The Desert of Arizona
Partly Cloudy 59 Degrees
As I talk about often, I didn’t last very long in the car business. I think I topped out at about three months before I realized it wasn’t a smart way forward for me.
That said, I learned a ton during those 12 hour days in the heat of Scottsdale Arizona.
One of the most valuable things I learned on the car lot (as well as when I worked as a bank slave employee) was that asking Yes or No questions was a smart way to end a sales conversation quickly.
I remember once when I was actually in danger of almost selling a car… I was on the phone with the buyer who had a question about the vehicle they were looking at.
I was standing there at the desk (I think that’s what they called it) where the folks who were working the numbers of the deal sat. The manager wanted me to get a credit card number for a deposit.
He knew that by getting a deposit (real money), we had a far greater chance of closing a deal. Without a deposit, all we had was talking.
Had I not had any training, I probably would have said something like, “Would you like to put a deposit down on this to reserve it?” The immediate answer, of course, would have been, “No.”
Instead, I said, “What credit card would you like to use to reserve this?”
I still remember the manager whispering something like, “That’s a strong move…”
And you know what? It was a strong move. I GOT the credit card number and we processed the deposit. Eventually, I sold that car.
It’s amazing what a simple question can do. It truly can make or break a sales situation.
If you don’t like selling yourself and you don’t like “sales situations,” then becoming a Master Asker of Questions is the way out.
It frees you from “selling,” and it puts you in control.