A modern approach to better car-buying with digital retail [webinar recap]

A modern approach to selling cars - webinar

In this Upstart Auto Retail webinar with Driving Sales, Community Auto Sales Consultant Delaney Guzman discusses how to modernize your approach to selling cars. She draws on her showroom experience and psychology background to explain how in-store digital retail tools help her sell more, better, and faster. 

Delaney Guzman - a modern approach to selling cars with digital retail

“I don’t have some secret sauce—I just really honed in and made sure to utilize the tools that were given to me, and that’s really all it takes to be successful,” Guzman says. 

Easy onboarding and transparent customer interactions

Guzman quickly transitioned from the business office to the sales floor by using Upstart Auto Retail’s digital retail tool to run through mock customer transactions. Thanks to the app, she felt like a trustworthy, confident sales consultant in a much shorter time frame. On her first day in sales, she sold two cars. 

Immediately, she found her customers enjoyed the digital retail process. Even at times handing over her iPad, she keeps her deals transparent and comfortable by showing customers every step of the process on the app. 

Evolving to an online-style experience in the showroom

Customers might enter the showroom with their guard up, ready to be on the defensive. But Guzman quickly disbands that nervous tension by involving the customer in the deal with Upstart Auto Retail. She made the in-store experience feel much like an online shopping experience

Even letting the customer press the buttons themselves on her in-store iPad, Guzman lets the customer find what they want, not what she was trying to sell. She becomes more of a facilitator as opposed to a seller. And she had confidence in the digital retail workflow, because she could practice it in her downtime and get comfortable with every aspect. 

Overcoming inventory shortage woes with virtual tours

To overcome inventory shortage challenges, Guzman embraces digital retail’s ability to comprehensively show off a vehicle, or similar model, whether it’s in stock or not. This not only sets up pre-sales, but helps her pivot customers from an unavailable new model to an in-stock used car. 

Showing off a vehicle’s interior, exterior, features, and more helps the customer grasp the experience of their new vehicle and be comfortable waiting weeks or months for it to be built and delivered. When a customer can buy from anyone, Guzman finds this comprehensive app-driven product tour a major selling point of buying from her.

Download the inventory shortage playbook for dealers

Happier guests and faster deals

Guzman does a few intentional things to make her guests feel especially comfortable:

  • Shake everybody’s hand
  • Leans back in her chair
  • Maintain eye contact 
  • Listens more than talks
  • Explains she’s here to help you buy, not to sell
  • Shares a few things about herself and how the dealership supports the community
  • Hands over the pen and iPad
  • Assures them the deal will only take about an hour, thanks to Upstart Auto Retail’s digital tools

Some people pay more for a good experience, she explains. The customer is more apt to say “yes” when they feel a genuine human connection. 

At your side, at your service

Guzman doesn’t leave her customers’ side more than three times throughout the deal. She believes every time you leave their side, you lose credibility — so staying close is crucial

Any time she leaves, there’s a chance the customer will shop at another dealer online, call someone for advice, or otherwise risk the sale. By having nearly every step available on the iPad, she can do it all beside her customers.

Building modern sales teams

Guzman recommends dealerships look for younger hires with less experience in sales, because they’re more open to embracing a modern approach to car sales. Instead of unlearning old habits, they can walk right into new, effective tactics and use digital retail tools to help them onboard quickly. 

Check out the on-demand webinar

For more insight into how Guzman embraces the modern car-buying experience with Upstart Auto Retail, trusty psychological principles, and an appreciation for human connection, watch the full on-demand webinar. 

You’ll also get answers to audience questions including:

  • Do you show customers the vehicle sales price breakdown right on the app?
  • How do you handle the first pencil and when do you go to the manager for desking?
  • Can Upstart Auto Retail take customers between online and in-store experiences in the same workflow?
  • How do you determine if a customer started shopping online, and how do you pick up where they left off? (Hint: It’s super easy, says Guzman)
  • How do you handle objections from customers who aren’t used to having digital touchpoints in the store?
  • Why leave the customers’ side at all?
  • How does management make or break digital retail implementation, uptake, and experience?
  • Is there a messaging tool within Upstart Auto Retail to communicate with the desk or call for a TO, without leaving the customer?
  • Does management require every salesperson to use the digital retail tool, or do old-school holdouts remain?
  • How do you overcome digital retail skepticism?

Get the on-demand webinar here

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