Issue Date: Sales Success Nov 15, 2010, Posted On: 11/15/2010
Regardless of the tests you use, all salespeople fall into one of four sales types Most dealerships use some type of personality profile to screen candidates for sales jobs. Look around your dealership sales departments. Here are a few of the sales types you are likely to see:
Over-the-top aggressive (OTP): You know the type. Pushy and aggressive, they are energetic vampires, sucking all the air out of the room with their desperation to grab prospects. The aggressive sales pitch can mean that all contact with this sales person - even through email! - will be such a negative experience that it chses customers away.
Lackadaisical disinterested halfhearted (LDH): This salesperson's halfhearted interest in the vehicle line they are selling begs the question: Why should I care about this product if the sales person doesn't?
Unprepared lacking confidence (ULC): These folks may have a wonderful vehicle line but they don't know how to present it. Their unsure questioning style, instead of drawing the buyer in, has the effect of making the buyer wonder how familiar and they are with what they are selling and with their market.
Passion-driven informed (PDI): These are the sales people who are deeply excited about what they are selling and it shows. They also feel comfortable enough with the vehicles and are well informed enough about the product that they let it do some of the work of selling itself instead of relying on sales tricks. Even lookers are tempted to buy because their passion is so infectious and they seem destined for the most success.
These are sketches of the types you are likely to see, and though they are, in some way, caricatures, there is a kernel of truth in all of them about the importance of being authentic and coming across as informed, passionate about the vehicles you sell. In the early stages, the automotive sales process is not much more than a popularity contest and, if your potential clients don't like you, none of the rest of your efforts to establish yourself as the answer to their problems will matter.
Develop your credibility, establish yourself as an expert and strive to be your most likable self.
