Oops! You forgot to close again...

Sometimes salespeople assume the buyer is so ready to buy, that everything will just take care of itself, and they won’t have to close the sale. Sorry - that doesn’t work very often.

Even when most salespeople attempt to close and get some kind of objection and then think they handled the objection (issue), they still forget to ask another closing question.

Remember these three points about today’s new buyers...

1. People aren’t shopping much any more. Sure, some still stop at four or five or ten dealerships. But on average, buyers today stop at 1.5 to 1.8 dealerships to make their purchase. When you have a customer on your lot, you need to assume they came to buy today from your dealership, and that if you do a good job, you’ll make the sale.

2. 78% ... eight out of ten people you talk to this month will buy a vehicle, and that isn’t a question. 90% of them will buy it within a week, and that isn’t a question, either. If you don’t have the skills to close the sale, a salesperson down the street probably doesn’t either, but eventually customers give up and just buy in spite of their fears or objections.

3. Some of your customers are so afraid they’ll make a bad decision that 80% who really want a vehicle you have in stock will still leave without buying if you don’t know how to nudge them to buy with effective closing skills.

Remember these points, too, about closing in today’s market...

4. 80% of the sales are closed after the 5th attempt to close. I’m not talking about handling tough objections; it’s just that one or two closing questions isn’t enough to get the average person to say, “Sure, let’s do it.” That means if you don’t know enough ways to close the sale or if you only ask a couple of times, eight out of ten will buy down the street.

5. If you don’t even try to close the sale, their answer defaults to “No” and eight out of ten who leave will buy from a salesperson down the street –and they will get the commission.

6. If you only try to close a couple of times and then whip out your business card, eight out of ten who leave will buy down the street and that salesperson will get the commission.

7. When you ask a closing question or get an objection and hear a “No” in any form –if you think “No” means “NO”, you’ll miss most sales. “No” just means, “Based on what you’ve told me so far, I’m not ready to say ‘YES’ yet. Give me a few more reasons to buy and ask me again, later.”

8. 50% of the people buy on the spot when they get a good presentation and demonstration. That means if you’ll follow the eight steps every single time and learn a few easy closing and objection handling methods, you can easily deliver a vehicle to every other person you talk to this month.

You’ve worked hard – closing is the final step, so don’t stumble now – you’re almost there.