It’s a changing marine market and a new year. As a result, your salespeople may find their customers pumping the brakes on boat purchases, especially at today’s prices.
So how do you overcome these price objections? We’ve compiled some best practices and resources to help your dealership face these hurdles with confidence.
Your team can take the initiative early, using strategies that can reduce the severity of price objections, and learn tactics that will put your sales staff in a better position to respond appropriately when they do arise.
Find Your Salesperson Superpower
In his latest blog, MRAA Lead MICD Program Consultant Bob McCann shares with you tactics and resources for unlocking a superpower for your sales team. That is, to listen more than you talk. Find out more about your customers’ beyond their needs/desires for a boat. Our MRAA Guest Survey will help you do just that and keep the rest of your sales force in the know, too.
“Listening is the best way to learn how to help a customer and overcome their price objections. People like to talk about themselves. Ask questions, then actively listen to the answers to learn about their wants and needs and build rapport.” – McCann
MRAA Data: Strategies to Use to Help Your Sales Team Overcome Price Objections
In the December 2022 Pulse Report survey, a cooperative agreement between MRAA, Baird and Soundings Trade Only, we asked marine dealers for the productive strategies they use to help them overcome price objections from customers.
The top two strategic answers were:
- Explaining value of doing business with your dealership
- Providing a range of products at different price points (new & used)
You can also see from some of their written responses that some dealerships know to help lessen resistance to elevated boat prices they need to take care of the customer. This may mean going the extra mile when it comes to the services they offer and the type of customer experience they provide each individual client. And, clearly, some level of transparency can also create more trust and let the customer know that this dealership understands my needs/wants and is operating with my best interest in mind.
Use Role Playing to Your Advantage
The last couple years have produced hundreds of unique selling scenarios for your dealership. However, in today’s unpredictable marketplace, your sales team’s performance is more critical to your success now than it has ever been. It’s time to enhance your sales skills and re-learn how to communicate effectively with your customers at every touchpoint. Whether it’s following up on an online lead or overcoming price objections, the MRAA Tactics ‘N’ Training (TNT) course “Learn to Love Role Playing” with Bob McCann can help your sales team improve and strengthen customer experience. [MRAA Silver and Gold Members can access this course]
Competing on Price: Stop Playing a Losing Game
How does your dealership compete and win if selling these days isn’t all about competing on price and product? What steps can you take and implement to help you stand out, win over customers and build loyalty even in the face of an uncertain market. In her latest blog, Liz Walz shares tips and resources, including “The Experience Maker” book from Dealer Week 2022 Keynote Speaker Dan Gingiss, that will help you build a winning customer experience strategy at your dealership.
Dealer Week Online — On-Demand Education for Your Team
It can be challenging to make business decisions that bring about change at your dealership. We understand. However, if you can learn to trust the experts who have been in your shoes – even if not the same exact boat – you can find the confidence you need to create more efficiency, traction and processes. Two Dealer Week Online courses – available until March 1 – can help your sales team brush off any rust and focus on building trust and connection with your customers so you can approach topics, like new and pre-owned boat prices, openly and honestly.
- “7 Selling Strategies Your Dealership Will Need in 2023” with Marcus Sheridan
- “Get Real about Follow-Up or Get Gone” with Jordon Schoolmeester
MRAA Mini-Guide: How To Build a Pre-Qualification Program
Anytime you can improve your sales process or add in a feature that enhance the experience for both your customers and your sales team you do it. It’s easy to say this, but much more difficult to actually do it. However, with the MRAA mini-guide “How to Build a Pre-Qualification Program,” our partner 700Credit has helped us produce a convenient step-by-step guide that shares with you best practices and the proper steps to take for putting a Pre-Qualification Program in place at your business. In addition, by taking this step, you’re helping your sales team to put the consumer in the right boat with the right financing, right away, and greatly reduce any price objections.
MRAAtraining.com Archives: ‘Improve Sales Productivity on the Customer Interview’
Over the past couple of years your sales team didn’t seem to have to do as much process to remain productive, as the demand for boats was through the roof. However, as the market shifts and your inventory builds knowing all you can about each customer is more crucial than ever. At the center of the “BRIDGE” methodology within the sales process sits the letter I. Right after building rapport, the R in the BRIDGE acronym, is to “Identify.”
Here, during the sales process, it’s time to identify the needs, wants, problems and buying motives of your customer. You do this to enhance sales productivity, tailor your sales effort to their needs and help both understand and reduce roadblocks that may arise surrounding pricing.
Buyer Motivation: The Key to Building Value
The boat shopper is technologically savvy and has spent many hours online shopping for their dream vessel prior to walking in to your dealership.
You need to learn how to build “personal” value for hyper-informed customers immediately. Your team must understand their “personal” buying motivations, and present personalized features and benefits to assure “personal value” is being built. After all, value is what people buy, and value is different for everyone.
This course (free to MRAA Members), features Jim Million, who helps you focus on:
- Identifying the customer’s “personal” buying motives & applying them to the presentation aspect of any sales process.
- Learning how to identify the customer buying motives
- Presenting features and benefits to their personal “dominant” buying motives.