Are Buyers Liars?
By: Jeffrey F. Knott
Recently during an interview regarding my book From Zero to Hero, How to Master the Art of Selling Cars a reporter posed the question to me, “Do you feel that all buyers are liars?” And while I can truthfully say that this question caught me off guard I can't honestly say that I don't understand why he asked it. After all in the past twenty years as an automobile sales professional I have heard the statement made by many of my fellow salespeople and managers alike. However I have always deeply felt that it is phrases such as this one that continue to foster the feelings of distrust between automobile consumers and those of us trying to earn a living selling the product they desire. In spite of everything if there is not a level of trust between two people who have the same objective, the objective of consummating a car deal, then how could we possibly begin to establish a relationship? Remember trust is the key ingredient in all relationships, even those between business associates.
Am I saying that I have never been lied to by a customer? Of course not, I would have to be quite naïve to believe that in two decades of selling cars a customer has never lied to me. However as the professional party involved in the transaction I have always felt that the burden of trust rests on my shoulders not on the consumers. Additionally if I took the attitude that all buyers are liars then my resulting thoughts, expectations and outward actions would project themselves onto the people that I was dealing with. Remember you get what you expect. If you expect your customers to lie to you then they will fulfill your expectations. If you treat your customers as though they are worth your trust then they will become more trustworthy.
For the purposes of our own improvement and understanding regarding this situation it is helpful to examine the reasons that people lie in the first place. Consider that most lies that are told in the process of purchasing an automobile are done so for one major reason. That reason is fear. Fear is the major motivating factor behind the majority of your customer's actions. Rarely have they heard about the great deals that people get on cars or the automobiles that people purchase and drive for 200,000 miles. They hear about the minority of the cases where a person pays too much for a vehicle or doesn't get the best financing available or even worse buys a vehicle that has a multitude of mechanical problems that go unfixed. These stories are written about in newspapers, magazines, they have television shows done about them and they are plastered all over the Internet. These are the stories that capture headlines. Not the stories about the millions of people a year who buy a car at invoice and get zero percent financing for seventy-two months and then keep the vehicle to pass it down for three generations of drivers. These stories don't make for sensational headlines and they don't get ratings, thus they never get told. As a result the majority of the buying public has been bred to believe that purchasing a vehicle is a no win situation filled with landmines and booby traps. After all that is all they have ever heard. So yes they are afraid. They are afraid of making the same mistake someone else has made and they are fearful that it may happen to them. They truly believe that the horror stories are the norm not the unfortunate over publicized instance. In return they may respond by saying things that are not true. They may tell you that you are the first dealership that they have visited and that they need to shop around, while neither statement proves to be truthful. They may tell you that they will be back to buy after they have done more research. They may simply tell you that they have an appointment go to just so that they can leave your dealership without purchasing. These are all common statements and they aren't lies, they are “avoidances”. An “avoidance” is a statement that a customer makes when their fear of making a mistake overwhelms their desire to purchase. Quite frequently these avoidances are masking the true underlying reason that your customer doesn't want to purchase at this time. They are fearful of making a purchasing decision because something about the deal is “not right” for them. These things can range from reasons such as the vehicle being the wrong color to the payment or price being too high. Your customer has a true underlying objection and it is your job to find out what it is. It is your job to uncover their objection. However if you are to busy focusing on the fact that you believe your customer is lying to you then that is all you will see. A customer lying to you not a customer who has a desire to buy but needs more information to help them overcome their fear of making a mistake. You can help them through this process but you need to know how.
To learn more about your customers fear and unmasking their avoidances be sure to read From Zero to Hero, How to Master the Art of Selling Cars . In it I go into this subject in extensive detail.
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Jeffrey F. Knott is the Author of From Zero to Hero, How to Master the Art of Selling Cars and can be reached by email: Jeff@Showroomtoday.com |
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