Building rapport during the sales process at your dealership will vary from customer to customer. The primary objective is to ask relevant questions to better understand their needs and wants and building from there. Be careful to not get too personal too soon because it could make them uncomfortable

Ask questions that get the customer talking about them. Many sales consultants do all the talking, ask very few questions, try to sell rather than helping the customer buy. People love to talk about themselves and things that benefit them.

If the conversation starts to take a negative tone… “I’ve been in the hospital for 6 months” or “someone just passed away” try to get the conversation back on a more positive tone.

Here are some quick examples:

“You mentioned you have kid’s, do you travel and take vacations?”

“What line of work are you in? An accountant…Wow! What an exciting line of work! How do you keep track of all those numbers…?”

The last question was a bit of a joke, but I hope you catch my drift. Again, if someone crunches numbers for a living, but hates it…change subjects. Find something that gets them excited.

That excited emotion will give them a subconscious good feeling about you and what they are doing…which is looking for a transportation solution.

Some people don’t get excited about anything and hate salesmen no matter how friendly you are. With those people just try to be professional and to the point. They will appreciate that more than they will small talk.

Don’t talk politics or religion!!! Those are landmines waiting to explode. Even if you agree with someone, you’ll eventually find a point you disagree on and it’s best to just avoid it all together.

Don’t talk about the economy either! That will just lead to a political conversation or cause them to potentially feel like they can’t afford to buy.

Stay professional, keep the conversation light, be a very good listener and have fun helping them buy a vehicle!

Hope this helps,

Brian Maxwell