Feature Kelley Blue Book Values in Your Selling Process

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1 Feature Kelley Blue Book Values in Your Selling Process By Rob Lange, National Sales Training Director, Kelley Blue Book

2 Kelley Blue Book s consumer site is used nationwide by millions of car shoppers to help them decide what to buy and where to buy it. Over 80+ years Kelley Blue Book has come to be known as a reliable resource among shoppers mainly for its vehicle valuations. But over the years Kelly Blue Book has evolved to become a complete solution by providing tools and resources, helping dealers to sell cars and providing customers additional resources to help them make educated, comfortable purchase decisions. Kelley Blue Book brings the automotive industry and consumers together by providing reliable information that establishes KBB as a valuable asset to both parties. I believe it is a much shorter, comfortable transaction working with educated shoppers. They are more likely to recognize value when they see it as opposed to working with customers who have no point of reference causing them to hesitate to purchase because they have not yet leveled the playing field and are uncertain even when presented a fair purchase. Did you know: 73% of shoppers say they are more likely to buy from a dealership displaying Kelley Blue Book Values on the dealer s Web site? This speaks volumes about the credibility KBB has established with car shoppers. Given the well known fact that over 80% of car shoppers begin their search online as opposed to the front door of a dealership it stands to reason that as dealers you should look to leverage your association with Kelly Blue Book as often as possible. To give you an example: What you see here is a breakdown of several various size metro markets and the number of monthly visitors to our consumer site from each market as they prepare for their next vehicle purchase.

3 These customers represent tremendous sales potential for dealers if: You are available to these customers You differentiate your dealership from the competition by aligning your dealership with Kelley Blue Book You provide the customer another reason to choose you as opposed to other dealers in your area You are exclusive on for your make in your area and have these customers directed to you If not, then there s a good likelihood that these customers are going somewhere other than your dealership to buy their next car. What needs to be understood is, since these customers are relying on new car and trade-in value information gained from Kelley Blue Book, in order to establish a consultative relationship with the customer, salespeople need to be familiar with this same information. You need to know how to use it to work favorably with the customer rather than discount the customer s source of information. And this holds true with whatever source the customers have gained that information. These days most customers come armed with all kinds of pricing, trade and competitor information all used to help them make a comfortable, educated decision. Too often when confronted with this information salespeople take a defensive stance and try to immediately justify why a sale price or trade allowance is different than the customer expected. We instinctively talk in terms of why we can t deliver the car at that price or offer that type of money on a trade. This immediately initiates a confrontational relationship as each party tries to justify their case. At this point someone must win and someone must lose in order for the sale to be consummated. Not a very satisfying outcome for one party. Rather than can t or won t try speaking in terms of what can be done to help the customer achieve ownership. Rather than a confrontation, seek to understand how the customer arrived at their conclusion. What you ll find is what you perceived as an objection was really just a request for more information. Very often customers don t know how to properly price a vehicle including destination charges or maybe they misunderstood something they read about dealer advertising. Too often when acquiring trade values customer rate their vehicles as good or excellent when in fact the true rating should be fair or good. Show them how a detailed inspection of the vehicle dictates the real value of the vehicle is actually less. This also takes the onus off of you by using the customer s information source to verify the correct information. All of these are rapport building tools. Let the other dealership be the one to tell them no, you be the one to go the extra mile and show them YES.

4 A great opening when working with a customer with misunderstood information is:, I really appreciate you taking the time to acquire this information. I find it much easier to work with educated buyers like you who have a point of reference. Working together I m sure we ll figure this out and you ll get your car at a great price while knowing you made a great decision for yourself. Can I ask you to show me how you arrived at this point so I have a better understanding and can help? Now, you ve got an ally rather than a foe and you re on your way to that Win/Win agreement. You ll sell more cars, for more money to happier customers! Let s take a look at some ideas to help you better connect with customers by featuring Kelley Blue Book Values in your sales process. - become familiar with the tools used by your customers on our consumer site. Understand how customers shop for a car, how they decipher information and especially how they input vehicle information and are presented trade values. Walk through our site as a customer would and become familiar with the Take the Condition Quiz tool. This will allow you to take the customer to their source of information and walk them through an extensive listing of factors determining a vehicle s accurate condition enabling you to show them and justify a more realistic view of their trade in. Now you are becoming a true consultant and helping them to purchase rather than being sold and eliminating the nagging thought of possible buyer s remorse because you have worked together using the source of information in which they are confident. Remember to use a version of the word tracks above when working with customers who might have misunderstood information they used to arrive at certain expectations. The most important reason for you to be familiar with Kelley Blue Book Values is simply put as shown in the chart above, your customers are. Blue Book Classifieds - make sure your pre-owned inventory is available to our monthly visitors by listing it on the site. Listings feature the Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Price and your selling price and allow customization, based on your level of participation, to include video and call outs for feature such as KBB Showcase Dealer, Certified Pre-owned vehicle, dealership contact information and distance from customer and CarFax vehicle history reports including 1 owner vehicles. LeadDriver - entice your Web site visitors to submit personal contact information in exchange for you providing them with Kelley Blue Book Values on your Web site. Kelley Blue Book Window Stickers - given the confidence customers have in Kelley Blue Book Values you should leverage your association by using Kelley Blue Book Window Stickers on pre-owned

5 inventory. These allow you to show the Blue Book Suggested Retail Price and your selling price showing the customer value. You are also able to print English Buyer s Guides and disclosure forms. Kelley Blue Book Hang Tags - a great tool with high visibility is to use KBB Hang tags showing your sale price. Did you know: 73 % of car shoppers say they are more likely to buy from a dealership displaying Kelley Blue Book Values on the dealer s Web site? Isn t it time you gave your dealership the Kelley Blue Book working edge?