drive... just have them sit in the passenger seat, start the car and pull out.  That was easy!

Chances are they want to drive, but their walls are up, they want to say no.  A demo drive is one step closer to the sale and they know it!  DO NOT ASK!  Say something really cool like, Hey, lets take this one for a spin or  Get In!.  Anyway you do it, you can't close the deal without it. 

If the prospect will not drive and just wants to work numbers, that's easy.  Tell the prospect "NO!" and follow with,  "I really don't like to work numbers on a car you may not like, I let everyone drive before I work numbers."  (It could even be company policy, they love that.) This is the line of last resort for me... find your own, but please, find one.

Now about the drive itself.  Always turn right.  Look at a way to do it.  Don't let your prospect get sidetracked by traffic.  Figure out a way to make all left turns happen.  Drive the route yourself first.  Point out all of the features you want them to focus on during the ride, find a safe place to switch and perform the drive again.  (You might want to perform another quick walk around when you switch.)

You know, I feel so strongly about the demo drive, if I can't close the deal on the first presentation I will generally offer up the demo again.

All in all... here is the bottom line.. Do it or don't.  If you want to succeed you will!

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It is true. How many customers does your service drive see each and every day? Take a moment and ask your service manager. When you find the number of RO's written each day on the service drive, I promise, you will want to spend all of your time out there!

It is easy and there are several ways you can make a serious impact on your bottom line if you follow any of these steps.

Check with your service director. Let that person be comfortable with what you are proposing to do. This makes what you are doing easy. (remember service advisors earn a commission too.)

Greet the customers with a warm and friendly welcome... Prep their car for the service porter. (Plastic on the seats, paper on the floor. etcl)

After looking over the car carefully... miles, condition... like you are aprasing the car... simply ask.. Are you considering trading this automobile in for a new vehcile? You are going to get several responses... any positive response is going to tell you if they buy new or pre-owned.

Follow up your answer by highlighting the fact that you have a buyer for the automobile... would they like an offer while they wait....

Take if from there... it is much easier than greeting a fresh up on the lot.

You may want to try this too:

• Call each of the next day's service appointments the night before with the trade / buyer offer. (always have an appointment in your daily schedule.)
• Share with all of the service advisors what exactly you are doing. (make sure they know about the birdog program)
• Be friendly and not pushy at all. (These people already like doing business with your dealership.)
• Thank everyone... if they want to do business or not... and offer them all a brochure and your business card... be sure to ask if they would like to be on your news letter list.

Next Week: An effective monthly newsletter... the viral potential. Reposted from TruePro.org 

The truth is, selling cars and becoming a True Professional is not easy. Yes, selling cars is easy for some and tougher for others. With a great desk manager and some superior training you can even make good money, this series is more about how to make great money every day, not just a few time a month.

That being said there are a few thing you should do to make yourself the best of the best.

• Learn Your Product. Learn it so well that you are the go to guy or gal for product information. You will be surprised at the doors this will open. Aside from that, the confidence that product knowledge builds can not be under estimated.
• Understand the CRM in your store. Know it backwards and forwards... even upside down. Most sales people try to game the system instead of using it. No matter what system your dealership is using, it is one of the most powerful tools you can have to build a lasting, referral driven business.
• Know all of the people at your dealership by first name. Spend a little time each day talking to and getting to know your co-workers. (I am talking about service, parts, bodyshop and the office.) Sales people are not going to send you referrals, these people may.
• Become involved in a local organization or your church. Not with the goal of selling cars, with the goal of improving the organization and your community. People will be drawn to your example, once they find out you sell cars, they will be your biggest advocates in the community and send you many, many referrals.
• Work on your acting skills. Although we get no Academy Awards for acting, people are going to buy from the person that gives them the best show... Product, Features, Benefits and Presentation of Options. (many sales people are not doing this at all.)
• Be totally upfront with your customers all of the time. One mistake here and everything is gone.
• Remember, you don't get what you don't ask for. Ask for the business, ask for the referrals and ask for the gross.

Next week we will talk about a daily to-do list... What you can do that no one else is doing