Auto sales jobs- Too often, I see salespeople trying to go from just meeting the customer to closing right away. And every chance they get, they are trying to close the sale on price. Sure, you might sell a few vehicles and make some money. But it's not even close to what you should or can earn in this business.

Since most customers buy the vehicle because they liked the salesperson, why not get them to like you? Now don't brag about yourself to try to get them to like you. Instead build rapport with them. If you start to build rapport with them, you'll notice it will slow down the sales process and you can go through the basic steps much more smoothly.

The customer came into your dealership because they are interested in buying a vehicle. And this might come as a shock to you but trust me when I tell you; they know you're there to sell them one. So start off by getting rid of that tension. You got to make them feel as if they are here to own a vehicle versus you are there to sell them one. Customers just don't like to be sold.

Since almost all customers don't like to be sold, it's your job to get that nervousness out of the air and ease that tension. Start asking them open-ended questions and allow them to talk. Break the ice and start asking them questions about themselves. Ask:

• Do you live around here?
• How long the have you lived here?
• Do you have any kids?
• Where do they go to school?

Whatever it is you are talking about to build rapport, just get off the topic of trying to sell them something and make them feel comfortable with you ASAP. Now as you're building rapport, you should also qualify the right way. Building rapport and qualifying goes hand in hand. If you qualify properly, this will allow you to present the proper vehicle rather than wondering the lot presenting fifty million choices, which would only confuse the customer. But the point I'm trying to make is you must build enough rapport. If you do, it will only increase your chance of closing the sale.

How Long Should I Build Rapport?

There really is no set time. The correct answer would be as long as it takes. You can go through the basic steps and still keep building rapport, as long as you have control over the conversation you should be okay.

If one of your strong points is that you're very humorous, use that to your advantage. Just don't be rude. Customers are much easier to close when they are having fun, laughing and having a great time.

A Story About Using Humor...

I have a friend that's a salesperson in the car business. Now, he is extremely good at what he does. He is very good at following the basics, a great closer, following up, prospecting etc. But one of his strong points is making people laugh.

On every Saturday, when the show room is jam packed with customers, he would walk out of his cubicle, put on these silly glasses with the moustache and big nose, and start this hilarious speech in front of every one. Trust me he was a great public speaker. It's true that it's a gimmick, but guess what? It works! So, there is no reason for you not to get creative and do silly things to make your customers laugh and build rapport. Just remember to be humorous and not rude.

Now I'm not saying for you to turn into a stand up comedian like my friend, but all I'm saying is if you have a great sense of humor, use that to your advantage. In my experience selling, I have noticed that superstar salespeople in this business are ones that work smart, follow a plan and has a great sense of humor. All superstar salespeople are very likeable and they spend a lot of time, effort and money on educating themselves to get even better. But the ones that think there is no room for improvement, those are the ones that never grows. Learn to make a friend before you sell them something. Making a friend is the same thing as building rapport.

Pitfalls Of Building Rapport And Getting Caught Up...

It's a great feeling when you can make a friend and have a happy customer. As I said earlier, build as much rapport as possible. But don't get so emotionally involved that you forget your main objective and that's to sell a vehicle. There is a fine line between building enough rapport and getting emotionally involved. Learn to build enough rapport but avoid that pitfall of getting emotionally attached to the customer. If you do get emotionally involved, you will always sympathize for the customer on every objection and eventually you'll work the deal differently.

Think about this; if you're emotionally involved, how will you present your deals to your managers? All you'll end up doing is sympathizing for your customer. If you approach the sale this way it will weigh your judgment and affect your selling ability.

Rather than sympathizing with your customer, learn to empathize with your customer. Remember most your customer are buying a very expensive product which ranges in the thousands. So yes, you do have to understand their feelings. If you can understand their feelings, the customer will begin to trust you. So understand them and learn to empathize to build rapport and gain trust. But don't sympathize, once you do that, that's when you'll lose track of the sale. Understand this concept is critical to aide your automotive sales jobs.