We’ve said this before and we will say it again, people prefer to do business with people they know, like, and trust. And virtually every person who is shopping for a car says they would prefer to know their salesperson before they ever set foot in the dealership.
Which is why when someone like Ali Reida, author of How to Sell 100 Cars a Month says, “I don’t think there’s a single business in my community that I don’t know the owner or the manager,” it could be a good idea to understand where he is coming from.
Reda sells more cars each year than any other human being on the face of the earth, and whenever he gets ready to leave a local restaurant, his wife and kids know it’s going to take them a good twenty minutes to make it to the exit while Ali is shaking hands, working the room and making friends all the way to the door.
Getting to know people. Letting them get to know him.
The great thing about the car business is that virtually every person in that restaurant drove a car to get there. In fact, almost every person you’ve ever met knows someone who’s going to be shopping for a car in the near future.
The outside world is a target-rich environment and the math is pretty simple – if you want to sell more cars, make yourself known to a lot more people.
Social Media, Social Selling, and Building Relationships
Nowadays it seems like everybody is telling you that you have to get more involved on social media, you have to promote yourself, you have to build a brand. But the idea of social sales started long before social media became a thing. It’s called building relationships.
Automotive sales trainer Fran Taylor says he figured out early on that there are a lot more people out in the real world than there will ever be in the dealership even on your busiest sales days. All you have to do is get out there and talk to them.
“Talk to 15 people a day outside the dealership for 30 days and see what happens, he says. “It’s like taking candy from a baby.”
7 Reasons Why Social Selling is More Effective
Customers who walk in the door looking for YOU, their friend in the car business, instead of preparing to go into battle with an unknown automotive assailant are more likely to…
- Make a purchase
- Decide to buy faster
- Close with higher grosses
- Give better CSI scores
- Leave more glowing reviews
- Refer their friends and family to you
- and, there’s a greater chance of them returning for another purchase from YOU, their friend in the car business.
But while all this sounds great and makes sense, the average car salesperson today spends the majority of their spare time waiting around for the “up bus” and arguing over who gets the good leads, when the good leads are out in the real world.
Why is this?
To discuss, we welcome Fran Taylor and Terry Lancaster to this month’s Social Selling in Auto Retail Live Web Chat.
Aired live in December 2019
Join the Conversation
Use the comments section below to add to our list of reasons why you think social selling in person is an effective strategy, and also be sure to tune in live to be part of the conversation with us if you can. Simply go here to register with the series and we will send you a link to join us on the live webinar.
About Fran Taylor [LinkedIn]
Fran Taylor is a world renown sales trainer known as the “King Of Prospecting.” He specializes in training automotive retail professionals, and he is one of a kind when it comes to in-house, hands-on training for car sales professionals and his 30 Sales a Month workshops across America. Fran teaches dealers and managers that they don’t have to be a slave to advertising when the sales people learn to prospect and close by getting their own customers.
About Terry Lancaster [LinkedIn]
Terry Lancaster, in case you haven’t heard, conducts his own Social Sales Training Workshop for Automotive Sales Professionals. This action-packed two-hour workshop is designed to help you capitalize on the unbelievable tools we have available now to connect with more customers, make more friends, and sell more stuff.
Terry is also author of the book BETTER! Self Help for the Rest of Us.
