We are good at what we do - getting you high-intent leads to match with. Want to match with customers so you can try out these tactics on some in-market shoppers? Reach out to Andrew at andrew@inculeader.com or feel free to shoot a call or text at (855) 777-6516. If you’re any kind of sales professional, closing is a huge step in the sales process. There have been moments where I could have closed many clients and got the deal, but I was unable to because I didn’t say the right thing at the right time. And it’s frustrating because you know you almost had them and they almost signed, but there was something you said (or could have said) that made them say “we’ll think about it,” or “I have to think about it.” Blah. Damn. You can see their apprehension. A car is expensive and you can see that fear when faced with the decision of signing. All they needed was a little nudge to your side of the fence. Close the deal But they left you with a filled out sheet with no signature, and your manager is looking at you thinking “What the hell happened? Why did they leave?” Here are 25 kinds of closes you can use today to sell more cars and make more money. 1-2-3 Close Give them three reasons why your vehicle is better. When you list out the benefits in threes, customers are more compelled to agree to those reasons. You can use this at any time when you’re selling the car. This car is faster, better handling and more fun to drive. This price includes a full tank of gas, documentation and taxes. Affordable Close If your customer has an objection when you’re selling a car, more often than not, it’s price. The affordable close takes a bit of info digging, like finding out what their budget is, and finding a vehicle that they can afford, thereby increasing the chances of a deal. You can also use this to reframe lifetime costs of ownership if the vehicle is a little higher than they had anticipated. This payment is $20 lower than what you said your budget is and $50 less than the competition. Yes, this hybrid is more expensive than a regular gas car, but if take into consideration how much money you will be saving in fuel, this hybrid is less expensive in the long run. Ask-the-Manager Close A favourite in the car sales business, the ask-the-manager close is one that I used a lot of when I first started. (I was new!) It starts with you telling your customer that you only have the authority to discount a certain amount. Any more than that you have to ask the manager. Leave the table and say you are going to see if you are able to get the discount they are asking for. Go to your manager and make sure that in fact, it is ok. Don’t come back right away. Some salespeople that use this close stay in the manager’s office for up to 20 minutes. Play it up a bit and make it look like you’re actually trying to persuade your manager. I’m only authorized to discount up to $500 and you’re looking for a $1000 discount. I can try to convince my manager and get that $1000 off for you, would that be ok? (Go to manager’s office and start playing it up…waving hands, big gestures…etc.) Come back. Phew! It took a bit of convincing, but my manager agreed to this price. We have a deal! Assumptive Close I like this close and this one has worked for me quite a bit. Assume that this is the vehicle, assume the price is perfect and assume that’s what your customer wants. And do it confidently. It puts pressure on them to say no. And after agreeing with your assumptions, saying no is more difficult. You wanted to take delivery tomorrow right? Was the red one or the black one the car you wanted? You wanted the red car with the upgraded audio for $300 per month. Perfect. When would you like to take delivery of your car? Balance-sheet Close This one is the pro-con close. Write down on a sheet all the pros and all the cons with their purchase. Obviously, make sure the pro’s list is longer. This one is pretty much straightforward. Doing this in front of them makes it better than your customers doing it for themselves at home. It creates trust and you are able to answer any objections on the spot. Best-time Close There’s no better time to buy than right now! As a salesperson selling cars, do you really want them to leave the dealership to think about things? Especially with all the other dealerships out there? Of course not! Emphasize how there is no better time to buy than right now. Use whatever you can to create urgency. Programs are changing tomorrow, and leaving a deposit holds you to the interest today. It’s our Super-Duper-Sizzling-Summer-We’re-Going-Crazy Sale! And this sale ends at the end of the day. There’s no better time to take this vehicle at this price than right now! Bonus Close This is where you give them something they want. You’ve shown them the car and shown them the price. But they’re humming and hawing about something. This is where you can include something that you know they would like in the hopes that they’ll sign the deal. If they like the bonus enough, it may entice them enough to proceed with the purchase. Use this with your manager’s approval. Mr. Customer, I know how much you like the car. To sweeten the deal for you, if you buy it today, I’ll include the (whatever it is they wanted) for you at no additional cost. Bracket Close The bracket close is a close where you give your customer options, with one of them being your target option, and building the other two either just out of their budget or stripped down that they won’t consider it. What you want to do is have them choose the middle option, your option. What you are doing is framing the other two options to make the target one seem like it’s the best option. At least you want to make the target option the one they would most likely opt for. It may not be exactly what they want, but considering their options, it’s something they will take. Option 1 – Fully loaded vehicle, leather, sunroof, all wheel drive, with the V8 engine 300hp. $700/month for 60 months, $5000 down Option 2 – Sport package, cloth seats, sunroof, all wheel drive, standard V6 engine 225 hp. $565/month for 60 months, $5000 down. Option 3 – Base package, no power options, front wheel drive, four-cylinder engine 160 hp. $425/month for 60 months, $5000 down. Companion Close Ahh, the dreaded lot lawyer. He’s the one that tags along with your customer and makes sure she doesn’t get ripped off. The person that watches out for her friends best interests but isn’t buying the car. Often opinionated, and chosen because of their experience in dealing with salespeople, this guy can be a pain in your ass. Unless, of course, you get them on your side. Selling to them, and then having them agree with you, makes the sale go a whole lot smoother. There’s some reason your customer trusts the lot lawyer, but if you are able to get the companion to your side, getting the customer to agree is much easier. This blue is our most popular color. (To the lot lawyer) This is such a great color, don’t you agree? Concession Close I think this is the most used closing technique salespeople in the auto industry use. The concession close is giving something to your customer only if they sign today. Getting something by giving something. If I drop the price by $500, will you buy today? “If I include the DVD player, will you take it tomorrow?” Conditional Close I think this is the second most used close in the industry. I know I used this one a lot too. If your customer raises an objection, you can still try to close the deal by adding a “subject to…” I like this one because it still gets you a deal; you just have to do one or two things to get rid of the stipulations. I think we can do this deal, subject to you getting approved. So, you agree to take the vehicle, subject to your wife’s approval? (This one pisses me off a lot, but what can you do? It’s a family decision.) Daily Cost Close This one is simple enough. Just reduce the cost to a daily amount. It works especially well if your customer is financing and the payment is over their budget by a few bucks. I know you wanted your payment to be around $350 per month and we’re at $370 per month. Think of it this way, it’s only 67 cents more than what you had wanted. Emotion Close If there’s one thing that is true, buying a car is an emotional thing. For some, they treat it as an extension of their egos. It definitely would be an emotional purchase for them. Nothing made me happier than seeing someone excited to be buying the car I was showing. How would you feel driving this car on a sunny day with the top down? Wouldn’t that be fun? Imagine the look on your friends faces when they see you drive up in this car. Wouldn’t you feel great? Give-Take Close The give-take close takes a bit of guts. You give a little, then when you take it away, watch them work harder to get it back. I’ve seen more seasoned salesmen do this. One customer takes a car for a test drive, and when they come back, another salesman approaches them and asks them for the keys to the car because another couple wants to drive that exact car. What do you think your customers are thinking now? If it’s the car they want, they’ll work harder to get that car. I know that other couple wants your car, but this car can be yours if you leave a deposit now. Handover Close Many dealerships do this one a lot. They have a dedicated “closer” that finishes the deal. I didn’t work where there was a closer. If I needed help, I asked my sales manager. But sometimes, for some reason, there were people that either I didn’t get along with or didn’t know how to close. So I turned them over to another salesperson. I’d likely have to split the deal, but sometimes it was better that I did or I’d have no deal. Handshake Close Sort of like the assumptive close. With the handshake close, you give your customer the offer and then automatically extend your hand. It doesn’t give them much time to think and hopefully you get a deal. It didn’t really work well for me, but I’ve seen people use it successfully. We’ll sell the car to you folks today for this price. (Extend hand) Congratulations! You got a great deal! No-hassle Close The no-hassle close is where you make the deal so easy to complete, that it doesn’t make any sense not to do the deal. You do as much of the grunt work as possible to make the deal hassle free. All the paperwork is filled out and prepared. You offer to deliver the vehicle to the customer’s home. (I’ve offered to drive the customer’s vehicle 3 hours one-way so that he’d take the car. And he did.) Quality Close Focus on the quality of the vehicle. Whatever you do, no matter how much the customer wants to go there, stay away from talking price. This works well, especially for those manufacturers with higher perceived reliability and you will potentially get more gross in your vehicle. Mrs. Customer, this car has a higher reliability rating than our competitors down the street. This car requires less maintenance and has a better quality rating than the other car you were looking at. Repetition Close A-B-C Always Be Closing. Have you heard that before? Ask them several times in the process for the business. Tell them several times and several reasons why they should buy today. Repeat it until they “get it.” How does this look to you? How about if we did it this way? Would doing this suit you better? Shopping List Close Go over what your customer wants and needs are in the vehicle they’re shopping for. When you’re presenting them with the offer, go through that list and emphasize how much they are getting for the price you’re offering. You’ve got the leather seats, power everything, moon roof, DVD player for the kids and upgraded wheels for a very low payment of only $500 per month. Sign here. Similarity Close Tell a story of a very similar situation you had with a previous customer that your current customer is going through right now. Tell your current customer how happy that previous customer is right now for making the right decision to buy from you. Or better yet, tell them how they missed out on not buying from you. Don’t make a fake story up. This works best if it really happened. I had a customer that went through a similar situation that you are going through right now. He hummed and hawed, but decided to not go through with the purchase at the time. But he came back a week later and this time he was excited to buy the car. Unfortunately, the exact car he wanted was driving off the lot the exact same time he drove in to buy it, but by someone else. Now he’s kicking himself for not taking it sooner. I don’t want that to happen to you. Sign here. Summary Close Just as it says, it’s a summary of what they’re purchasing. The more items you summarize, the better-perceived value of their purchase. For today only, you get a full tank of gas, your first monthly payment on us, the touring package with the upgraded A/V, the appearance package with three years of oil changes for this absolutely ridiculous low price. Sign here. Treat Close Your customers work hard for a living. Why not treat them to a brand new car. If they’re on the fence about whether or not to buy the car, tell them they deserve to spoil themselves. Why not? Isn’t it worth it to be happy? You deserve to spoil yourself. Why not? Sign here. Trial Close Sort of like a mini close, you use trial closes to gauge how hot your customer is to buying the car or which way they’re leaning in regards to decisions. It seems you like the blue car. Is that right? Would you like to have the vehicle by Thursday? Yes-set Close Get them to say yes as many times as possible. Don’t overdo it and be subtle. The theory goes like this: the more they say yes, the more likely they’ll say yes to the purchase. It’s a nice day, isn’t it? Did you say you wanted the red car? It’s a lovely colour, isn’t it? And you also wanted the tinted windows too right? Ok, sound good. When did you want to take delivery of the car? Did you say tomorrow, right? And you wanted to finance this amount? Sign here. There are 25 closes for you. Obviously, not all of them will work for all people, but use the ones that work for you. Also, just because it doesn’t work for a certain customer doesn’t mean it won’t work for the next. It’s trial and error. Use them and make some money. And have fun.