The Probe — Part 1
I tell the class that I never want to belittle any step, but to me, the most important step to master is the probe. The probe is a never-ending step. It is also the heartbeat of the sale. Probing is the ability to make a friend out of a complete stranger in a short amount of time. Proper probing is the surest way to develop a good relationship between the salesperson and the customers.
The salesperson will never ask the customer to go back outside, so they can greet them again. Chances are once the customer sits on the bike, they will not sit on it again. Such is true with all of the other steps. But the probe begins from the moment the salesperson talks to the customer for the first time and doesn’t end until they never speak to them again.
My definition of the probe will not be found in the dictionary, but it should be. Again, my definition of the probe is: The ability to make a complete stranger a friend in a short amount of time. If the customer does not buy today, then the salesperson should most certainly want to be his or her friend in the motorcycle business and follow up for future sales.
Probing is something the salespeople can always practice. Every time they go through a checkout stand, they can practice being friendly and start a short conversation while the cashier is ringing up their purchase. They should introduce themselves and get the cashier’s name and tell them two things.
Tell them that they think they are doing a terrific job. (Unless they’re not. I will never ask anyone to lie.) But if they think the cashier is doing a good job, then don’t keep it a secret.
Let them know what they do for a living. Ask them if they or someone they know are interested in a new motorcycle, offer them a business card or two.
We run into people we don’t know all the time. Salespeople should take a second or two to say hello with a smile. Sometimes they might try to start a short conversation. They will be amazed how many sales this will make them.
Yes, it may only make them a few sales a year from the people they meet by chance. Many of them will not be interested in motorcycles and don’t want to be riders. But it will help them to stay in shape being a good prober and help make many sales from the customers who walk into your dealership who are obviously interested in your product.
After the salesperson greets a customer, he or she can always count on the customer saying, “Just looking.”
“Great, we have a lot to look at,” would be a super answer followed up by some choices. I will get to the choices soon, but do you know why salespeople should say something like, “Great, glad to hear it?” It’s because it is great. They should be glad to hear it. They just shouldn’t keep it a secret. Where would the salesperson be if the customer were not looking? They should not keep their pleasure of helping the customer a secret. The customer can see it in their demeanor and hear it in the salesperson’s greeting.
“Super, are you looking for new, used, sport bike, touring, anything in particular?”
Salespeople should never follow a “Just looking” reply with something like, “Anything in particular?” and then stop talking. This is an essay question that can make customers take a defensive stand because they feel they are being forced to answer. Right away they are putting the customer in an uncomfortable position.
By giving customers multiple choices, they only have to pick one. The salespeople are now in control, and they are making it easy to begin a good relationship. It is okay to say anything in particular as long as they give the customer other model options before or after saying it.
This is the 16th 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
