Can you deal with today’s more educated buyers?
The Internet can be many things to business and to salespeople; it can be the enemy (in the case of the Internet replacing salespeople), it can be a crutch (for salespeople who substitute research for actual selling) and it can be a valuable lead generator and a tool. But what if the tools used to generate leads end up costing you business?
It’s possible to use the Internet to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and I’ve just seen it. I’m looking for a specific car – a 1996 Chevy Impala SS in good condition. I found one on a local dealer’s website, and the note on the listing said that it was in the body shop for paint. I used the contact form to e-mail the dealer, and in it I said specifically which car I am interested in (including the stock number), and asking them to let me know when it would be out of the body shop. That’s when my trouble started.
In the half-day since e-mailing, I’ve received two e-mails from salespeople and three calls (all from different salespeople, none of whom seemed aware of others calling me). None were able to answer my question; in fact, none even seemed to be aware of my specific interest or my e-mail comments. However, all were anxious to get me to “come in and have a look around.” I recognize that tactic; I used it in the early 90s when I sold cars. The trouble is that it doesn’t work with today’s customer, particularly when the customer has already used your internet site to zero in on a particular product they are seeking.
When a new customer calls you, he or she has probably done their research before contacting you. They know what you sell, they know what they are specifically interested in, and they probably have a general idea of the market price. I thought I was the perfect buyer for this dealership – I’m paying cash, I know specifically what car I want, I know that I like those cars, and if the actual car represents acceptable value, I’d planned on buying. But the experience of dealing with the salespeople has put me off. Today’s buyer demands more. Here’s what today’s more educated buyer expects:
- Be professional. The ultimate in unprofessionalism is to have a prospect bombarded with calls from different salespeople who are racing to get them into the dealer (the same goes for salespeople who fight for the next “up” at the showroom door). I see this particular issue in many industries – sales managers figure they’ll put the same lead out to everyone and whoever is ‘most aggressive’ will get the lead. Don’t do that. One lead – one salesperson is the rule. If you have salespeople whom you don’t trust with a lead, you shouldn’t have them.
- Be respectful of the customer’s time. These salespeople wasted my time by not acknowledging my specific needs. Whether that is the fault of whoever passed the lead on or the salespeople not reading the e-mail, I have no idea. And this illustrates an important concept – the internet places a greater value and importance on every member of the company, and every part of the process, working in concert. When I filled out that Internet form, my simple expectation was that whoever received the form would read it, see my specific interest, and respond directly to my question. When this didn’t happen, I became frustrated. Why did I spend the time to fill out that form completely if all they were going to do was to grab my number?
- Listen to the customer. Again, today’s customer is far more knowledgeable and specific than the ones I sold to in the 90s. Listen to them. Once upon a time, the philosophy was, “the customer doesn’t know what they don’t know.” Today, that’s not true. Whether B2B or B2C, the customer has knowledge. Now, it’s perfectly permissible to probe their knowledge and to ask why. In some cases, it’s the best thing; customers can reach wrong conclusions through the Net. But, without understanding, listening, and acknowledging, the salesperson doesn’t have the right to probe. Had any of those salespeople asked me why I was focused on this specific car, I’d have told them willingly – but without even knowing of my interest, all they did was upset me.
- Answer the darned questions! None of these salespeople answered or even acknowledged my questions. That’s amazingly disrespectful. When each salesperson contacted me, I repeated my question. I still don’t know when that car will be out of the body shop, because each of the salespeople promised to get me the answer – and three days later, none have. After the salespeople found out that I wasn’t going to just “come into the lot,” they lost interest.
Today’s customer expects more, and that means that today’s salespeople need to be trained in dealing with a more knowledgeable customer. Far too many salespeople aren’t.
The conclusion of my story is this: I will buy an Impala SS – but I won’t buy the one at the local dealer, period. In fact, I’ll probably buy one that’s 500 miles from me. I refuse to deal with people who can’t simply have a straight conversation. Your customers feel the same way.
