I fixed cars for about fifteen years in local shops, dealerships, and in my own repair shop. Many of my foundations in sales came from my experience as a car mechanic.
Here’s what I learned:
ONE: Ask Questions – I had to learn to ask questions. When I got a call that someone was hearing a noise in their car, I used to just say, “Okay, drop it off and I’ll take a look.” This approach led to many misdiagnoses. I could hear lots of things wrong with cars, but not necessarily what the customer heard.
It wasn’t until I learned to ask things like, tell me more, when did it start, does it happen while driving or at idle, on turns or going straight, over bumps, is the weather hot or cold….etc.
It got to a point where I could often diagnose the problem before I looked at the car.
Big lesson – questions are the answer
TWO: First Things First – as a car expert, it’s easy to see lots of things wrong with cars. People would bring in their cars for a regular service, but it was clear they needed new tires, exhaust, brakes and more. If I focused in on these other areas too soon, though, I would not win the business as much (maybe 50% of the time) – even though it was clear they needed additional repairs.
Instead, it was always better to address first things first. I would call and say, “We’re finishing up your regular service and things are good there; however, I noticed your tires and brakes need to be replaced. Would you like us to take care of this while it’s here?” The success rate with this approach was 90%.
Big lesson – address people’s lead concern first. Once this is satisfied, trust is built and customers are open to doing more.
THREE: Provide Options – often cars needed lots of repairs. A car might need a total of $1,900 worth of work. I used to just state the one price to do everything. This didn’t land well a lot of the times.
I had to learn to provide options. Providing options, e.g., here’s a couple options: we could do this work today, and the rest next time, and we can use used parts for this repair to save you some money. Options allowed customers to budget accordingly and it provided freedom of choice.
Big lesson – options create freedom, freedom of choice is key
FOUR: Be A Trusted Advisor – car repair is a lot more than grease and wrenches. Like sales, it can and should be an advisory role. Often cars were not worth repairing. Helping a customer know when to get rid of a car versus repairing it was a delicate matter.
Advising a customer on the purchase of a new or used car was quite common. I would literally get questions like, “What kind of car should I buy? Should I lease? Should I just keep my car another year? Is there a trusted car dealer?
To drive this point home, I have not touched a wrench in over a decade and people still call me for car advice. Still!
Big lesson – be a trusted advisor
FIVE: Bundle The Price – early in my car repair days, I had to learn to put together accurate estimates. This required understanding the amount of labor and parts needed, as well as additional expenses such as machine work, disposal fees and more.
I used to give customers a break down of each and every repair. This didn’t work well. They would get confused, e.g., “What’s a mass airflow Sensor?” And then they would start postponing work. While it’s good to explore options, it’s less good when clients are downplaying important repairs because you’ve confused them.
When I learned to bundle the price, sales skyrocketed. I would say something like, “We can take care of everything today for $600.
Big lesson – keep it simple, don’t overwhelm the customer with details.
SIX: Trust – I learned quickly that people wanted to trust someone. However, the deck was stacked against me. People didn’t trust mechanics.
If you then broke trust, it was never going to be repaired.
On the other hand, if you had someone’s trust, you had their wallet. I don’t say this out of greed, but rather out of the deep sense of responsibility and ethics that was always at play.
People don’t trust salespeople. Doing the right thing – even when it costs you, matters.
Big lesson – do the right thing even if you lose
SEVEN: Prepare For The Unexpected – you never knew what you might discover with a car. I remember my co-worker opened the hood of a Subaru Legacy and there sitting on top of the engine was a muskrat. A muskrat!
We spent the next twenty minutes carefully extracting the critter who had found a way to hide between the transmission and the floor panel.
Prospects can be unpredictable. You never know what you might uncover. Emotions can run high. Tensions and complexities can be quite dynamic.
Big lesson – the unexpected will happen, proceed with caution to rescue those critters (prospects)
I hope this brief overview helps your sales efforts.