The Selling Cycle – Part VI Product Presentation
You have interviewed your customer to establish needs, wants, and desires. You have selected products that fit your customer’s budget. Now it is time to make your product presentation, starting with the least expensive unit you have chosen for them.
Go In and Out
Begin inside the unit and work your way outside. Make sure you enter the unit first so that you can turn around and see the customer’s facial expression as they step in. The first impression the customer has of a vehicle is just as important as the customer’s first impression of you!
What does the customer’s body language tell you? Is the unit the right size? Do they appear to be claustrophobic? If the unit is a bit too small, immediately move your customer into a larger vehicle and gauge the response.
The customer must feel at home inside the unit. Encourage them to sit in every seat, stand and stretch in every room – including the bathroom. Ask questions that help them visualize themselves using the RV: What would you put here? Are there enough electrical plugs in the bathroom? Are the windows large enough? What will they be looking at when they sit in the dinette? What music will they listen to while tucking in their children? Relate every feature of the vehicle to what they will be doing. The unit will be their home on the road and must accommodate all the things that they want to bring along to make it their own. Does the vehicle fit their requirements?
Make it F-A-B ulous!
You should be able to use a F-A-B Loop for each unit you present:
A Feature is a specific characteristic of the vehicle. You can touch it, sit on it, or maybe even stand on it! A Feature is some thing. If you are a sales consultant who talks only about features, you are not able to build value in the units you present. You must hook the feature with an Advantage and end up with a Benefit in order to help the customer see the value in the unit you present. The Advantage is why the Feature is important to the customer.
The Benefits are S-P-A-C-E-D
Safety
Performance
Appearance
Comfort
Economy
Dependability
You should be able to use a F-A-B loop like the following one for each RV you present.
This vehicle has a FEATURE so that ADVANTAGE, which means increased safety (BENEFIT). And that is important to you and your family, isn’t it?
Here is the FEATURE so that ADVANTAGE which means performance (BENEFIT). And that is important to you and your family, isn’t it?
Look at the FEATURE so that ADVANTAGE, which means increased comfort for you and your loved ones (BENEFIT).
Presenting a vehicle is your opportunity to build value in the quality of the manufacturing and the attention to detail provided by the dealership. How well do you and your fellow sales consultants know the F-A-B’s for the units you sell?
Challenge your sales team to a friendly competition to see who can make the best product presentation using this F-A-B ulous format.
Benefits Before Bucks
Without product knowledge and F-A-B expertise, all you have left is price. When you try to sell price you lose gross profit. The expression “Talk product on your feet and price in your seat” is in play when you present your products. Better to talk product when you are on your feet on the lot and discuss price in your seat back at your workstation.
When you present products, you also demonstrate the dealership’s ability to service all the customer’s future RVing needs. Creating value goes beyond the product. It begins with the sales consultant, moves through every other person and function in the dealership and culminates in the vehicle. Ready to ride?
RV Executive Today, December ’03, p. 17 & 19