Let’s get real. Every sales person really wants to be an order taker. Even the sales people who take great pride in being able to manipulate, pressure, or talk people into buying would rather be order takers… if for no other reason than the fact that it’s far more productive. When you spend your time in front of people who aren’t ready to buy your sales are probably 1/10th of what they could be if you spent the bulk of your time in front of ready buyers.
If you’re the business owner you should want your sales people to be nothing more than order takers too, and here’s why. If your sales people are order takers that means your marketing efforts are WORKING… that means your sales are up… that means your profits are up. Plus it also means you don’t need a stable of big headed monster ego sales super stars. You just need a group of likable… polite… regular Joe sales people.
The Housing Disaster Didn’t Just Happen
There was a time when mortgage loan officers could make a King’s ransom with almost no sales skills. Yes, not all that many years ago the housing market was so hot clients were beating down the doors at the bank. All the loan officers had to do was behave like nice polite people and write a ton of loans in a timely manner… and take home 6 figure incomes for doing so. Well, that’s all changed now…
Car Sales the Ultimate Order Takers…
The car industry is another example of order takers. Yet, the dealers and their sales people still blow it and here’s why.
It’s no secret… people aren’t nearly as free with their dollars as they once were. Buying decisions that came easy just a few short years ago are now major decisions. So people aren’t nearly as likely to run out and buy a new car just because the old one is 2-4 years old.
Plus most people when asked, “Do you want to buy a car?” would respond “No”. Cars are simply a means to get from point A to point B. Yet, that’s not why most people buy cars. Most people buy cars because…
◦they want to feel good about saving the planet
◦that want to feel power and control
◦they want to show off their wealth or give the appearance of wealth
◦they want to live like the famous
◦they want to own a piece of history
◦they want something that says, “I’m steamy, hot, sexy”
You could add many other highly emotional reasons people buy cars. The automobile industry knows this and that’s why most commercials feed into those emotional motivators. The car manufacturers know that it’s your emotional motivators that get you into the dealership to buy a car. Even though most of us absolutely HATE buying a car.
Sometimes dealers and car sales people will do anything to get people into the dealership… including offering free gifts just for showing up… because they think if they can get you into the dealership then they can talk you into buying a car… even though buying a car isn’t even on your radar of things you need to do.
Now, if you are on the front lines selling you understand there is a huge difference between trying to have a conversation with someone you need to “convince” they need to buy a car… and someone who…
◦is already looking for a car
◦already believes they have the money to buy a car
◦has already decided they want to buy a car
… in other words, someone who is a highly qualified buyer. Yet, the dealer who came up with the “get’em in the door scheme” often expects the sales people to sell cars as though every warm body whose feet touch the lot is a ready buyer… when that was never the case. Plus, because of the way the dealer set the stage to get people at the dealership many sales were not realized from the people who were ready buyers.
Don’t Send the Wrong Message & Expect the Right Results
The dealer sent the message… “Stop in and get free stuff”. So lots of people who want nothing more than free stuff show up. So many, in fact, that the real buyers find it hard to get to a sales person. Plus the sales person has to start from ground zero with each and every person.
All too often sales people blow the sale with ready buyers because rather than getting to the real reason the buyer is there… all they want to talk about is features. Now if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you know talking about features is an INVITATION to get objections. Talking about features without being specifically asked about a particular feature… or directly pointing out how a particular feature fulfills a desire the buyer has already stated… sets up an adversarial relationship from the get go.
For example, the ready buyer will let you know they are looking for a Mustang. The typical sales person will easily uncover that the buyer wants a red convertible with a manual transmission. However, what they almost never uncover is the reason each element of these criteria is a deal breaker for the buyer. In the buyers mind it has to be…
◦red because that’s what makes it hot
◦it has to be a convertible because that’s what makes it sexy
◦it has to be a manual because that’s what makes it steamy and an automatic says “pony car” no matter what size the engine
Because the sales person doesn’t understand any of these highly emotional motivators the wheels fall off the cart and the sale person quite often loses the sale because they get caught up in the minutia of the deal rather than what the buyer must hear to buy.
It doesn’t have to happen like that though…
The Right Message Leads to the Right Buyers
Rather than using a message that sets the sales people up for a sales “numbers game”… the dealer would have been better served setting the sales people up with ready buyers. Sure the dealership would have gotten far less people on the lot. But the dealership would have sold more cars… at greater profits.
The manufacturer already has commercials that speak to our Mustang buyer. All the dealer needed to do was send out a message that picked up on that message. Better yet, the dealer could make certain those ready buyers communicated what marketing message they were responding to so the sales person wasn’t left playing a guessing game. And that’s so easy to do. For example, the dealer or the individual sales person could send out post cards and encourage readers to bring those post cards to the dealership because when they do they get something they want… like something that compliments their Mustang purchase.
