If you want to develop a successful sales strategy, you must work to build trust with your customers. This is something you should make clear in your used car dealership business plan – after all, funders want to see feasibility in your company once it is launched. Being able to earn customer trust is crucial because of the often-bad reputation – whether it is deserved or not – for car dealers to take advantage of customers and because of the large amount of stress that goes along with the purchase of a bigger item, such as a car, causes for the buyers.
There are several ways you can begin to build trust with your customers.
Testimonials and Referrals
When you put a significant amount of focus on ensuring your customers are satisfied, then you will begin to develop a strong word-of-mouth marketing stream. An extra element of this is to secure testimonial statements – either on video or written – from your happy customers. Keep in mind, though, you must have happy customers, to begin with, because customers will be able to tell if the testimonials are fake or “canned,” which will cause even more mistrust.
Transparency
It is essential that you create a plan to remain completely transparent about pricing, costs of ownership, fees, and more upfront. If you fail to do this, it may change how your customers or future customers view your dealership. In many cases, there is too much of a focus on a low sticker price that will attract customers, and then they will feel lied to when all the additional charges are finally explained. Will your dealership be able to ensure transparency and provide a competitive advantage? This is essential for ongoing success.
Take Your Time
You need to take the sales process at the rate that your customer is comfortable with. It’s important to recognize that this is a hard step for many customers, so you have to be easy and take time. You may find that they are defensive or thrown off somewhat – so be sure you are taking time to answer all questions to ensure they fully understand all the options.
Being informed and knowing what to consider is the best way to ensure that you get the customers that you want and need to ensure that your used car dealership business plan is successful and that it continues to grow.
