If you have ever found yourself having to listen to someone talk about something you had no interest in, perhaps you can appreciate how customers might feel. You’re asking yourself, “Why is he telling me about this?”

In order to capture the interest of anyone on any subject, you have to discover what they might like about that subject in the first place. Too often professional sales people recite the features and benefits of their products, but fail to present the real life values to the customer. Our job is to determine two specific areas about the customer. The first area of discovery is to determine why this customer would have a need for my product. The second area of discovery is showing the customer how he can afford to add these protection products to his purchase. It has to be a benefit to him, not just a benefit.

Selling is more than knowing and repeating the features and benefits of your products. It’s a given that you should know and understand the products being offered in your finance office. How you use your product knowledge and attach it to your discovery determines how your customer views his benefit. You are always striving to build value for the customer. Why not take his words and his real concerns and begin to attach features and benefits with impact statements to create realized value for his specific needs?

Have you ever been greeted in your finance office with any of the following statements?

• “I’m not interested in anything.”

• “I never buy that.”

• “I’m in a hurry.”

• “I never buy anything.”

We have heard every objection that can be offered by a customer in the finance office. It’s not about becoming excellent at handling objections, it’s about becoming good at using the customer’s words as the reason you are offering him these protection products. The easiest way to discovering what is really important to each customer is to ask him or her.

Move away from questions that only benefit our need to know, but build no value to the customer. “How many miles a year do you drive?” “How do you use your car?” “Did you have any major repairs on your last vehicle?” “Do you have any insurance products we should cancel for a refund?” These questions have been asked hundreds of times and don’t instill any value to the customer. In fact, what these questions do is cue up the defenses for the upcoming sales pitch.

The first task is to always confirm the sale and the agreed-to structure. I want the customer to verbalize to me why the structure is important to him and how he came to that conclusion. If budget is important and there is no additional down payment, then I want him to share that with me. It’s important that I hear him say that. Now, when I introduce GAP or VSC, I have a reason why I am talking to him about that protection and I am using his words and reason why it benefits him specifically. It’s using his words that budget is important and then building value as to why this product helps him achieve a fixed transportation allowance. Customers often offer discovery statements to us; we just fail to recognize them.

Want to sell more interior/exterior protection? Every trade you take in, simply ask the customer, “Did you do anything to prepare your trade to be looked at?” Think about it! Most people will at least wash and vacuum the vehicle for a trade evaluation. Why do you think they do that? Ask them! They do it to get more money for their trade. So, the customer’s perception is that a clean vehicle brings more value. If they agree a clean vehicle brings more value, how hard can it be to use their words and attach features and benefits to your interior exterior product?

Whatever we are offering to the customer in the finance office, it has to make sense to them. There are two ways to look at this. The need can be different from customer to customer, but only value, not strictly “a good deal,” will determine why that customer makes a purchasing decision. Amazingly, you will find that customers will determine value over cost on their own; we just have to lead them there through logic and service.