Ask anyone that’s been in the car business for a while and they will tell you that selling cars professionally has changed, but has it really? Of course the Internet has had a huge impact on the way we advertise on car selling websites, interact and communicate with potential car buyers. However when it comes down to selling our product the process is not much different than it was twenty, thirty or even forty years ago.

I recently attended a manufacturers new model introduction meeting and realized that we are still focused on the same things that car salesman did many years ago. Take a look at this video below from a Chevrolet professional selling course and see for yourself. We still do a walk-around and sell the features and the benefits of our vehicle. We take our customers for a test drive and then we start negotiating. We still have to overcome objections and we still have to close the sale. When it comes down to it selling cars professionally hasn’t changed very much.

Is Selling Cars Professionally Easier Today?

In fact selling cars might be easier today than it was forty years ago. Today we have primary and secondary lenders that will finance almost any vehicle with 4 wheels for a buyer/borrower that has a pulse and a job. We also have huge new car inventories in practicably every color and configuration. Not to mention an inventory of used cars that covers pretty much any price point that’s important to the customer.

Of course you didn’t have to worry about a customer coming into the showroom with a stack of pages printed out from the Internet years ago. They didn’t come in with competing dealer quotes from 7 other dealerships demanding that you meet or beat their quotes. Typically they didn’t know much about the price of a new car other than what they saw in the newspaper or on television. But much like today the cars advertised were the lowest priced, heavily discounted and stripped down models used to drive showroom traffic. In that respect the professional selling definition hasn’t changed at all.

Selling Cars Professionally the Big PictureSelling Cars Professionally

When you break it down, selling cars professionally or selling cars for a living is practically the same today as it was in the past and maybe a little easier. The basic duties of the car salesman are the same and many of the car sales techniques are the same. We still go through the car sales steps like the meet and greet, selection, test drive, negotiate, close and deliver. The important tasks years ago are still critical today such as creating urgency, building credibility, selling yourself and the dealership, and closing the sale.

Yes, selling cars professionally has changed, but not nearly as much as you may think. The basics of car sales are still the same only some of the methods have changed. Therefore learning and fine-tuning your professional selling skills will never go to waste because people still want to buy from people and the last time I looked car salesmen are still people.

Later, Fresh Up on the Lot