“My dealer doesn’t let us give numbers.”
“If they want the best price, we tell them they have to come in.”
“I got in trouble for telling them the price that was on our website.”
“No, we don’t send quotes to customers.”
“We’re not equipped to sell online.”
Sadly, I have heard five different sales professionals tell me this in the last week alone, all from different stores. No, they aren’t all clients, thank heavens. It is statements like these that remind me just how antiquated some dealers continue to be, and how far too few have embraced the virtual sales process. Scoff at the Carvanas of the world all you want, but at least some people are preferring that method of car buying over the slog through the dealership lot. It isn’t too late for all dealers to get with the times.
It is not a requirement for a sale to be conducted between four walls or under a dealership roof. Nothing about your storefront makes it the necessary destination for the negotiation to take place. No leather chair in a monument of dealership architecture is as comfy to a customer as their own couch at home. So the “place” is not what prevents a virtual sales process.
Nor is it the technology. There are plenty of digital retailing tools, e-signature software, and CRMs with native desking solutions available so you can’t use “technology” as the excuse to holding you back from offering a virtual sales process.
Your team? Is that what prevents your store from selling online? If you let them. Maybe they all have gray mustaches, flip phones, grandkids who pay knothole, and an affinity for talking about the “good old days” which make implementing a virtual sales process a hurdle. Certainly, though, people can be added as easy as software, and people can be removed as easy as leads can be flipped lost on day 4. If you let people stand in the way or evolution, that too is on you.
So once the mindset that a sale (or negotiation) must take place inside the store is removed, and once you invest a modicum of energy into getting the right technology and people in place, you are almost ready to please your customers by offering them a way to buy from you… (gulp) without coming in.
5 steps to either implement or improve your virtual sales process
- Educate the customer on the pathways available and the next steps
Have you marketed yourself in a way that shoppers know this channel is available to them? Have you explained to the customers what your virtual sales process looks like and what the steps are? (Does your team know?) - Take them there visually
People don’t buy products online. They buy pictures of products online. How well your vehicle is merchandised is an important step. To get a customer comfortable with an online purchase, you must incorporate in personalized video from your staff to said customer. Not just a video intro of themselves, but as detailed and thorough of a walk-around video your technology will allow. Show the dings, dents, scratches, chips, and any imperfection. They’ll appreciate the honesty. - Incorporate the language of mental ownership and vehicle value
Words matter and how your team builds value in the vehicle of interest (whether it be referencing and sharing condition reports, vehicle history reports, previous ownership, reconditioning info or more) builds credibility in what they’re buying. - Deliver transparent figures and the corresponding explanation of figures
No virtual sales process exists without full price transparency. This means both having tools that give customers the ability to mock-up estimated payments, as well as your team’s willingness to sling complete worksheets and buyers orders to them on a moment’s notice. Customers pay for convenience, so it doesn’t need to be the lowest price, but you do need to treat them as if it is the second pencil on the showroom floor. Then, you must communicate. It isn’t about shot-gunning an offer to a prospect willy nilly. It must coincide with a manager call right before and after sending the buyer’s order and walking them through each and every line item so they feel comfortable with the transaction. Lastly, it is just utilizing e-contracting software with e-signatures (while partnering with a delivery service) to make it truly an online purchase experience. - Paint the picture of the outcome
Using visual language, you must expressly describe what their new reality is going to be. How is everything going to go, what steps will be taken, and what outcome will occur as part of this virtual sales process. You must take the mystery out of what is happening and what will happen by communicating the full picture of the purchase.
Selling a vehicle without ever seeing the customer is nothing new. It’s occurred for decades. Incorporation of tech, people, and processes are what has held more dealers back from doing it, and it wasn’t until other disrupting corporations started stealing market share with nothing more than quality marketing, VC backing and a clearly defined pathway that dealers started realizing they too need to make it part of, not just their offering, but their strengths. If you want to grow your sales, steal back some sales online. People are growing more accustomed to shopping and buying this way and you need to participate. Want to improve that virtual sales process? Just follow the 5 steps above.
Looking for even more insight? Learn how to embrace technology-assisted sales.
