Life of a Car Salesman - Day 3

Corey White

The Life of a Car Salesman

1/15/18

The Customer Interview

            The customer interview is where the salesman and customer discusses the situation at hand. The purpose of this step in the process is to evaluate certain things that we refer to as wants and needs. If a customer comes into Arrow and wants to buy an F-150 pickup truck it is our job as salesmen to narrow down which F-150 is right for them. Questions will be asked such as interior and exterior preferences, whether or not there is a trade to be processed, and also budget. It is essential to land the customer on the right vehicle the first time, that is why a thorough customer interview is required. As a salesman you prefer to do this customer interview inside the dealership that way everyone is comfortable and no bit of information is left out. There is one important factor to the customer interview and that is honesty. Without honesty from the customer and the salesman or woman the rest of the process after the customer interview can become strenuous. Repossessions, credit situations, pulling capacity, or even number of seats; all of this needs to covered candidly in order to put the customer on the right vehicle. There are a surprising number of customers that will withhold information, but without this information we cannot help you appropriately. The salesperson is not the individual buying the car, you are, therefore you the customer needs complete honesty. One way or another the truth will be revealed during the car buying process so it might as well come out in the beginning. The customer interview also allows the salesman or woman to begin establishing a rapport with the customer. Establishing rapport is vital during this step of the process. If you are going to ask a customer to spend ten thousand to eighty thousand dollars on a vehicle then it helps that you can the customer can have some commonplace between you both, and preferably a connection. I personally believe my best quality as a car salesman is building rapport. I am only the ripe age of twenty-seven years old but I have lived quite a life in those twenty-seven years. Since I have lived a full life up this point I connect and find similarities easily with customers allowing me down the line to feel comfortable asking for the money. The customer interview is quintessential as the second part of the car buying process, and a good car salesman will hit their mark. As always if there are any questions or concerns feel free to call or text!