The Informed Auto Buyer
Salespeople identify essentially five different types of buyers. We are :adding a sixth buyer type to the list.
Cash buyers. These are people who pay cash for the vehicle. (Dealers would prefer that you not pay cash. They make more money if you finance.)
Difference buyers. These are people who are primarily interested in the difference between the amount the dealer will give them for their trade-in and the price of the new car.
Allowance Buyers. These people are mostly concerned with what the dealership will allow on their trade. Because the allowance often appears to be a "good price for the trade," buyers never know what their car is really worth or how much, if any, discount they're getting.
Payment buyers. These people look at the price of a car only in terms of what it will cost them per month. Far too often they will iump at a 48- or 60-month deal because the payments are low. This may be the only way they'll be able to afford a new car. That notwAthstanding, when all is said and done they Aill have paid hundreds, even thousands, of dollars more for the car.
Lease buyers. This is a different category of buyer and one that we will discuss in more detail in "About Leasing."
With possibly the exception of cash buyers, each of these buying methods gives the salesperson an opportunity to confuse the customer and maximize the dealership's profits.
The sixth type of buyer-the one you can be-is the Informed Auto Buyer. These are buyers who do their homework before they buy. They understand that each element of the deal must be kept separate. The educated auto buyer always knows the answers to these questions:?
1. What is the true price of the car, van, or truck to the dealer?
2. How much profit am I prepared to give them?
3. What is the fair wholesale value of my trade-in?
4. What is the total cash I can afford to put down?
5. Where can I find the best finance rates?
6. Which monthly finance plan fits best into my budget
If you deal with each of these issues separately, you will go a long way toward avoiding the confusion that some car sellers try to create. You will also set yourself apart from the not so car-smart buyers.
Control Is Me Key
Were you to read the training manuals created for automobile sales¬people, you'd find that a good deal of emphasis is placed on controlling the customer. Traditionally, salespeople are taught to follow a multistcp sales plan-or a variation thereof-that we outlined in. These steps, plus carefully focused questions, various ploys, confusion tactics, and even facial reactions, grimaces, and expressions are all part of the effort to maintain control. Far too many customers forget that until they sign the check, they have the ultimate control. And that's just fine from the dealership's perspective.
Your objective is to take control of the process. The way to do tlus is to:
1. Have your research done ahead of time. Your research should include:
a. Deciding upon the make, model, and options
b. Determining the dealer's costs
c. Investigating and deciding on your financing options d. Setting a limit on what you'll spende. Being able to recognize dealership ploys and tactics
f. Knowing how to use counter tactics
g. Recognizing that you have the option of shopping many dealers
h. Deciding at what point and under what circumstances you will "walk out."
2. Plan your buying strategy in advance. Since salespeople have a selling plan, there is no reason you shouldn't have a buying plan.
3. Be prepared to slow down the selling process with questions, with requests to review figures a second and third time, and with the determination not to buy until you are totally satisfied that you understand and are ready to agree to all the elements of the deal.
Your Attitude-A Key to Success
Be someone that they can neither hate nor take advantage of." As strange as that might seem, this is a sound piece of advice. Car salespeople expect to deal ,with all kinds of people. At the one end of the spectrum are the bullies, the aggressive personalities, and people who enter a dealership determined to give the salesperson a hard time. They are connced that the dealership is going to try to cheat them on their trade and overcharge them on the new car and "by golly" they are going to "beat up the salesperson" before he or she gets a chance to beat them up.
At the other end of the spectrum are people who dread the prospect of buying a new car. They don't want to endure the hassle. They come in hoping to find someone who will treat them fairly and not take advantage of the situation. These people often agree to almost anything just to get it over with. In fairness, some car salespeople will be "gentle." They are smart enough to know that the prospect can also be the source of future referrals. But remember, no matter how altruistic or kind-hearted salespeople might appear, they did not come to work that morning to do social work. They are there to earn a commission. Money-not you-is the ultimate bottom line.As an informed auto buyer you're totally different. While you will enter a dealership with a strategy, an objective, and, most important, with all the facts, you will also enter with the resolve to remain calm, pleasant, somewhat reserved, but clearly very determined and up schemes to make them pay more. Salespeople don't take kindly to know-it-alls with egos who claim they know cars and the car-selling business. Generally, the ego trip ends as a very expensive ticket. At the same time, many salespeople try to take advantage of the timid and the insecure by confusing them with figures and showering them with assurances that they will see to it that the customer's best interest is always served. Sure they will!
Salespeople will tell you that the unemotional, well-prepared, incontrol customer is one of their more formidable challenges. Your objective should be to convey the impression that you are pleasant but very businesslike. That you are someone who asks good questions but offers few answers. That you are someone who has clearly done your homework and knows exactly the deal you are prepared to make. And finally, that you are someone who will not be pressured or swayed: Someone who will buy only when you are ready. Someone who is prepared to shake hands and walk out to shop elsewhere if your deal requirements are not met. Believe you this: Most salespeople are simply not equipped to deal with someone who comes into the dealership prepared.
