Handling Car Sales Objections

In automotive sales, knowing how to overcome car sales objections is just a part of the job. As a automotive sales professional, you will face objections with a majority of the customers that you come in contact with. This is because buyers have been taught to distrust dealerships and their sales processes. However, this does not mean that to overcome car sales objections you need to do anything crazy or cave into their objections. In most cases, you just need to earn their trust.

To earn trust and create belief in your car deal, you need to make customers feel heard and valid. Establishing this connection will make it far easier to overcome car sales objections. When your customer feels that you understand them, and you explain why they’re at the right place, handling car sales objections becomes easy! Remember, most customers feel that they will get taken advantage of if they don’t toss out an objection or two. It’s just reflex! In this blog, learn the 3 simple steps you need to overcome any objection in car sales!

Overcome Car Sales Objections – Step #1

Agree, appreciate, and understand the buyer's position.

The goal is always to de-escalate objections! Aiming to win the conversation or be right only adds fuel to the flames. The best way to handle objections is to keep them small. De-escalating almost any issue can usually be done with agreement, appreciation, and understanding. You want to convey to your customer that you are listening to them, and that their concerns have value. To overcome car sales objections, keep things small and don’t try to be right or argue every time you think the buyer said something wrong. Listening to and acknowledging the buyer's concerns is the first step to overcome car sales objections.

Examples:

Customer: “I’m just looking.”

Salesperson: “Sounds good, you don’t have to buy today.”

Customer: “TrueCar said my car is worth $1,000 more.”

Salesperson: “Thank you for bringing that to my attention.”

Customer: “I want your best price.”

Salesperson: “I understand that you’re looking for the best price.”

Overcome Car Sales Objections – Step #2

Add the reason why you agree, appreciate, and understand the customer.

Explaining the reasoning behind why you agree, appreciate, and understand your customers is an extremely powerful tool to overcome car sales objections. This lets buyers know that you understand where they are coming from. To overcome car sales objections, you want customers to feel heard and understood. By doing this, you will make objections easier to handle by taking the pressure out of the deal, and making the situation less stressful for everyone. When someone agrees with you, and says why, it’s almost impossible to respond in a negative manner. The goal is to keep the deal light and free from stress because negativity only makes buyers stick to their position more strongly.

Examples:

Customer: “I’m just looking.”

Salesperson: “Sounds good, you don’t have to buy today. If I was purchasing a vehicle, I’d want to take my time as well.”

Customer: “TrueCar said my car is worth $1,000 more.”

Salesperson: “Thank you for bringing that to my attention. TrueCar is a great source of information, and if I was selling my vehicle, I know I’d check there as well.”

Customer: “I want your best price.”

Salesperson: “I understand that you’re looking for the best price because if I was buying a car, I’d do the same thing.”

Overcome Car Sales Objections – Step #3

Close. Move to the next step.

Now that you've disarmed the situation, it’s time to go for the close. This means moving to the next step in the process – whether the demonstration drive, write up, or closing the deal. To overcome car sales objections, make buyers feel heard and valid, tell them why, and then aim to move them along to the next step in your sales process. Most objections that get thrown out are simply a test, and not serious objections. So, by doing this with confidence and the right attitude, these 3 simple steps will help you overcome car sales objections most of the time!

Examples:

Customer: “I’m just looking.”

Salesperson: “Sounds good, you don’t have to buy today. If I was purchasing a vehicle, I’d want to take my time as well. Today can just be a looking day, follow me.”

Customer: “TrueCar said my car is worth $1,000 more.”

Salesperson: “Thank you for bringing that to my attention. TrueCar is a great source of information, and if I was selling my vehicle, I know I’d check there as well. People always trade their vehicle in here because we offer the best dollar for trades. Can you pull up where you saw that so we can take a look together?”

• *Side Note: Remember, third-party sites have good, reliable information. So, if a buyer says that a third-party site is values their trade higher, it's usually for two reasons. Either they're making sure they're getting a good price, or the third-party website gives a different value because of a difference in things like equipment, features, vehicle condition, etc. Be prepared to go through and explain these differences with the customer!

Customer: “I want your best price.”

Salesperson: “I understand that you’re looking for the best price because if I was buying a car, I’d do the same thing...”

Next Step: “Everyone who’s looking for the best price shops here, follow me.”

Or

The Close: “I guarantee that for or the way this vehicle is equipped, it is a fantastic deal, sign here!”