Car sales professionals all over the country have realized their customers already have a lot of the facts in hand before they reach out to a salesperson. They’ve done their research and they’re prepared to buy. Their last step is to figure out who to buy from. This is where Automotive Social Selling comes in.
A recent study found that sales professionals who actively practice automotive social selling were SIX TIMES more likely to beat their quotas than salespeople with rudimentary or no social media skills.
78% of social sellers make more sales than their counterparts who aren’t using social media.
According to Sales For Life more than three-quarters of those using social networks in the sales process have better results than those who rely on more traditional sales methods.
What is Automotive Social Selling?
Social selling is a sales technique using social media that allows car salespeople to laser-target their prospecting and establish rapport through their existing connections so they can sell more cars.
Automotive digital retailing has transformed how car dealers sell vehicles. It’s the merging of online tools with traditional in-person customer service to better serve today’s consumer.
Communicating with customers and conducting business online is here to stay, which means that salespeople need to navigate the online world as well as they do over the phone or in-person. For salespeople who want to up their game, Automotive Social Selling is the next step.
Social media is effective throughout the entire sales process.
Social media works well in building a pipeline, nurturing leads, giving and getting referrals and achieving sales goals. A salesperson’s online reputation, their “Personal Brand,” ignites social selling.
Salespeople must manage how they show up online. Customers don’t want to talk to strangers; they want to Google that salesperson and figure out whether they’re someone they want to work with.
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Social media savvy sales pros position themselves for success.
Before you begin using social media to be a more effective salesperson, you’ve got to know what you’re truly selling.
It’s not the product, it’s the experience.
You may be asking now, “How do I sell the experience on social media?”
You make it unique.
“How do I make it unique?”
First, recognize that YOU are unlike anyone else on earth. YOU bring a very specific value to the table that none of your co-workers or competitors have.
Authenticity sells.
Long, long, long before you sell, you must connect and build rapport.
Long before you do this:
You’ve got to be doing this:
ABC – always be connecting
I’m not talking about trolling social media to blast out mass connection requests. That’s a waste of time. It takes people no time at all to sniff out a fake.
I’m talking about quality over quantity. I’m talking about making a list of 5-10 people to seek out – those you want to connect with – where you can deliver value. Do the quality work and your results will be higher quality.
When you connect in a meaningful way, it allows you to provide genuine, unique value to a customer and this builds rapport.
Be yourself because everyone else is already taken!
Let’s use the example of today’s car buyer. Most of us have bought a car and if you compare your purchase journey from even just a few years ago to today, you know how different your behavior is. This is good to know because that’s how your customer’s behavior has changed too.
FACT: The modern buyer is…
- Digitally driven
- Mobile
- Socially connected
- Empowered
- Looking for salespeople with a purpose beyond profit
- Aching for a unique experience they can brag about to their friends!
Automotive Social Selling offers you admittance into the buyer’s process.
By understanding what types of information customers seek and how they prefer to gather it, salespeople can attract, engage and secure the sale, long before a competitor takes notice.
But before you begin your automotive social selling journey, there’s something you need to do first.
Do this ONE thing: Build a brand called “YOU” on social media.
The following automotive social selling techniques are practiced by only a small fraction of car salespeople, which makes the landscape pretty lush for social-savvy sales professionals like you!
- Connect with prospects to build relationships
- Publish content to develop credibility and trust
- Engage repeat customers for ongoing referrals and testimonials
- Attract new customers to your network
- Look for buying signals and build rapport
- Convert connections into buyers
YOU are unlike anyone else on earth.
YOU bring a very specific value to the table that none of your co-workers or competitors have. But, if you start expressing yourself on social media before you’re clear about what your unique promise of value is, you’ll find it much more difficult to reach your goals.
If you’re unsure about what your unique value is, don’t worry. Everyone has trouble with this when they begin social media. That’s why so many ignore it and why so many salespeople fail on social media. Luckily, I have a little worksheet here to help you learn more about yourself, which will help you attract more customers and win at automotive social selling.
7 Questions to Determine Your Unique Value
Answer these 7 questions and write down 3-5 ‘personal brand qualities’ you possess. Talk to friends, family, and even your good customers. These ‘qualities’ will be the foundation from which your social media efforts will grow.
- What’s your superpower? What do you do better than anyone else?
- What are your core values – your operating principles?
- What do people frequently compliment you on or praise you for?
- What is it that your manager, colleagues, friends, and clients come to you for?
- What adjectives do people consistently use to describe you – perhaps when they’re introducing you to others?
- How do you do what you do? What makes the way you achieve results interesting or unique?
- What energizes or ignites you? What are your true passions?
Remember: this is the tough part and it’s why so many salespeople prefer to skip it.
I promise you that once you have these ‘personal brand’ attributes defined, it will be much easier to connect and build rapport. You’ll attract high-value prospects, engage your current customers and keep your pipeline full of people who know, like and trust you.
Do you sell cars? Want to sell more? Grab your Ultimate FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople 👉 HERE.