1. Car-Lot Introduction. The first few minute’s car salesmen and buyers meet, together; an introduction occurs. Car salesmen try to “hook” their buyers into a car-in stock with “aggressive” car-lot discounting and/or other benefits “temporarily-granted” to get buyer interested. These salesmen know most car shoppers are interested in looking not buying cars. The car salesmen’s main job is to convert a these “shoppers” into today-buyers, before they walk off the car-lot and into the hands of other car salesmen.

2. Pre-Qualifying & Befriending the Customer. Car salesmen pre-determine if their customers are potential today-buyers or just “lookers,” before putting them into cars for test-driving. In the meantime, car salesmen must develop a kind of relationship — be temporary-friends with customers, before “converting” them into today-buyers. This befriending of potential customers helps salesmen maintain better “control” over their customers when the “real deal” is reveled inside the selling/closing rooms.

3. Walking the Customer to a Selling-Room. After they qualify their customers, car salesmen must help them select one of the dealer’s cars, quickly. After the car is selected [by buyer or salesman], a quick test drive occurs to get the customers “married” to the cars selected. After the test drive, the salesman “walks” their customer to a special office — the selling-room. Once inside this special office, the salesman continues to “control” his customer with chatter about the customer’s excellent car deal, while at the same time he’s preparing the necessary paperwork.

4. Writing-up the Customer. Car salesmen must get their customers, on paper, before their closers will approach and take “control” of customers and impending deals — continue to sell these customers in-stock cars. Credit applications are filled-in, on each customer, before any sales manager or closer can determine they can be financed new or used cars! If customer’s credit-ratings are poor, closers may “switch” them to less expensive new or
used cars.

5. Starting the 4-Step Worksheet. Next, car salesmen must fill-in additional paperwork on the customers –

(1) trade-in data and offer,

(2) dealer-car’s asking price,

(3) down-payment requirements and

(4) monthly-payment figures. All this information must be placed on a special “worksheet,” before sales managers can pre-determine their selling-plans for taking maximum profits from the buyers. Once these 4-step “worksheets” are filled in, the salesman’s boss — the closer enters the selling-room to take over both the paperwork and customers.

6. “Turning-over” the Customer. After processing the customer’s paperwork through once, the salesman must release customer to his closer — his immediate boss. The closer continues to process the “turned-over” customer’s paperwork with “shocking” news about what it ready takes to buy the dealer’s car, today!

7. Closer Continues the 4-Step Worksheet on the Customer. Closers continue “shocking” their customers, i paper, by “re-cycling” them through the four steps on the worksheet: Trade-in Price, Price of Car, Down-Payment, and Monthly-Payments. The closer “re-cycles” the customer, several times, until a tentative-deal is accepted “verbally” by the customer. Finally, the closer “shakes hands” their hands and asks them to initial the papers, in several places.

8. Tentative-Deal is “re-written.” Once, a closer and customer is in “agreement,” the tentative-deal gets changed, again. Sometimes, the original salesman will be called in to “see” the changes being made on his agreement, so the buyer may be intimidated by his “witnessing” of it. For example:
Say the initial car salesman ‘offered” an improved radio- system to close his part of the “deal.” Later on, his closer is instructed [by sales manager] to “unwind the salesman’s “offer,” and scold him in front of the customers, to further intimidate them. Of course, the buyers will be “shocked” into believing the salesman was treated” wrongi To help their “friend” out — they accept an inferior type radio or no radio at all, in exchange. The “con” games’ salesmen play on the unwary consumer can be unlimited.

9. Customer and Tentative-Deal are Transferred. The closer “walks” the buyer and tentative-deal’s paperwork to yet another office, where a Finance & Insurance Manager will convert all the paperwork into a real contract. Sometimes, the sales managers instruct their F/I managers to “re-cycle” car buyers, further, for additional profit- taking reasons. The F/I manager’s secondary task is to capture more dealer-profits, before the final contract gets written out — by interesting customers to purchase special service contracts, insurance policies and/or extendedwarrantees on their impending contracts.

10. F/i Manager Converts Customer’s Tentative- Deal. The F/I manager’s final task is to transform the car buyer’s paperwork and salesman’s “worksheet” into a legal contract, so the sales manager and car buyer can sign them, together. If there are no further instructions from the sales manager, the F/I manager will write-up the customer. F

Car dealers provide several services to the general public. Typically, car dealers sell, lease and service new and used- cars to the public. To maintain a large customer-base for their service departments, though, dealers have to sell and lease plenty of cars. To sell/lease cars profitability, new- car dealers must hire sales managers and salesmen to assist them. Typically, sales managers come in two “sizes” — aggressive and non-aggressive! Typically, non-aggressive sales managers have smaller sale-teams working for them.
These small sales-teams form into “straight-sell” houses. Aggressive-sales managers, on the other hand, hire very larger sales teams, and train them into “turn-over” houses.
Savvy-buyers buy their quality-used cars from “turn-over” houses for two reasons: they sell many cars, and they sell them for less. The “straight-sell” houses, on the other hand, seem content with building their. customer base, more then taking huge profits. Also, they avoid giving huge discounts on their cars, because the dealer’s owner is satisfied with their sales manager’s selling-performance. Whereas, “turnover” houses concentrate mainly on “taking” huge-profits from all customers. And, when persons like the Smiths enter such “turn-over” dealerships, their sales managers will heavily discount their cars to get them, off the used-car lot. In other words, sales managers working in “turn-over” houses train their sales teams to sell cars, first, and then count their commissions, later.
With this “simple” picture of car dealers, completed, Andy explained the ten selling steps sales managers and their car salesmen imagine themselves taking when selling cars to the public. By envisioning these ten-selling steps, buyers can better “picture” themselves inside the car salesmen’s imaginary car-selling sequence. Once you “envision” these ten-selling steps, in your head, car buying becomes as easy as walking down a flight of stairs.

1. Never go alone. Its importance to have a “sidekick” tag along, always! Some buyers take several “sidekicks” with them. When the buyer uses several “sidèkicks,” they often bewilder their-car salesmen, to the point of giving up and agreeing with their car-deal, sooner. But, make sure these “sidekicks” never join forces with the car salesmen! If this does happen, the lead-negotiator must leave the car-lot and get another “sidekick” to help them negotiate, again.
2. Consume one-hour, before “switching” cars. When the buyer begins to negotiate for a dealer’s used-car, they should “flow” along with the car salesmen’s dialog for the first hour or so. This will give them ample time to predetermine, if they can “control” their salesmen and close a deal in their favor. Furthermore, it’s important car buyers “experience” part of the salesmen’s paperwork, before “switching” cars and/or deciding to leave the dealership. This “exposure to a salesman’s paperwork will help them later on, counter the salesman’s selling plans more effectively. And, if the car salesman turns out to be too “inflexible,” the buyer only needs to leave the car dealer.
3. Always, bring your cue-cards. It’s the salesmen’s job to make car buyers believe in them both during the negotiations and after the contract is signed. Likewise, it’s buyer’s task, to “look” through their salesmen’s “smoke- screens” to determine what actual benefits exist in the dealer’s “offers” before signing any contract. By reviewing your cue-cards, often, the buyer can easily determine their buying-position, at any moment.
4. Always, be ready to walk off the car-lot. No matter how great the deal sounds to you — don’t believe it, unless your cue-cards prove it’s so. It is the job of all car salesmen to make their buyers believe them right up to the last moments of signing their contracts. Many car salesmen believe they can “control” their customers with flattery. They also believe in repeating their selling “tactics” and sales “ploys” hoping their customers will believe them. So, if your car salesman’s “story” is getting too hard to believe, maybe it’s time to leave. Remember too, car salesmen don’t brag about their “thin” deals, nor do they flatter any savvy- buyers “winning” car-deals from them. Often, savvy-buyers will get up and/or walk around the negotiating table to impress to their salesmen they may be leaving soon.

5. Some role-playing may be required. Learning bow to act In front of car salesmen is a good enough reason for doing a few “practice-runs,” before actually buying a car. Car salesmen practice their verbal acting-skills on buyers, everyday. Therefore, if buyers learn a few acting-skills of their own, they may become more opposing to car salesmen. Also, by getting “exposured” to the ways of car salesmen, buyers can better decipher the salesmen’s “true” motives. Collectively1 car salesmen function as one person — against the buyer. In other words, salesman #1 “offers” a large discount to get buyer into his office, sooner. Then buyer’s paperwork is processed and- Salesman #2 enters to explain salesman #1’s car-lot “offer” is in error and that the “real” offer is such and such! Then salesman #3 enters the office to explain both previous “offers” were only tentative and that their “offer” is really such and such! finally, salesman #4 enters the office to explain their “real deal” needs to be changed, here, here, here, and here. If the buyers accept their very last “offer,” they are to sign here, here, and here.