The "Outrageous Payment" Close

I saw my manager use this one today.

I was trying to sell a customer a car and the payment was around $530 per month. They told me that they wanted to be between $475 and $480 per month but they would not make a commitment today. We had the exact vehicle they wanted and they said that they wanted to "sleep on it." (usually an excuse)

I said, "Look--I've been selling cars for 12 years and usually when someone says they want to sleep on it, something is bothering them. It's usually the car, the price or something I said or did. Which one is it?"

She said, "He just started a business, I just lost my job and our house payment is $1800 per month--we just have to make sure we can afford it."

I wanted to say, "Then what are you doing here?" but instead, I tried again at a commitment to do business right now. They said they loved the vehicle and that they were pretty sure that the $475-$480 would work but that they really had to go home and do the math. I did the right thing and brought my manager over for a T-O.

He asked them, "If the payment was $450, would you take it right now?" I almost swallowed my tongue!

They answered, "No--we really have to talk about it."

He laughed and said, "Good--because I can't get there" and they all laughed. He told them to stop by in the morning and that he would try his best to make it work for them. They left on a good note and I think I have a 50/50 chance of selling them.

After they left, I asked him about the "$450 thing." He said, "I was just testing the water. I wanted to see if they would take the vehicle at any price."

"What if they would have said yes?" I asked.

"Then I would have said, So, there is a price that you would do business at today. Let's go ahead and work some numbers and get you closer to where you need to be."

Looking back, what he did was very smart. Number 1, he put an ever better price in their heads than where they want to be and I think that will increase my chances of getting them back up to the dealership and Number 2, he discovered that in their case, price wasn't the issue.

There is certain point in people's thinking where they will go from not being there to buy to crossing the line mentally to being there to buy. That is why you get a signed offer when someone makes them--the process of signing the piece of paper makes them feel, in their mind, that they are buying a vehicle. If my customers would have said yes to his $450 thing, it didn't mean that we would have to get there to sell them a car--it would just mean that they mentally got off of their having to sleep on it to actually making a decision to buy a car right now.

By the way--when closing a customer, don't say will you do business today? Today is from now until midnight--plenty of time to shop. Say, will you do business right now? You always want to "spot deliver" customers so they don't have time to second guess themselves.

By the way--I just bought my dream vehicle today. A 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe with 77K miles--just broken in for a Tahoe. My wife has been wearing me out all evening... "Did we do the right thing? Did we get a good deal (we did by the way...) Don't you think we should have gotten something cheaper? Your mom said we shouldn't have bought it." I am firmly convinced that if we wouldn't have done the paperwork this evening, she would be doing everything in her power to talk me out of getting the perfect vehicle at the perfect price. Exactly what happens to your customers if you give them time to think about it. They will always find a better deal, people will always tell them that they got a bad deal and they will always second guess themselves (maybe we should wait until we get our income tax...) Don't let it happen! Sell them on the spot.

NOTE as of 2/6/08: The people came back and bought from me today.