The profession of selling cars is one such job opportunity that is fulfilling with prospects of earning high sales commissions.
The new vehicle sales showrooms, used vehicle sales showrooms and the used vehicle exporters are the companies that offer such opportunities with an option of also working as an independent sales consultant.
The current annual production of brand new cars across the world is around 85 million units and Africa has an estimated car population of between 26 to 38 million with Zimbabwe accounting for 1.5 million cars.
These numbers are a source of job security to those working in the sales departments of companies selling cars and those aspiring to venture into it for the first time.
This week we take a telescopic look at the opportunities and what it takes for anyone interested to join this profession and move the numbers.
I happen to have been around in this industry for 24 years now and l can confidently attest to the fact that the journey where I have crawled, walked and ran that it is an interesting and fulfilling experience. l don’t hesitate to encourage anyone to try it.
The sales department of any company is the back bone of the entire company because it brings revenue and is the source of meeting the interest of the shareholders.
But selling cars is not like selling any other products — it is an art.
So today l will share with you the reasons why it is an “art”. Open your eyes to how you can make the first step and hopefully become a professional within a few years.
Unfortunately, there is no college or university that offers training to sell cars.
Off course in the USA, Europe and South Africa there are some retired professionals who offer their experience to train and educate those interested to get the ropes and try it out.
Personally I am a product of on the job self-training process, which was propelled by my strong passion for cars.
The secret to success for his profession is the love of cars and hard work.
This is not your 08 00am to 16 00 pm job. It is a 24 hour job!
So there are some fundamentals that can equip you to become a professional in this trade and these incide:
People's person character
Selling cars is largely connected to your personal character, which should be open minded and easy to mix and interact with customers of any age, race or sex.
One should be willing to accommodate the different characters of human behaviour and tolerate who they are.
Being too shy, reserved and difficult to approach are negative to your success as a vehicle sales person.
If you have good product knowledge, but you are not approachable then your investment in product knowledge will be wasted.
Your dress code
Cars are expensive and the customers that buy them, in majority of cases, are people who understand money.
And in order to easily connect with the type of people who buy cars, your dressing is a key silent tool that helps you to keep the customers interested in your conversations.
Dressing smartly helps you to create confidence from your customers.
Wearing shoes whose heels are finished, shirts with collars that are tired of being washed, wearing trousers without a belt, among other things, raises suspicion from the customers that they may be dealing with a con-artist.
In this trade you should sell yourself first before you jump into selling the car itself.
But a word of caution is the type of dressing during working hours.
If you are a male sales person avoid wearing extremely informal things like baggy jeans, chains or open shirts with vest revealing the chest.
If you are a female sales person avoid mini-skirts or very tight jeans or blouses that reveal the cleavage. Dressing formally or smart casual is the way to go.
Product knowledge
Product knowledge is purely your understanding of the cars that you have to sell as a basic sales tool across any sales industry.
Vehicles are highly technical products, which require your full attention to detail, particularly on the specifications.
For starters there are too many cars to learn about and the categories include the small cars, mid-size cars, high end cars, pick-ups, trucks, vans and buses.
There are also different brands like Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, BMW, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Volvo, KIA, Tesla, Ford, Hino and Chevrolet just to mention a few.
You have to study and understand the different models of each brand in terms of their features, their good or bad points, their warranties, their durability and perhaps their value restoration capabilities.
Product knowledge helps you to speak to customers with confidence and be the one to influence their decision, for good reasons, on which brand and model to purchase against their requirements and budget.
Selling cars is largely about understanding the specifications of each car model, its fuel consumption, availability of spare parts and the price should always be the last point to discuss about.
I must, however, admit that product knowledge for cars is too wide because of the different car categories and brands.
It surely takes time to understand all of them and l always advise my sales staff to research about the specific cars demanded by the customer before they arrive or before you return their call so that you can pick some specific features of the model to pitch to the customer.
On the other hand it is also a good strategy to pick an area of focus whether you want to sell private cars, trucks, luxury cars or buses.
Offer solutions
My experience has taught me that if you focus on selling cars you will hardly make any sales.
However, if you offer solutions to the customer’s needs then you will certainly close many sales.
So in order for you to be able to offer solutions you should first listen to the customer on what they are looking for exactly.
Some customers may be particularly interested in a fuel saver because they are concerned about high fuel consumption while others may be specifically interested in a high clearance cross over or SUV vehicles because their roads are not so good.
On the other hand customers may be specifically interested in the exterior and interior colours of the vehicle and so if you don’t listen to their specific needs, you are going to run the risk of trying to push any car that you have to them.
Obviously when a customer picks it that you are only after their money that will certainly be a deal breaker.
The backbone of offering solutions to customers is in real sense the act of exercising patience.
Understand your customer
If you happen to have the chance to get the customer’s details before they visit your showroom it is highly recommended that you take time to research about the customer so that you can give them the corresponding respect he/she deserves.
Imagine if the customer is a CEO of a big corporation or the customer is a member of parliament or the customer is a government minister.
If you don’t understand them in advance you can be caught flat footed in handling them in a manner they feel respected.
Understanding your customer in advance helps you to make sure that you respect their values and cultural principles to win their hearts.
Once you understand that his/her totem is Soko then try to talk with them in a manner that recognises them and that goes a long way in improving your connection with the customer.
Simple things like avoiding to smoke while they are present because you do understand that his/her culture doesn’t like smoking are the things we are talking about.
Do not judge the customer by physical customer
Apparently the serious customers who buy cars are not necessarily the same in appearance.
Some customers come in expensive suits and wearing the most expensive perfume.
Others arrive wearing overalls that are dusty and carrying a dirty satchel.
So in my many years of experience selling cars I learnt that you should never judge the customer by their physical appearance because it is quite deceiving.
*Read full article on www.thestandard.co.zw
*Stanley Makombe has 24 years’ experience in this industry, provides online car sales training and business coaching to entrepreneurs struggling to run profitably. He is writing in his own capacity and can be contacted on +254 743 900 590, on X @Stan_Carsales, email: stanley@stanleymakombe.com, www.stanleymakombe.com