David Lowe: 0:00

Welcome. To Prepare to Win. We’re gonna give you drive time, tips and secrets, really Maybe even reminders how to live and sell with excellence. I love today’s episode. I love every episode, right Because they’re just filled with these principles that drive excellence into our life, right? So what we’re gonna talk about today are the secrets of successful product presentations. We’re gonna call it a vehicle walk-around. We’re gonna show you how to showcase your product and in this case, we’re in the car business to build value and desire and help you sell more for more money, make more money and do it the way buyers are happier and, of course, you have a healthy pride.

Grace Lupoi: 0:38

Stay tuned. Welcome to Prepare to Win Again. If you’ve been following along with us, my name is Grace Lupoi. I am one of the training coaches with Automotive Sales Coach and, of course, with me we have David Lowe, the Automotive Sales Coach. Right.

David Lowe: 0:58

It’s good to be with you. Thank you so much, yeah, of course.

Grace Lupoi: 1:01

So today we’re really unpacking what this looks like a vehicle or product presentation. Right, let’s talk about that.

David Lowe: 1:06

Yeah, right. So whatever you’re selling, it really doesn’t matter. We’re in the car business. So in the car business they call it a vehicle walk-around. But no matter what you sell, you have to demonstrate your product’s features and benefits, don’t you? This is what our product does and this is how our product works for you. So the whole goal here is to build value. This is a really good buy, this is a really good product and desire. I really want this. And so the whole goal of a vehicle walk-around is to build value and desire so people can see that their life will be better if they say yes to you today. Does that make sense? Okay, now the car business has called us a walk-around for so long. I’ll take you all the way back 30 some odd years, actually 38 years ago, when I started selling cars. I was there not even a month, and they had a walk-around competition for Ford, right, and the winner of the store, the top three, got some money. The top person went to the area, then to the region or whatever, and then to the national championship. So it was kind of like a bracket challenge. And so I was brand new, I didn’t know anything, but I studied and I got second believe it or not in my third thing, and the whole idea was you have 10 minutes to present your product. Now, this is good and it’s bad. It’s so flawed because you can be great at memorizing a product and talking about what it is and advantages of that product, but if you don’t relate it to that buyer, then all you have is a presentation right? So some time ago we rewarded this at Automotive Sales Coach on our dealership playbook. We’re gonna call it a walk-around. We call it.

Grace Lupoi: 3:00

The exploration.

David Lowe: 3:00

Exploration. Let’s explore the product together and see if it’s the right product for you and your family.

Grace Lupoi: 3:09

Go ahead and I think that’s what really sets us apart.

David Lowe: 3:11

Yes, right.

Grace Lupoi: 3:12

Is. It’s not just the fab, right Features, advantage benefits. It’s not just a presentation. What I want to do is create that bond.

David Lowe: 3:19

That’s right.

Grace Lupoi: 3:19

Right. We talk about creating value and desire, and I can do that a little bit when I, when I give the fab. What I really want to do is I want to make. Like you said earlier, their life might suck right. If they go home without this product, and to do that I have to say hey. By the way, who’s sitting in this car with you?

David Lowe: 3:34

That’s right.

Grace Lupoi: 3:34

Let me show you how we can make the seats fold down to fit all your equipment right for soccer or whatever. And that’s where that comes in is creating that bond that makes it hard to break.

David Lowe: 3:44

Fantastic. So Grace has just given you a little insight to what does a great exploration look like and you just said we’re going to ask more good questions to understand that, to keep that bond and show how the car fits the lifestyle. So let’s go backwards and talk about this exploration we want to explore the car with. Does it help if we know the buyer before we?

Grace Lupoi: 4:03

do it? Yes, it definitely will.

David Lowe: 4:06

So this walk around competition at Ford had was great. It promoted product knowledge. Highly recommend that your dealership if you’re in a car dealership or your stereo store or whatever it is takes regular time, but maybe every Saturday morning somebody does a walk around, explores a product so that you guys can keep sharp on your product, right, right, and we would say that the exploration is so much more than just a walk around. However, we actually use the six position walk around format to explore the car. It’s a great, organized way to present. This is how this vehicle is going to make your life better. So a great exploration. Let’s talk about how to make it great. How do I build value and desire and use those to gain a today buying commitment? Isn’t that what we’re after? Right, we want to excite the lifetime customer. We want them to wow I found the right car, can I take it home today, and so that’s our goal. So what are the keys to a great exploration? And it really starts before that understanding our buyer. When we seek to understand not just what they want but why they want it, who they are we talked about that. We can go ahead and log that conversation. So when we’re showing our product, we can work their life into that product, right, right, we really think a great exploration begins with a conversation about what they want, why they want, who they are. We call it understand goals, you might call it an interview or whatever, but it’s really seeking first to understand. So I want to seek first to understand you, grace, and then I want you to understand me when I show you how my product is going to beat your goals right and help you make a better life. And can I tell you, I think it even begins before that with product certification. So products are complicated today. There’s a lot of technologies, lots of, and the manufacturers do a really good job at teaching you the product. I don’t think they do a great job at teaching you to sell the product, but that’s really not what they’re good at. They’re good at designing and building and creating the product. They do it well, and so it’s natural that they would be the ones that teach you the product, the features, advantages and benefits. So you want to get product certified. You want to stay up on your product. That’s really where this begins, because once I have that certificate, I have the confidence that, no matter, grace, what your goals are, I can tell you what you need to know, not everything about the car, but what you need to know to make the decision. Boy, this is the right car for me.

Grace Lupoi: 6:44

My life’s better with this feature.

David Lowe: 6:46

That’s it. This is really going to be great for me, not the general public for me. So features advantage that we say personal benefits come from that. So we are products that we know, our knowledge we have that. We have the product knowledge, confidence, right. Then we have that time. It’s three, four, five minutes really discussion time to get a base level knowledge. We might even walk around your old car with you as we do that right, and we might learn in the car business. That’s how we learn about someone. When I bought a stereo, the guy came to my house and asked me question what kind of music do you listen to? How loud do you listen to? Right, that kind of thing. And so before he showed me the speakers that he wanted that he thought were right for me, he asked me those questions. So it doesn’t matter what you’re selling. Doesn’t it make sense to prepare for the exploration by learning about your customer and by being a product expert?

Grace Lupoi: 7:40

And Dave. That goes right back to last last episode, right Active listening, and I think those that are listening right now understand that we use these principles of success and they’re so interwoven into every step of this process. Right no matter what I’m doing, that you know what. My active listening skills don’t just apply at one time, they apply in every area and they’ll always get me that information right. Good questions, good listening gets me that good information to move forward.

David Lowe: 8:04

Isn’t that great. So we draw a line through the sales process.

Grace Lupoi: 8:08

Active listening goes all the way through right, All the way through Some things start and stop.

David Lowe: 8:11

The test drive starts and stops. Active listening never starts, and so it’s always on building relationship and rapport. Trust never ends, right. So we have things that we do, skill sets that we use throughout, and this is active listening is a big one, and we’re going to find it come true during this vehicle exploration. So we, like I just want to give you some tips on it. In order to help your buyer focus, let’s talk about the car for a minute. Now, if you’re in another industry, you would do your version of these same principles. In our industry, we have our cars all lined up and you can’t really actively explore a car that’s in a row. So we might say, hey, let the buyer feel comfortable looking at your car by pulling it out in an area free from distraction, not a high traffic area where you’re going to get interrupted. Pull it in a spot where you can open the doors and you can explore the car together without them worried about them or their kids getting hit, without them worrying about doors hitting other cars. So really, kind of, pulling that out is a big thing, right? And how about setting a stage for it, like creating confidence. Grace, I want to show you some really cool things and how I believe that this grand Cherokee is real fit. Everything you told me so far. I think you chose the right car. Let me show you how the features on this car really going to work for you and your family. I love it. So you might want to start with what that you might say. I’m going to show you some of the new technology that they put in. It’s really you’re going to enjoy and, based on what you told me, so there’s a lot of ways you can tell them what you’re about to tell them. Here’s what we’re about to do.

Grace Lupoi: 9:53

And that, based on what you told me, shows me as a consultant. I listened to you. That’s right. Right, I took what you said into consideration. I didn’t just take notes and throw them away. That’s right, I took those notes and, from what you told me, here’s how this will make your life better.

David Lowe: 10:05

Isn’t that what a consultant is? Consulting listens to you, understands you and then helps advise by showing you some choices, right. Doesn’t tell you what to do, but certainly tell. So we’re going to, we’re going to show them how this car would fit their goals right, based on the goal. So you might do. You might also work in a statement like let me, let’s quick look at this vehicle together. I’d like to show you. I might throw in words like quick, you know what I mean, stuff like that, okay, so what does it mean to master? I’m gonna go around it and I’m gonna show this vehicle in a way that gets them involved in picturing their lifestyle. So I may need to ask questions as I go, true or false. So I don’t learn everything in those three or four, five minutes. When we have this, what are you looking for and why, and how does it fit your life? I don’t learn everything. So you just said, when you open a door, you ask a question, a question about what their life. So can I continue seeking to understand the buyer during the exploration? That’s a big part of it. I think a lot of salespeople are like, okay, shut up while I tell you about the car and what we wanna do is get the buyer actively engaged with the car. Now can I tell you where I really started this? I think it was Circuit City. Now Circuit City is gone. Circuit City is an example of a great company that focused on training heavily. I had friends I grew up while they were growing up that started them on the sales floor and moved up. They were boom on the train. Of course, probably as the company grew, they put less priority on training. Where are they now? Anyway, it’s gone. So Circuit City and Best Buy they came up with this thing where people would actually come in the store and actually play the video games that they’re thinking about buying. That interaction and it really got me thinking that instead of what presenting the product or having it sitting on the shelf why not get them to touch it and feel it? So when we talk about a great vehicle, walk around or exploration, we’re really talking about personal benefits and we’re talking about engaging in all the senses getting them in and out of the car, touching and feeling, talking about that right, does that make sense? So we want them engaged actively, hopping in the seat how are my kids gonna fit back? That kind of thing. Does that make sense? So we have get prepared with your product certification. You gotta have that. Understand your buyer. It really will help you present the benefits. Think of this. Pull it out. So it’s in a spot that gives them the freedom to look without fear. Make sure you set the stage. This is gonna be great. It’s not gonna take forever. I just wanna show you some things about this. Show you how this car great choice and how it’s gonna make your life better and then, of course, as I do it and I use the sixth position normally start the hood and go around the car. I’m gonna go ahead and continue to ask questions and I’m gonna relate what I know about this car to what I know about you and how it make your life better, exactly.

Grace Lupoi: 13:02

And one thing that I don’t wanna touch on is when we ask those good questions, we talk about asking big questions, right? Not low level, like oh, do you have a dog, oh, do you have kids? Cause that invites an answer no. I wanna ask those open-ended questions where they have to answer hey, who’s sitting out here, dave? What’s going in here? Yes, I don’t know something. I wanna ask that big, high level question that again invites that conversation and that back and forth that allows me to continue to engage them in the car or in that process Isn’t that awesome.

David Lowe: 13:30

And if you would allow me, in this episode I wanna take a step back to the last episode. You’ve alluded to, right, the active listening. So if you said to me or I said to you, so who’s gonna be sitting in the back seat? And you say, well, is my dog? I might affirm you your dog, awesome, what kind of dog do you have? There we go Active listening as we explore, the buyer feels even more understood, even more valued, and we have a better insight to how they’re gonna use the car. Just, it just carries on through our mind.

Grace Lupoi: 14:04

I don’t know what it’s all about Make the buyer feel valued, feel important, and when they do that, that really helps us at the stage for again that relationship where I feel man, this person understands me and they really want me to find the right car or the right product that makes my life.

David Lowe: 14:19

That is it. And no matter what you’re selling, your job is to make it simple for your buyer to feel comfortable saying yes. And the best way to make it simple is answer those buying questions right what should I buy, where should I buy, when should I buy, how much should I pay? And what should I buy is really handled here right, but it does interlock with every other step. It’s funny how the vehicle exploration is not an independent step. It really is made stronger with the steps before, isn’t it? And so, as we go throughout our journey on living and selling with excellence, we’re gonna bring you these principles, drive-time principles for living and selling with excellence, tips that you can do it. They’re not just principles, but we’re gonna bring up to date modern techniques and technology All these things. You’re gonna see how interwoven they are. Right that one thing supports another. In other words, anything that I shortcut destroys another. If I shortcut my understand goals, I have hurt my exploration. If I shortcut my exploration, I’ve probably hurt my child clothes and my clothes. Does that make sense? So the better we are at executing these things, the more support the other things we execute there. So the more we complete with excellence, the better chance we have of having a customer say, yeah, I’ll drive that home today. More chance we have them saying yes to your first principle maximizing your profit. More chance they’re gonna leave really excited about what they did and, of course, you’re gonna have a healthy pride. That’s the whole point. We went all the way back to episode one that said joy, peace and satisfaction is really found in people in pursuit of their best self. So I don’t care what you’re selling and maybe not selling anything, and you’re just thinking about building value and desire in anything. Right, it’s really about having a healthy pride that who you are it matters and it’s making it’s rippling into other people’s lives and your benefits. It’s kinda cool, right? Okay, so let’s just kinda wrap up this just kinda physical walk-on. We’re going around the car, we’re exploring it together and we’re touching it. People are getting in and out of it and evidently people are gonna ask questions. Fantastic, right. And so when we get asked questions, that’s a great time to explore more. You’re right, right, so right. Say how much room is in the back here, right? What are they saying? They’re not asking well, 15.2 cubic feet. What they’re asking is will my crap fit in here, right? So why don’t you find out what is the crap you’re carrying, what are you carrying Right, so we can say that’s a great question. I’m glad you asked about the space back here. Actually, it has the most cargo room of any SUV in its class. I don’t know what that means. It’s big. Let me ask you this what are you gonna put back here? And let’s make sure it fits, there we go. True story I was selling cars and early in my career in New Jersey, on the way to New York, a guy who went to Juilliard had his instrument in his car and his question was will my cello fit Right? He didn’t wanna buy a car that day, he just wanted to look. I said well, there’s no use coming back if your cello doesn’t fit. Let’s get your cello and make sure it fits. Never came out of that car, he drove his newer car at home with that cello in it. But it’s really about showing how important it is that I wanna make sure you have the right car. I’m not gonna sell you a car that doesn’t fit your cello, because that’s what you do every day you drive the Juilliard and back. So I think that when we talk about successful vehicle walk-arounds, it’s more than just product knowledge. It’s a lot of things. Our product knowledge turns into confidence, our understanding goals. It turns into information we can use to show them how the car works. Take it, be incurious in pulling the car out when we have some space. Shows really respect for them and to make it comfortable for them. Setting the stage with a good intro is so important. Right, here’s what we’re gonna do and why that really sets into mind Taking time to walk around and talking about the features, how they fit their life, and getting them engaged, asking a good question so you have more information and, of course, answering their questions in a way that makes you feel comfortable. Moving on, I think these all work together and I would say sometimes you might hear objections. I don’t know if I like the color. I don’t like this color interior, right, that’s a different episode and we’re gonna talk. It’s called a product objection. We’re gonna teach about that. If they come up during your vehicle presentation, you need to either overcome them. If they’re an objection, that’s a hurdle you can jump. If it’s a wall, it’s called a condition and you’re gonna have to switch products. How do you know the difference? Well, stay tuned to some of our future episodes. We’re gonna show you exactly how to listen to what this podcast is dedicated to. We wanna talk about the things in between the lines. Our dealership playbook has so much training material and we wanna make that come to life during this podcast. Don’t we? Absolutely Everybody who’s listening. We really have an interest in helping you achieve your full God-given potential Not just make money, but really become more. As you become more, your benefit to more people. And as your benefit to more people, of course, you will rise as well. So that’s awesome. Is there any last words about the exploration you can do? I don’t think so. Okay, how about this one? Don’t skip it.

Grace Lupoi: 19:47

Right, let’s do it.

David Lowe: 19:49

Yeah, we see salesmen all the time getting the keys and leaving on a test drive and I think, oh, you missed your opportunity, right, right. So when the buyer leaves and says the price was too high, the payment was too high, the trade was too low, often we can go back and say no, it was the value that wasn’t there. And the value may not have been there because one of the steps were skipped or really short, called One of the most important steps the exploration or the vehicle walk around. You need value and desire value. This is really good vibe desire. I really want this in order to live and sell with excellence.

Grace Lupoi: 20:25

So that really wraps up today’s episode right, talking about the exploration, how that really helps us to create that value and that desire. Again, thank you guys for joining us today. Really appreciate that. Again, our goal is to help you guys live and sell with excellence. So if we are a benefit to you, please like, follow, subscribe.

David Lowe: 20:41

Yeah, even let us know some ideas you have. What would you like to learn about? We’d love to hear from you very much. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you being with us and listen. We want to continue deliver content that will help you sell and live with excellence. Next episode is going to be great the psychology of buyer commitment. Understanding the psychology behind your buyer commitment, and we want you to learn how to use that, to leverage that to help reach a win-win. Close right Commitment is critical to closing and we’re going to teach you, listen, we’ll teach you how to comfortably and powerfully help your buyer feel comfortable saying what yes, can I drive that home today? All right, good selling.