I came across it somewhere in the many statistics and data we have at Calldrip, while researching why lead conversion was so low and what could be improved. Suddenly I saw the name of a competitor in call reports. Not that I had never seen it before, but it just caught my eye. You know, one of those moments when you suddenly think: does this happen more often?

Yes, this happens more often

The answer is yes, it happens more often! The customer uses, or abuses, their power as the buying party in these conversations. They already do so by really selling their trade-in car; they are often better at that than the average salesperson who wants to sell their car. Consumers still use the service from some two years ago as a USP and stress that the car they are trading in is absolutely ‘as good as new’. On top of that, they use data, online prices and competitors’ trade-in prices at every turn to pressure the salesperson into naming a price or not, naming a better price, or giving that last bit of discount. All without any proof, just by saying it.

What stands out is that many salespeople do not respond adequately to this systematic way of communicating by the customer. I analysed the same ten conversations from more than ten salespeople in which this came up, and every time you hear that the salesperson does not know how to deal with it.

CallRevu has the same insights

I then discussed it with our partners at CallRevu, and they actually confirmed it. In the United States, ‘competitor’ is one of the most frequently used tags for analysing calls. For every call in which a competitor is mentioned, an alert is immediately sent to the sales manager, who can pull up the call, check it and, where needed, approach the customer again together with the salesperson, possibly with a better result.

Because, and we really must not forget this, the salesperson has these kinds of conversations daily, or at least weekly, with a customer who is going to buy: from you or from your competitor. The way you handle that specific customer determines whether or not you make an appointment and thereby increase the chance of a sale. If you as a salesperson go on the defensive and get backed into a corner by the customer, consciously or unconsciously, you lose.

Trade-in valuation

I know this because I also analysed customers who ask for, or demand, a trade-in valuation before they get into the car. The dealers and salespeople who refuse and explain why it is better to experience the car in person and then make a concrete offer simply make more appointments… and I had not expected that. It has everything to do with the fact that those salespeople sell the appointment, while the others go on the defensive, try too hard to please and are too little willing and able to act as a specialist.