There are over a million words in the English language. Think about that, a over million words. Pretty crazy, huh? As an automotive industry professional, the words you choose to use have a profound effect on the response you get from your customers. I'm not talking about "word tracks" - they have their time & place, but rather I'm talking about grammar/word choice.

Why is this important? While for most people, buying a car is an emotional decision but that decision also has to make logical sense. You as a sales professional, can assist them in drawing the line from emotional to logical with the correct words. Try to use words that invoke more emotion as opposed to using words that the mind links to monetary value. Anyone can sell on price, but a real professional won't.

Product knowledge isn't the only thing a true professional studies, grammar is as well, and specifically what words are the most effective.

For example, try replacing "value" with 'benefit."

I know you see the value of the vehicle service contract.
I know you see the benefit of the vehicle service contract.

One puts a monetary figure on the VSC - the other doesn't. It's easy for a customer to object to a VSC for $3,000 - it's not as easy for a customer to say "No, I don't see the benefit in the VSC at all." If you can get them to acknowledge that the VSC does have benefit, it makes it that much easier to build value in it (see what I did there?) and bump their payment to include it!

Try replacing "you" with "our customers."

"We want you to have a truly exceptional ownership experience."
"We want our customers to have a truly exceptional ownership experience."

One singles them out - the other puts them in the category of everyone - & everyone wants to feel like they "fit in." It also prevents them from saying "well, that wont' happen to me."

For example, when you say, "When you get in an accident, we have 7 collision centers in the area."
Try saying, "When one of our customers gets into an accident, we have 7 collision centers in the area."

One they can say "oh well - I'm a safe driver, I never get in accidents" [& yet, accidents are something you can't plan for & no one expects - but that's a blog for a different time], the other they really can't object to - as people get into accidents every single day. Hence, why we have 7 collision centers.

Which other "choice words" have you found work well?

There are over a million words in the English language. Think about that, a over million words. Pretty crazy, huh? As an automotive industry professional, the words you choose to use have a profound effect on the response you get from your customers. I'm not talking about "word tracks" - they have their time & place, but rather I'm talking about grammar/word choice.

Why is this important? While for most people, buying a car is an emotional decision but that decision also has to make logical sense. You as a sales professional, can assist them in drawing the line from emotional to logical with the correct words. Try to use words that invoke more emotion as opposed to using words that the mind links to monetary value. Anyone can sell on price, but a real professional won't.

Product knowledge isn't the only thing a true professional studies, grammar is as well, and specifically what words are the most effective.

For example, try replacing "value" with 'benefit."

I know you see the value of the vehicle service contract.
I know you see the benefit of the vehicle service contract.

One puts a monetary figure on the VSC - the other doesn't. It's easy for a customer to object to a VSC for $3,000 - it's not as easy for a customer to say "No, I don't see the benefit in the VSC at all." If you can get them to acknowledge that the VSC does have benefit, it makes it that much easier to build value in it (see what I did there?) and bump their payment to include it!

Try replacing "you" with "our customers."

"We want you to have a truly exceptional ownership experience."
"We want our customers to have a truly exceptional ownership experience."

One singles them out - the other puts them in the category of everyone - & everyone wants to feel like they "fit in." It also prevents them from saying "well, that wont' happen to me."

For example, when you say, "When you get in an accident, we have 7 collision centers in the area."
Try saying, "When one of our customers gets into an accident, we have 7 collision centers in the area."

One they can say "oh well - I'm a safe driver, I never get in accidents" [& yet, accidents are something you can't plan for & no one expects - but that's a blog for a different time], the other they really can't object to - as people get into accidents every single day. Hence, why we have 7 collision centers.

Which other "choice words" have you found work well?

Look around, who’s your biggest (local) competition. If you’re like most of us, you know who they are, you constantly see their sales numbers and wonder  how can you beat them this month? What do they have that you don’t? You have the same cars, right? You have the same (more or less) finance programs? You have the same style dealership? If these answers are “yes,” it’s time you do something to differentiate yourself from the dealership down the street.  When the OEM’s consistently make every dealership “look” the same, what does it take to stand out in a sea of non descript buildings (& colored cars for the most part.)?

Do you have a mission statement? Is that mission statement displayed in your dealership? What about in your “virtual dealership?” What’s your virtual dealership? Your website! How many visits does your website get a week or a month?

I bet it’s more visitors than people who walk into your showroom. There’s really no need to advertise a lease special on a website. Sure, we all want to increase lease penetration, but is a banner on a website actually going to persuade customers to lease rather than purchase? Doubtful. What about a banner on your website that tells the story of Why your dealership is different. Maybe it’s your commitment to the community, maybe it’s your rewards program.

Your store also probably gets more internet leads than walk-in traffic, right? What about telling your customers about your commitment to community or rewards programs in your e-mails and voice mails to leads? Task your BDC (or Internet Manager/Director/Guru) in coming up with phone scripts and e-mail te

mplates that aren’t just ‘HEY I HAVE GREAT NEWS FOR YOU, CALL ME BACK!” or “HEY WE’LL GIVE YOU A GREAT DEAL WHEN YOU COME IN - WHEN CAN YOU COME IN?” In this day and age, those over-used phrases aren’t going to get customers to come in let alone call you back. Remember - people buy from people, and people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. About them. And about what’s important to them. People hear the same voice mails over & over & over & over & over & over and they get the same (or similar) e-mail templates over  & over & over & over & over. Do something to make yourself stand out!

Just remember - your dealership down the street could have the same commitment to community or rewards program, but if they don’t tell their virtual customers about these things their customers will never know.

Do you do anything now to help your customers and potential customers know you’re different? If so - what are they?

Look around, who’s your biggest (local) competition. If you’re like most of us, you know who they are, you constantly see their sales numbers and wonder  how can you beat them this month? What do they have that you don’t? You have the same cars, right? You have the same (more or less) finance programs? You have the same style dealership? If these answers are “yes,” it’s time you do something to differentiate yourself from the dealership down the street.  When the OEM’s consistently make every dealership “look” the same, what does it take to stand out in a sea of non descript buildings (& colored cars for the most part.)?

Do you have a mission statement? Is that mission statement displayed in your dealership? What about in your “virtual dealership?” What’s your virtual dealership? Your website! How many visits does your website get a week or a month?

I bet it’s more visitors than people who walk into your showroom. There’s really no need to advertise a lease special on a website. Sure, we all want to increase lease penetration, but is a banner on a website actually going to persuade customers to lease rather than purchase? Doubtful. What about a banner on your website that tells the story of Why your dealership is different. Maybe it’s your commitment to the community, maybe it’s your rewards program.

Your store also probably gets more internet leads than walk-in traffic, right? What about telling your customers about your commitment to community or rewards programs in your e-mails and voice mails to leads? Task your BDC (or Internet Manager/Director/Guru) in coming up with phone scripts and e-mail te

mplates that aren’t just ‘HEY I HAVE GREAT NEWS FOR YOU, CALL ME BACK!” or “HEY WE’LL GIVE YOU A GREAT DEAL WHEN YOU COME IN - WHEN CAN YOU COME IN?” In this day and age, those over-used phrases aren’t going to get customers to come in let alone call you back. Remember - people buy from people, and people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. About them. And about what’s important to them. People hear the same voice mails over & over & over & over & over & over and they get the same (or similar) e-mail templates over  & over & over & over & over. Do something to make yourself stand out!

Just remember - your dealership down the street could have the same commitment to community or rewards program, but if they don’t tell their virtual customers about these things their customers will never know.

Do you do anything now to help your customers and potential customers know you’re different? If so - what are they?

The title may confuse you - “But Megan, most stores have a Used Car Manager!” You’re right - of course they do; and mine does too.  But the point of this post isn’t to toll the virtues of a Used Car Manager (albeit there are many), this post is to explain to you why sometimes I don’t call my Used Car Manager my Used Car Manager.

It all goes back to setting internet appointments - “Just Get Them In,” correct? (Shoutout to Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting).  Of course we want our customers “in” - we can’t sell a car to someone over the phone, right? We can’t take them on a demo drive, or do paperwork over the phone. And most importantly to this blog post, we can’t appraise their trade over the phone.  But lots and lost of people these days expect us to give them unseen trade values over the  phone (I’m sure you’ve run across this). But we don’t want to!! ::: throws temper tantrum :::

I’ve found that if you refer to your Used Car Manager as your BUYER - it holds a lot more klout with customers.  

“I’m not going to tell you because I’m sure you already know, you’ll get the most money for your 1997 Ford Escort with one of my BUYERS looking at it in person.”

I don’t use “manager,” I don’t use “appraiser,” I use BUYER.  It’s all about how you refer to the appraisal process.  A customer naturally wants the most money for their trade-in (don’t we all) - & buyers typically PAY more money for things. 

I've even had people call in and reschedule their appointment and ask "Will your buyer still be there at 5:30 instead of 4:00?"  GOLD - you know that's a confirmed appointment!

What do you think? Have you ever tried an approach like this? Maybe you refer to your Used Car Manager as something else when talking to customers.

The title may confuse you - “But Megan, most stores have a Used Car Manager!” You’re right - of course they do; and mine does too.  But the point of this post isn’t to toll the virtues of a Used Car Manager (albeit there are many), this post is to explain to you why sometimes I don’t call my Used Car Manager my Used Car Manager.

It all goes back to setting internet appointments - “Just Get Them In,” correct? (Shoutout to Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting).  Of course we want our customers “in” - we can’t sell a car to someone over the phone, right? We can’t take them on a demo drive, or do paperwork over the phone. And most importantly to this blog post, we can’t appraise their trade over the phone.  But lots and lost of people these days expect us to give them unseen trade values over the  phone (I’m sure you’ve run across this). But we don’t want to!! ::: throws temper tantrum :::

I’ve found that if you refer to your Used Car Manager as your BUYER - it holds a lot more klout with customers.  

“I’m not going to tell you because I’m sure you already know, you’ll get the most money for your 1997 Ford Escort with one of my BUYERS looking at it in person.”

I don’t use “manager,” I don’t use “appraiser,” I use BUYER.  It’s all about how you refer to the appraisal process.  A customer naturally wants the most money for their trade-in (don’t we all) - & buyers typically PAY more money for things. 

I've even had people call in and reschedule their appointment and ask "Will your buyer still be there at 5:30 instead of 4:00?"  GOLD - you know that's a confirmed appointment!

What do you think? Have you ever tried an approach like this? Maybe you refer to your Used Car Manager as something else when talking to customers.

Taking a phone up properly is one of the most important things a dealership employee can do.  Keyword is *properly.*  There’s been much talk in the industry about how to properly handle a call.  There’s lots of phone training programs and phone scripts out on the market.  I’ve been on the Phone Ninjas coaching program for several years and it has amplified the results we’ve seen in phone call appointment conversion.  

While it’s important to know what you’re going to say on the phone, and the words you’re going to say to the customer, it’s also important to show confidence when talking on the phone.

The customer is going to hear your words, but they’re also going to hear your voice. The inflections you use are imperative to a successful phone call.  Sure, you may not know the answers to everything, but if you exude confidence when speaking, the customer will feel more inclined to trust you.  Even if you’re saying “I don’t know, but let me find out.”  Say even THAT with confidence! The customers will appreciate it.  

Especially when it comes to pricing (if you have to discuss that, there’s a million ways to not attempt to negotiate over the phone, but that’s for another post), “Our pre-discounted internet price is $109,573.”  If you say that with confidence, the customer is more inclined to be confident in your price!

Look around your showroom floor - the successful sales professionals and managers exude confidence, don’t they? Why shouldn’t you do the same thing on the phone?

Taking a phone up properly is one of the most important things a dealership employee can do.  Keyword is *properly.*  There’s been much talk in the industry about how to properly handle a call.  There’s lots of phone training programs and phone scripts out on the market.  I’ve been on the Phone Ninjas coaching program for several years and it has amplified the results we’ve seen in phone call appointment conversion.  

While it’s important to know what you’re going to say on the phone, and the words you’re going to say to the customer, it’s also important to show confidence when talking on the phone.

The customer is going to hear your words, but they’re also going to hear your voice. The inflections you use are imperative to a successful phone call.  Sure, you may not know the answers to everything, but if you exude confidence when speaking, the customer will feel more inclined to trust you.  Even if you’re saying “I don’t know, but let me find out.”  Say even THAT with confidence! The customers will appreciate it.  

Especially when it comes to pricing (if you have to discuss that, there’s a million ways to not attempt to negotiate over the phone, but that’s for another post), “Our pre-discounted internet price is $109,573.”  If you say that with confidence, the customer is more inclined to be confident in your price!

Look around your showroom floor - the successful sales professionals and managers exude confidence, don’t they? Why shouldn’t you do the same thing on the phone?

There's been some confusion regarding the Google "My Business App" on the Apple App store recently - (sorry Android users - I don't know if you had the same issues us iPhone users did).  But the "Google My Business App" was mysteriously missing. 

Now - I already had this on my phone (I had downloaded it when the ever cutting-edge Daniel Fontaine had posted it on Google Plus. I got to talking about the app to a friend, and tried to pull it up in the app store to send them the link as "They couldn't find it."

"How silly are they?" I thought as I searched the App Store for it --- nope -- nothing -- no dice -- nada.  It had disappeared! I couldn't even pull up the page and yet, I had it on my phone. And it worked just fine on my phone.

Then today - I checked my updates and there it was! The released it back onto the App Store - and the best part is - you can now reply to reviews on it! And from what I've been told - will also receive a push notification when you receive a review on one of the businesses linked to your account.  Another part is it shows what days of the week your business receives the most phone calls (based on the number of clicks on your business's phone number from a local search result).  Of course there's the usual views/clicks and driving directions requested.

Am I crazy, or is this amazing news?  I have so many software programs that I use daily for work - that I have to be logged into constantly (CRM, DMS, Trade-In Appraising Tool, DealerTrack, HootSuite, OEM backend, etc etc), staying logged into (or even remembering to check) my store's Google Places/My Business account for reviews was sometimes the furthest thing from my mind! I'm glad the new update will have push notifications.

Have you downloaded it to your phone yet? If so - what do you think of it?

There's been some confusion regarding the Google "My Business App" on the Apple App store recently - (sorry Android users - I don't know if you had the same issues us iPhone users did).  But the "Google My Business App" was mysteriously missing. 

Now - I already had this on my phone (I had downloaded it when the ever cutting-edge Daniel Fontaine had posted it on Google Plus. I got to talking about the app to a friend, and tried to pull it up in the app store to send them the link as "They couldn't find it."

"How silly are they?" I thought as I searched the App Store for it --- nope -- nothing -- no dice -- nada.  It had disappeared! I couldn't even pull up the page and yet, I had it on my phone. And it worked just fine on my phone.

Then today - I checked my updates and there it was! The released it back onto the App Store - and the best part is - you can now reply to reviews on it! And from what I've been told - will also receive a push notification when you receive a review on one of the businesses linked to your account.  Another part is it shows what days of the week your business receives the most phone calls (based on the number of clicks on your business's phone number from a local search result).  Of course there's the usual views/clicks and driving directions requested.

Am I crazy, or is this amazing news?  I have so many software programs that I use daily for work - that I have to be logged into constantly (CRM, DMS, Trade-In Appraising Tool, DealerTrack, HootSuite, OEM backend, etc etc), staying logged into (or even remembering to check) my store's Google Places/My Business account for reviews was sometimes the furthest thing from my mind! I'm glad the new update will have push notifications.

Have you downloaded it to your phone yet? If so - what do you think of it?