What the Car Sales Buyer 2.0 must meet!

Many car companies and dealers find it difficult to turn their car salesman into a car salesman 2.0. The theory is still manageable, but the implementation in practice is much more difficult. Often employees in the company are stuck in their regular work and to organize this in a different way requires a lot of time and, above all, a vision and thoroughness. A car salesman at one of the larger dealer holdings, who still owns cars on the internet and delivers cars, is experiencing difficulties to make the step to being a car salesman 2.0, otherwise it would have happened a long time ago.

After all, the car salesman 2.0 has a different set of duties than ‘before’, with an objective that is at least twice as high. And a ditto result. In other words, the car salesman 2.0 must sell more. Who is the car salesman 2.0 and what are the most important five qualities that a 2017 salesperson must have in order to be successful?

1. Selling is the core task!

The car salesman 2.0 understands that the sales numbers that he generates must always be higher in the future. And that with the same number of opportunities. After all, he wants to get better and better in the profession. The seller 2.0 is only concerned with things that lead to sales and eliminates all peripheral issues that derive his focus from his daily activities. Car sellers of the ‘classic’ type sell a fairly stable number of cars, because more sales means more work, in terms of administration, delivery and so on. The car salesman 2.0, on the other hand, ensures that the organization takes over from him so that he can keep on selling without any restriction.

2. Conversion is everything

The car salesman 2.0 understands that a sale knows different stages. In lead follow-up he starts the dialogue first, then makes the appointment and only after doing so he will know how to sell the car. Each step has its own conversion and all of those steps are important to generate stable higher numbers. The car salesman 2.0 is therefore always looking for more leads and more requests, whether by e-mail, telephone or physically. And of every type of lead, the car salesman 2.0 knows which conversion he has to make.

3. Each lead is the starting point of a dialogue

The car salesman 2.0 understands that, behind an online lead, the same man or woman is hiding as a physical customer or a caller. He sees every lead as a sales potential in the short, medium or long term and that means a starting point for a dialogue anyway. The car seller 2.0 does not qualify a lead prior to that, because he knows that each source knows its own conversion. The car salesman 2.0 therefore makes no distinction between the sources, tackles every lead with the same enthusiasm and knows that the car salesman is the most decisive factor in making the deal a success.

4. Follow the customer journey

The car salesman 2.0 understands the customer journey of today’s customer. He realizes that the customer consults more than twenty sources before he leaves his data. He sees that as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. Like no other, the car salesman 2.0 understands that he needs to be the confirmation of the information, instead of the source of the information. It is his job to provide the customer with all other relevant information, if he wants to have a chance of selling at all, which takes place much later in the customer journey.

5. Social media

The car salesman 2.0 understands that social media is a development of the internet as we know it today (Gary Vaynerchuk). The use of social media is just one of those tools that you, as a car salesman 2.0, must use to be able to be a part of more successful dialogues. The car salesman 2.0 uses its online network to enter into long-term relationships with its customers on both a business platform and Linkedin and on other platforms such as Facebook. However, he realizes that he must always manifest himself as a professional.

In my opinion, the above five points are the core competences that the car salesman 2.0 must have in order to succeed. Where the technology of cars has changed enormously over the past twenty years, we as car sellers may have been sitting idle for too long. That is unfortunate, because in the end we are sellers of capital goods, of freedom and of a way of life, and that is just what the Netherlands is all about.

Orginal article

About Paul de Vries

Paul de Vries became a Key Automotive Spokesperson at eBay (Marketplace) after selling Nieuweautokopen.nl to eBay back in 2015. Paul is the founder and CEO of the #DCDW Academy and the presenter of the #DCDW Podcast. He is also a by dealers and importers frequently asked speaker in the online automotive industry. Paul is the winner of the prestigious Lighthouse Award 2016 in the U.S.! `Lead the Way op de digitale snelweg’ is Paul’s new book, which can be used as a guide in the online automotive industry. More information is available at: DCDW.nl.