Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One
Rumor has it that both Washington and Lincoln wanted to be car salesmen, but they were too honest.
Many generations later, the industry has evolved to recognize the importance of honesty in the effort to close more deals, ensure customer satisfaction, and capture the maximum lifetime value of the customer.
Transparency in the process, and customer nurturing above more abrasive tactics has truly proven to be the more profitable strategy over the lifetime of a dealership. Unfortunately, despite the fact that these are simple truths that most dealers have heard before and have learned to value, the same doesn’t usually prove to be reality for the transitory salesperson who typically wont be around long enough to realize those longer term benefits.
Despite what Abe and George might have aspired to – compensation for car salespeople has historically been tied to front end commission that incentivizes the salesperson to maximize front end profits on the individual sales they prospect rather than maximizing the back end and lifetime value of the customer for the dealership.
BDC United conversely is solely focused on building trust with the customer, and always strives to maintain long successful relationships with all of its dealers. Our success therefor is directly tied to your dealership’s success over the long haul, not just on a single sale. Contact BDC United today to learn more about how we can help your dealership leverage honesty and transparency to close more deals for more profit over the lifetime of the customer.
“In an observational study conducted at a U.S. car dealership chain, the researchers found that salespeople who disclosed their bottom line early in a negotiation achieved significantly higher back-end profits than those who did not. In subsequent lab experiments, sellers either did or did not inform participants in the role of buyer about how much a product had cost them. When sellers disclosed this verifiable information, buyers trusted them more and spent more on aftermarket products and services—and more overall—than did participants who did not learn about the sellers’ costs.”
“Open Negotiation: The Back-End Benefits of Salespeople’s Transparency in the Front End,” by Yashar Atefi, Michael Ahearne, Sebastian Hohenberg, Zachary Hall, and Florian Zettelmeyer. Journal of Marketing Research, 2020.