What are the advantages of including golf cart customization at the core of your sales pitch? There are several, so let’s start with the most obvious. It’s collaborative. Choice disarms confrontation. It allows you to engage with a customer as if you’re on the same side, rather than opposing them. How does customizing a golf cart do this?
The Customer Who Doesn’t Want to Buy
Going into a dealership feels intimidating and many customers go with the express purpose of not buying anything. They want to scout and comparison shop. They walk out the door with no commitment.
This isn’t a waste of time by any means. Many of these “scouts” end up being good leads that buy down the road. Yet they make you work to close them. They want to be catered to, they’re demanding of information, and they’re tough sells. The reasons for this are widespread. Some of them are being smart. Some of them are wary and doubtful by nature. Still others just appreciate the increased attention of being a customer you choose to focus on. Sometimes you can read which one of these motives these customers have, and other times it’s a little of column A, a little from column B.
Disarming by Offering Choice
Golf cart customization is one of your most powerful tools. These customers typically want personal concerns addressed. They’ll often be confrontational. They’ll introduce an idea by saying, “But I’m sure you can’t do that.” This is a challenge to you. It’s seeking confrontation.
A decent response is saying, “Yes, we can do that. Here’s a solution.”
This allays a customer’s concern, but it can be perceived as a negative response. In saying yes to the customer, you also have to shoot down their claim. In this way, they’ve trapped you into a conversational framework where any response you give is negative. If you say you can do something, you’re also responding to them by telling them they’re wrong. This allows them to perceive your response as confrontational, which lets them keep you on your heels and allows them to further control the direction of the conversation. Yet if you say you can’t do something, you’ve failed them.
A better response is, “We can do that in several different ways. Which do you like?”
This puts the onus of the conversation back on them in a positive way. “No you can’t,” and, “Yes we can,” is full of conversational stops that form a confrontational power dynamic between customer and salesperson.
If you respond to “No you can’t” with “Here’s how you can,” then you signal that you’re not subject to that power dynamic. You’re inviting the customer to disagree with you offering them power, which they won’t. This disarms the confrontational direction of a sales conversation and replaces it with choices that you offer – all of which are collaborative.
Let Them Help to Close
You could argue with them that you can give them a customization. Or you could simply ask them to explain to you which customization they like best. Closing a customer like this is hard work, and it can be made easier when they start doing the work of closing themselves. This allows a customer to have the conversation they want to have, but on your terms.
Using a tool to help with customizing a golf cart can further advance this collaborative approach. A golf cart customization app that is kept current on new parts across many different makers is the ideal choice to close customers like this.