Regardless of your profession, chances are that you’ve been working on expanding and improving your self-brand, especially self-branding for car salespeople. Self-branding, in simple terms, just revolves around how other people see you after having an experience with you. Self-branding is vital for car salespeople so that they can become the go-to car salesperson. After all, you want customers to be aware of who you are and where they can find you when they are out shopping for a new car. It is a competitive market [car dealership market] if you are not showcasing your own abilities as well as you advertise the cars you will have a very difficult time in car sales. It is probably safe to say that 95% of car salespeople fail to brand themselves, or they are using incorrect techniques to advertise themselves as car salespeople. As an automotive salesperson, it is essential that you invest a lot more in your business than just money. You must also invest your time, energy, and most importantly creativity into the business. Investing creativity means to be able to come up with new and innovative ways to showcase your sales techniques to potential customers, without them realizing that it is a sales pitch. You need to market yourself and make the customer believe that if they don’t come to you to purchase their next car; they are missing out on something big.
Some salespeople have the misconception that the importance lies in excessively feeding the customer during the initial presentation rather than at any other point in the selling process; they believe that if they have a lot of information and knowledge on the vehicle they are selling, and take complete control of the conversation they will get the sale. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth while self-branding for car salespeople
The first step to marketing yourself as a professional car salesperson is to be a good listener. If you are doing all the talking, how will you find out what the customer is looking for in a vehicle? Take a deep breath, sit back, and let the customer talk to you. Ask the customer, and be genuinely concerned, what it is they are looking for in their vehicle purchase. By showing true concern for your customer’s needs, you are branding yourself as an empathetic and caring person. Thus impressing your customer a lot more than if you had just continued to ramble about anti-lock brakes, gas mileage, and cup-holders.
We need to keep in mind that when a customer comes to our dealership to purchase a car, they have most likely done a lot of online research about the car prior to entering the dealership. This part of the presentation is not as important as it once was before the Internet. It is more important than ever that you take the time to get to know the customer and take a more personal approach to the presentation. Your number one job as the salesperson is to validate their reasons for wanting to purchase the car they are interested in.
So much of selling a vehicle has very little to do with the actual vehicle as it does with the salesperson. When you first meet a customer, it is much more important that you let them see what kind of person you are, and to create their trust in you even before you discuss the vehicle they are looking to purchase.
Think about it, the purchase of a new vehicle is a major purchase; it is going to consume their budget for the next five to seven years. If the tables were reversed, wouldn’t you want to feel you could trust the person that was going to affect almost a decade of your life?
Some ways for you to brand yourself as a salesperson is to ask the following questions of yourself:
- Who are you as a car salesperson? What is your personality, your passions, skills, and expertise?
- How is it that you want others to perceive you?
- How do your peers perceive you?
- Who do you target to be your customers?
- And finally, would YOU purchase a vehicle from you?
The following quote is something to think about when trying to self-brand yourself as a salesperson:
“All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: ME Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be the head marketer of the brand called YOU. “Tom Peters in Fast Company
When creating a brand for yourself in car sales you need to think about persona. If a friend were to recommend someone to come see you about purchasing a car, what would be easiest for him or her to remember? Your actual names—say “Steve Smith” or how about “Subaru Steve? Which name do you think would be easiest to remember? Try to come up with something catchy that can relate your name to the vehicle you sell such as “Kevin the KIA dealer.”
Create a website for yourself. You know everyone is online nowadays, so why not create a web page about you. It can be the perfect platform you can showcase your knowledge, skills, and credentials on a 24/7 basis. To set yourself apart from other car dealers, by providing real value to your customers. You need to show customers how you differ from other car salespersons. Find out what your customer’s values are as well to show how much you care.
Another way you can brand yourself is to become an expert in the field. If people are saying that car salespeople don’t know anything about cars, prove them wrong and learn everything you can about the mechanics of a vehicle. If people are saying car salespersons are slimy con artists, break that stereotype and show them how honest and trustworthy you are. Creating a brand for yourself is all about the image you portray to your customer’s and the world about the type of businessperson you are. Self-branding for car salespeople ensures that you can provide a complete picture of who you are, what you believe in, and what drives you to be a successful and trustworthy member of the business community.
Sources:
RobertWeisman.com
Automotivators.com
WalkaroundVideos.com
