Step 5 – FAB Presentation

Feature – Advantage – Benefit Selling

We have a saying in our dealerships … without the “B” in your FAB, you’re just Fading. In other words, when we are presenting our vehicles, we must focus on Benefits first, features second. After all, if all customers cared about were the features, they could simply read the brochure or sticker. Of course, that’s how most salespeople “sell” – by just reading the features on each sticker to their customer. And they wonder why people say “just looking”. I guess they think they can read sticker’s and wonder the lot on their own.

A professional in sales understands how to translate features into benefits and uses the advantage as his conduit. Here’s an example:

Average Joe presenting “white”
The car is white. Do you like white?

Sales Professional presenting the feature “white”

Feature: Dave, as you probably know, white is our most popular color. (Notice the feature statement with an implied sense of urgency that we’re lucky to have white in stock.)

Advantage: The reason is that white doesn’t look dirty even when it’s absolutely filthy!

Benefit: And that means, your new car will look cleaner when you take your clients around and it saves you a fortune in car washes. (Ties the advantage of the feature to this customer’s situation thereby creating a benefit)

Tie Down: Wouldn’t that take a lot of stress out of your day? (Value confirmed is valued paid for)

To learn more about the next 7 steps to the sale, just subscribe to this Blog. I’ll be updating it regularly.

Until then, make it a great day!

Helmi Felfel

Step 4 – Vehicle Selection

Priority One – The desk selects the vehicles, not the customer. If you can internalize this one important priority, you will explode profits. Is it true for prime customers, too? Yes, absolutely. Why not? If we did our job right in Steps 1, 2 and 3, we’d have all of the information necessary to select the right choice of vehicles for each customer.

At most dealerships, we allow the customer to wonder the lot and select a vehicle. Both our prime and our subprime customers usually select too much vehicle for their budget and actual driving needs and wants. As a result, we wind up trying to switch them later to a less expensive car. And what do they do to save face? That’s right, they leave and buy the same less expensive vehicle down the street.

So, why not save all of the work and negotiation and help them select the right vehicle NOW – in Step 4, instead of later in the final closing attempt before they leave? Of course there are other benefits, as well. You’ll be able to select vehicles you can sell at a profit. You’ll have less price and budget objections down the line because you selected the right vehicle. And finally, you’ll have a stronger long term relationship because they’ll remember the experience fondly instead of as another “car buying nightmare”.

In our 5 day “More Than Just a Special Finance” workshop, we talk about the words that work while presenting the desk’s vehicle selections. We also cover the reflex objections a customer may come up with during the process. Here’s a sneak preview.

Salesperson: Dave, to save us time, I asked our lot porter to bring the vehicles to the front that best suit your driving needs and budget. Follow me and I’ll show you some of the features I think you’ll be most interesting in seeing.”
Customer: What if we don’t like any of the cars?
Salesperson: Don’t worry Dave. If these cars don’t meet your needs, I won’t expect you to consider them – so we may need to adjust the down or monthly payment amount, but we can always look at other options. By the way, didn’t you mention that you did a lot of long distance driving?”
Customer: Yes, I did.
Salesperson: Great, I’m pretty sure 2 of the 3 cars even have cruise control. Wouldn’t that be more comfortable on those long trips.
Customer: Yes, it would.

To learn more about the next 8 steps to the sale, just subscribe to this Blog. I’ll be updating it regularly.

Until then, make it a great day!

Helmi Felfel