Automotive sales training for closing deals by using humor | Sales

By Mak
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A small but true story on using humor with your customers...

I have a friend that's a salesperson in the car business. Now, he is extremely good at what he does. He is very good at following the basics, a great closer, following up, prospecting etc. But one of his strong points is making people laugh.

When the showroom was jam packed with customers, he was a true show stopper. He would put on these silly glasses with the big nose and moustache and start with this entertaining hilarious speech right in the middle of the showroom. A gimmick like this worked for him. Every customer didn't talk to him. But the ones that did were very easy to sell to because of the strong rapport he had with that customer. And there is absolutely no reason why you can't get creative and find your strong points.

You don't have to be a stand up comedian like my friend to sell a lot of cars. But the point is, if you have a great sense of humor use that during the sales process. If you ever meet superstar salespeople in the car business, you'll notice they all follow a plan, work smart and have a great sense of humor. These people are also fun to be around and they spend a lot of money, time and effort to get better at what they do. You'll also notice the average salespeople are the ones who are stubborn because they feel there is no room for improvement. Building rapport is all about making a friend. Before you sell them a vehicle make a friend.

Pitfalls of building rapport and getting caught up

It's a great feeling when you can make a friend and have a happy customer. As I said earlier, build as much rapport as possible. But don't get so emotionally involved that you forget your main objective and that's to sell a vehicle. There is a fine line between building enough rapport and getting emotionally involved. Learn to build enough rapport but avoid that pitfall of getting emotionally attached to the customer. If you do get emotionally involved, you will always sympathize for the customer on every objection and eventually you'll work the deal differently.

Think about this; if you're emotionally involved, how will you present your deals to your managers? All you'll end up doing is sympathizing for your customer. If you approach the sale this way it will weigh your judgment and affect your selling ability.

Rather than sympathizing with your customer, learn to empathize with your customer. Remember most of your customers are buying a very expensive product which ranges in the thousands. So yes, you do have to understand their feelings. If you can understand their feelings, the customer will begin to trust you. So understand them and learn to empathize to build rapport and gain trust. But don't sympathize, once you do that, that's when you'll lose track of the sale.

About the Author

Mak has many more proven Auto sales training guides. For a limited-time get your must have free gift e-course only available for car salespeople

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