Fear
A
powerful motivator
By
Jeffrey Hansler, CSP
Fear
is a powerful motivator. Some fear is based in
reality, some fear is based on a perception of reality.
If you're swimming and you believe you see a shark, your
fear is a motivator to leave the water whether there was a
shark or not.
In
adopting fixed price selling, many car dealers are reacting
to a fear of buyers. A car buyer's greatest fear is
that they could have done better or that their neighbor will
get a better deal than they did. A fixed price
strategy will attract buyers with this fear (which appears
to be a great many of us), because it removes it.
Those
car dealers that have adopted a fixed price strategy have
done well. One dealer posted low nonnegotiable prices
and canceled most of his advertising. He replaced his
commissioned sales staff with salaried sales consultants who
take orders. His business has tripled. He makes
less gross profit on each car, but his overhead has dropped
even more, providing him with greater net profit.
News
of many such success stories are reaching other car dealers,
but why aren't they all changing to a fixed price strategy?
For many car dealers, it is the fear of the unknown:
fear of doing business in a manner they have no experience
with. For others, it is a greater fear: how will
they entice customers to purchase from their dealership if
all dealer prices are the same?
To
remove this fear, dealers need to develop strategies around
products and services they offer instead of price. It
will require training of the staff to determine customer
needs beyond price. Dealers will then need to
determine how to satisfy those needs. Then they will
need to develop methods to tell potential customers that
cars should be purchased from their dealership.
Selling
cars has been an aggressive business. By making
changes in their strategies, dealers can remove the
aggression, become assertive and make higher profits.
Those that survive will take the necessary steps immediately
to alter the behaviors of their business that are
suffocating them. They will target efforts to meet the
needs of customers in a manner that profits both parties.
...and
fear will continue to be a powerful motivator.
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Jeffrey
Hansler is a professional speaker, author, and consultant.
He is a frequent speaker at association events and is the
author of Sell Little Red Hen! Sell! He can be reached at jhansler@oxfordco.com.
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©
2004 Jeffrey Hansler All rights reserved
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