How to be a great salesperson
A question every salesperson should ask all of their customers after they have picked out their desired model is, “Would you be happier if you had one?”
Of course the customers are going to say yes 99 percent of the time. If salespeople understand what customers are saying, then they will realize that they are not trying to sell someone something that they don’t want just so they will get paid. Instead, they are helping a customer have a happier life by enjoying something that they have probably wanted for years, something they will enjoy for many years to come. And yes, salespeople still get paid, and everyone wins.
You can buy a lot of things with money, but nobody can buy back yesterday. If a new motorcycle would make the customer have a better life, then the salesperson owes it to the customer to do their best job to help them buy it now. If they do, they have also helped the customer have a better time in life by living the dream. Now their yesterdays will be filled with the awesome memories of riding.
There are three concepts that a top salesperson must believe.
The first one is: The winner is the buyer not the seller. They will sell a ton of bikes over the years, and the dealership needs to move several bikes a day, so the one bike they just sold did not change the lives of the salesperson, the sales manager or the owner of the dealership. But my friends, they have greatly changed the life of the customer. They did a very good thing. Life is short; riding time is even shorter. They are taking dreamers and fulfilling their dreams.
The second concept is: Salespeople do not sell motorcycles; they help people buy them. If they have a strong desire to help someone have a better life, then they will find that they get many more sales. Also, the customer who believes that the salesperson is their friend, because they are, will be a loyal repeat customer for life and many times send in friends and relatives to buy a motorcycle from their salesperson.
The third concept is: Salespeople must believe that people don’t shop for what they don’t want. Yes, most customers say that they are just looking. But what they are looking for is a trustworthy salesperson that is also just looking. The salesperson is just looking to make their customer’s dream come true.
So what makes a good salesperson? Basically be good person, one who is honest and speaks truthful words. If they speak true words with a Gotta-Wanna attitude, good things have to happen. The beauty to all of this is that everyone has control over being a good person.
Salespeople must be able to hold informative and interesting conversations. The relationship they develop with their customers has more to do with the sale than anything else.
I believe that most customers will buy from someone they like and trust, even if they can save a little money at another dealership where they don’t care for the salesperson.
Salespeople must know their product. If they don’t know some of the basic most often asked questions, they will come across like salespeople only interested in commission. Customers have the right to ask questions, and they also deserve to get answers. When salespeople can answer their questions, customers will be impressed and believe that the salespeople care about their product.
They must make a friend out of the customers by listening to their wants, desires and dreams. Asking the right questions is the surest way of doing that.
They must know how to make the price affordable. Once the money is affordable, a sale is almost always going to follow.
They must — I repeat, they must — ask everyone to buy today. They must ask them more than once. It is not that they always come right out and ask if they want to buy it. But they guide the customer to the question by offering options and ways they can buy today.
They must love using the telephone. It works two ways. They get incoming calls that many times lead to sales. But they also should stay in touch with their customers through follow-up calls. It should never be one and done. Sometimes it may take as many as 10 calls to close a deal.
This is the 13th part in a series of blogs about hiring new salespeople. To read the previous blogs in this series, click here.
Steve Lemco is the youngest brother of the late Ed Lemco and has been doing sales training and hiring for motorcycle dealers since 1983. He is the author of three sales books, the new “Training and Hiring New Salespeople,” “Motorcycle Sales Made Easy” and “You Gotta-Wanna.” Steve has trained in every state in the U.S., as well as England, France, Australia and New Zealand. Steve incorporates motivational boards and games along with his training and hiring because he believes the best way to get the job done is to make it fun.
Contact: stevelemco@aol.com
Website: www.stevelemco.com
Phone: 253/826-6110
