Introduction
Car dealerships, like any other business, aim to increase their sales volume and their profits. It is, therefore, in the interest of the owners of car dealerships to execute merchandising and marketing strategies to ensure that they realize their goals. These general marketing strategies include supporting one’s product, understanding the customer’s needs in order to devise solutions, carrying out research on trends, and maintaining a continuous flow of stock at all times. The car dealership should aim to optimize the satisfaction of customers and improve the performance of sales and retention of customers. These are the main factors that define and enable the success of a business. This paper seeks to discuss how the selling process of a car is implemented at a dealership from the customer’s perspective.
Description of the dealership
Lithia Motors is one of the major car dealers in America that has branches all over America. The headquarters of the company is in Medford, Oregon (Motors, 2022 Pg. 3). It is ranked the third largest automotive dealership group in America. Lithia runs over at least two hundred and sixty-seven stores. It operates mainly in the United States, having branches in Twenty-four states and fourteen other states in Canada. It has a total of one hundred eighty thousand five hundred and thirty-two new retail vehicles. The variety of cars that it deals in includes Bentley, Aston Martin, BMW, Acura, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Jaguar, Jeep, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Nissan, Maserati, Porsche, Volvo, vox Wagen, rolls Royce, Subaru, and many others.
How the dealership uses the selling process
Meeting and Greeting
When a potential buyer visits a car dealership, an experienced salesperson who is well versed with the cars they are selling will approach them and use the first few minutes to welcome the customer and create a rapport while trying to establish what the customer may like. The salesperson takes the customer through the details of the cars they deal in (Kurtus, 2022 Pg. 4). the meeting and greeting part is very important because it is the first point that the salesperson can make the right impression and attract the customers to want to do business with them.
Qualify
At this point, the dealer has to determine whether a potential buyer has a particular desire or want that the business can meet without any problems. There is always quick research at this stage to identify the right customers. The findings can be sought by asking qualifying questions, such as whether the customer can afford the said car. Screening can also be done to evaluate the current needs of customers.
Select a specific car
The salesperson will then select a specific car that seems to be of interest to the prospective buyer and then build an explanation around it to impress the prospective customers even further (Indeed, 2022 Pg. 2). The salesperson will find details of that particular car and offer to the customer to help them weigh their qualification and at the same time see if it actually meets the customer’s needs.
Feature presentation
In this stage, the salesperson demonstrates the car meets or fits the interest of the prospective customers. In order to make an effective presentation, the dealer should be keen on listening to quickly research what the customer wants and, in the right manner, respond to those concerns.
Demonstration
Demonstration is the most practical stager in the car selling process. Since a person is a potential buyer, the salesperson will demonstrate its benefits and features. This may involve doing test rides in that particular car. This occurrence provides a chance again for the salesperson to befriend and persuade the potential client. By doing so, the salesperson raises the probability of making a sale. Additionally, the demonstration also involves answering prospective customers’ questions and allowing them to take personal test drives.
Trial close
In this phase, you let the customer offer their sentiments on the way to move forward. There are various alternatives to closing the deal (Kurtus, 2022 Pg. 4). They include alternative choice close, where an assumption is made about the sale and then providing the potential customers with a choice. Another type of close is extra inducement close, where the prospect is given something extra as an incentive to make them make a purchase. Lastly, another close is standing room only close. This involves creating scarcity and urgency, making it more valuable and demanded.
Appraisal
At this phase, the car dealers may physically examine all the parts of the vehicle, including the inside and the outside of a vehicle (Indeed, 2022 Pg. 2). The overall condition of the car and its mechanics are also assessed. All the assessment is done before posing the final value of the vehicle.
Present the Proposal
This is the draft of all that was agreed on concerning the selling of the car (Kurtus, 2022 Pg. 4). It is what can be presented to upper management, the sales team, and the operations team for further evaluation.
Closing
After convincing the prospect that you have a solution through the cars to meet their interests, what usually follows is the deal’s consummation by closing the cell. It is always necessary to question if the customers want to buy the vehicle and also to make sure that they fully know the terms and conditions of the sale. Closing the sale may involve negotiating pricing, signing contracts, and completing the monetary transactions.
Ask for help
The salesperson can also ask for help from other people. When the customers find a second opinion from those that they somehow trust, they can help close the sales a lot earlier. This is because of the increased probability of acceptance of sales.
Introduction to Finance and Insurance manager
This is the last stage of selling, and it involves the role of the financial manager in selling the car in the insurance and financing program. They are also the ones responsible for advising the dealership on legal matters.
Summary and Conclusions:
In conclusion, for the dealership to attract and retain customers, it must employ the already the existing merchandising and marketing strategies just like in any other business. The example, Lithia, offered some great insight on the makeup and operations of a dealership. The selling process offers an elaborate manner in which the dealership interacts with its prospective customers. The process has various stages, including meeting and greeting all the way up to the closing and payment on sales.
In my opinion, the selling process that the dealership uses is very elaborate. Apart from offering transitional steps of selling a vehicle, the selling process offers wonderful insight into how to interact with customers. The dealerships can achieve success if they decide to follow the process and look keenly at its details.
References
Indeed. (2022). A complete guide to the 7-step selling process | indeed.com. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/selling-process
Kurtus, R. (2022). Automobile sales process. Automobile Sales Process by Ron Kurtus – Succeed in Sales: School for Champions. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.school-for-champions.com/sales/automobile_sales_process.htm
Motors, L. (n.d.). Lithia Auto Stores: Shop 70,000 vehicles, 282 locations nationwide. Lithia Auto Stores: Shop 70,000 Vehicles, 282 Locations Nationwide. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.lithia.com/
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