Hi, I’m Chris younggren, proud car guys since 1991, where I spent my first 20 years working at the same dealership, starting a sales person than finance then was a sales manager for 10 years.
Before I spent my last six years, this is a general sales manager.
For this dealer now I train recruit and coach salespeople throughout the automotive industry and other industries as well.
Today I want to talk about the investigation step in the sales process for purchasing vehicles.
This is where world-class salespeople use questions to find out needs and wants for that particular customers.
Unique situation, there’s three effective questions that sales Pro is use or world-class salespeople use in achieving this goal.
So I’d like to get right at it, however, first I’d like to ask you something: what do you think people ask questions? That’s right to learner children.
Ask questions to learn.
Students they’ll, ask questions to learn new recruits.
They ask questions innovators, they understand their clients need by asking questions asking questions.
This is the simple is the most effective way to learn people who think they know the answers they got it good.
They don’t need to ask any questions right.
They know it already, but seriously brilliant thinkers.
They never stop asking questions because they know that this is the best way to gain deep insights into the guests, needs and wants, and that way they can customize their presentation and there were vehicle walk around to that customer’s particular needs and wants the customers hot buttons, Which we talked about in another video, so the first world-class question that pros ask when they’re investigating for needs and wants is a question called either-or questions.
Either/Or questions.
The definition is you ask a question and then supply the guest with all the answers? It’s kind of like multiple choice in school now that we know what either where questions are.
Why do we use these types of questions in the sale, we’re going to cover the four reasons we use these types of questions or ways we can use the either/or question in today’s video.
The first reason we’re gon na use.
Any other question is simply to investigate we’re gon na use it to investigate for needs and once we’ve kind of said, that at the top of the video guests come in and we want to know, are they looking for new used or perhaps certified pre-owned? Are you gon na be using it gon na be using it for business or pleasure who’s gon na be the main drivers are gon na, be you bill or is it going to be Eugene? Are you guys using this vehicle to haul things or to just haul people? Are you the main driver or other people drive the vehicle as well? Do you live relatively close to where you work, so it’s a short commute to work, or is it a relatively long commute? Those are the types of questions that we can ask the guess and it’s great, because we’re supplying the answers so they’re sure to get these answers correct.
The second reason: we’re going to use the either/or questions during our automotive process is this.
We want to maintain control the person that is asking the leading questions, controls the conversation and early on again.
Customers are out of their element.
We want to be able to help lead them in a proper way, so asking these questions by by supplying them the answers.
It’s going to maintain a level of control.
A real fun example on illustrating the power of the either/or question to maintain control comes from our personal lives.
How many times has this happened to you when you had dinner plans, maybe had dinner plans with a friend with a wife, with a significant other, or even some friends and you’d said he on Saturday night we’re gon na go out to dinner, but no one ever Decided the place ahead of time, so you all right at somebody’s house – and you say: where are we gon na go to eat and you look around and people start throwing places out, let’s go to a Biaggi is Italian restaurant.
Now I don’t want to tell you.
Well, how about steak yeah? I don’t feel like steak tonight.
How about the I want machine.
We could do like a buffet there and I don’t want buffet Chinese next thing.
You know it’s a 30-minute discussion on where you’re gon na go and then, when you get there now there’s no reservations and so you’re waiting, sometimes 20, 30 40.
Maybe an hour before you get seated next thing.
You know you’re about ready to eat your arm off because you’re so gone hungry a way to solve this.
Is this somebody take control? You take control throughout three different places to the group.
Hey.
Do you want to go to ABC Chinese place? Do you want to go to B, ah jeez Italian, or do you want to go to Johnny steakhouse, throw those three places out? Usually the party will choose one of the three and it works really well because they feel like they got to choose.
You pick three places that you’re okay with the question, gets answered.
Much quicker and here off hopefully eaten an hour ahead of time, then in the other situation, so that be a good example of how using the either/or question can kind of help maintain control.
In your personal life and it works similar in a sales situation, the third way you can use either or questions during the automotive sale or any sale for that matter is in the closing sequence, when you’re getting ready to close that moment of truth of asking them To purchase many times, the salesperson will hand them the pen, hey use.
My pen sign here press hard.
It’s going through two copies.
However, that’s an anxiety filled moment when you hand that pen over it’s, like yes or no and there’s a lot of times some hesitation there and I guess it’s nervous and and again stressful times.
We want to make it a little less stressful or hopefully, a lot less stressful, and one way to do that is asking an either/or question as a closing question.
When you get to that moment of truth, you just simply say: hey: did you guys want to go ahead and title this vehicle in your name, or do you want to title it in your husband’s name? Did you want to title it in Bill or William? Did you guys want a pop water or coffee when we finish up the paperwork there was sort of things were very nicely in the automotive sale and again in other types of sales situations, because what they do is they take a lot of the curse off of Hey, do you want to spend seventy eighty thousand dollars? What do they really do? Is you’re asking a minor question that carries with it a major decision and it makes that closing sequence.
A lot less stressful and people appreciate it now, the fourth reason or way you could use the either/or question during your sale or when you’re trying to make an appointment a great way to do, that is to say something the effect.
Let’s pretend that you’re trying to have a time to have the guests come in and take a demonstration drive for the vehicle, and you just say: hey: does the week work better for you weekdays work better for you, or would it be better to do it in The weekend, okay Saturday works good for you now you want to do it in the morning or is the afternoon a little bit more convenient afternoons.
Now you mean like early afternoon around 1:00 1:15, or do you think 4:00 or 4:30 would be better, and then you go ahead and continue on and adjust to their schedule, so you can go ahead and fit them into the time slot that works for them.
However, you’re also going to be able to help yourself because say, for instance, you’ve got an appointment at 2:00 on that particular Saturday.
What you’re not going to have them come in at 2:00 or 2:30 you’re going to ask them to come in at noon or 1:00.
As we said, or or maybe, 4:00 so you’re going to try to space it out a little bit, so it helps both of you and there you have it the four reasons to use either/or questions during the sales process.
Now, let’s move on to the second type of question that sales pros ask to become world-class than the investigation and become world-class salespeople and those are the open-ended questions.
No open questions.
You’ve, probably heard of there are question that you ask, and it requires more than a yes-or-no answer.
It can’t be hey.
Do you like this color blue? That’s a yes or no! We want to say what are your favorite colors they’ve got answer.
They’ve got to say more than a yes or no we’ll get a more detailed answer from them.
There’s two main reasons we want to use open-ended questions during the sales process.
Now the first one is this rapport we touched on this in an earlier video on the meet and greet we said that a good first impression, common ground or rapport and establishing trust with the guests we’re going to be crucial to move this sale forward.
Also, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
When you ask questions, you show that you care, you could ask things like you guys from around here.
Where do you work? Oh, how did you get into that line of work? That’s interesting when you guys do on vacations out around or what do you guys do when you get there? What do you guys do there? These types of things will help you get to know your guests, better, establish rapport with them, and they can lead to.
The second reason why you want to use open-ended questions whatever you’re in the sales process, and that is to investigate you – can use them to investigate, needs and wants yeah.
You can use the either/or, but you can also use open-ended a couple examples of open-ended investigative questions.
Would be this? What are the main reasons that you guys decided you wanted to trade when you bought this towel in the past? What was it that attracted you to it? When you guys came in today and said that you were looking at new Ford escapes? What was it that led you to that conclusion? When do you guys usually go on vacations? Those types of things would lead you to some investigative type of questions that would help you.
Whenever you’re doing your presentation, your demonstration you’re going to know a little bit more and they’re getting a little bit more insight on how to do those, and that way you can customize your presentation and discussions with this particular guests.
That needs it once.
The third type of question that sales pros use to be more effective in the sales process are something we call it yes, questions Tom Hopkins will refer to them as tie downs, Joe Verde talks about the power of yes questions.
In fact, he says: there’s a 75 % closing ratio.
If you can ask 45, yes, questions in 45 minutes, they’re, very powerful and the reason they’re powerful is because you’re just confirming the benefits.
The guests already told you that they liked or wanted you’re not gon na.
Go on a limb and ask them yes, questions on something you don’t already know.
You’re gon na basically verify what they’ve told you, because of that.
What it does is, it helps create value and it helps close the sale at the same time.
Now, let’s give take an example, let’s pretend for a moment the guest told you the midnight blues, their favorite color they’re, purchasing this explore because they want more room for their clients in their real estate, business and they’re.
Getting the power leather, lumbar, 7-way, adjustable heated seats because he’s got a bad lower back and they drive over to Colorado twice a year to their vacay.
So we would just summarize the whole situation by saying: build, assists the card that you guys like.
Isn’t it and because the Explorers got that midnight blue? I think you told me that was your favorite color didn’t you and won’t it be nice to have more room and not worry about be able to put people in your vehicle whenever you’re picking them up to show them houses.
And since this vehicles got the 7-way power adjustable heated seats with that lumbar, won’t that help that bad lower back on those long trips down to Colorado, hey? What do you say? We go ahead and wrap this thing up.
You want to pop water or coffee when we go ahead and do the paperwork, and then you would move forward now to use the yes question effectively.
All you need to do is restate a question that they’ve already given you an answer to, and they told us that midnight blue is their favorite color.
Well, we would just simply say to them bill.
Didn’t you tell me that midnight blue is your favorite color? Now we could put it in the middle by just saying since midnight blue is your favorite color? Won’t this look really nice in your driveway and then, if we won, we could put at the end build midnight blues.
Your favorite color! Isn’t it so we put it in all three spots that way it doesn’t seem.
Manipulative or the guest doesn’t get bored by hearing us restate that same yes, question at the beginning, middle or end every single time! Well, there you have it the three effective questions that world-class salespeople use to be top-notch salespeople.
Now, if you’re still watching this thanks, I appreciate it also, though, if you were still watching this, I’m assuming that you’re in sales and you want to get better in sales.
You’ve probably heard that you need to ask for the sale all right.
Well, I’d like to change that and just say the world-class salespeople.
They don’t so much ask for the sale.
They question their way to the sale and because every question that you ask comes from the guests last answer every situations going to be a little different.
What’s all that mean? That means that if you want to get really good at this, and you want to become a world-class, you need to practice.
Well, as luck should have it, I’m a sales coach and I’m here for you if you’d like to practice with a partner or just some practice, lessons on your own, I can help either way.
Just leave me a like and then leave your information.
So I can contact you in the comment section.
Let me know if you’d like to do a live role play or if you just would like some worksheets, so you can get better in practice.
That way, you can master this investigation step in sales.
Finally, I’d like to leave you with a quote from a childhood hero of mine, Bruce Lee, and he said a wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
Well, there you have it.
Thank you.
