Social Selling Improves Showroom Selling

Selling using social media is a powerful way for the automotive industry to create relationships and build trust with customers—and it’s becoming increasingly popular. The amazing thing about this social media movement is: not only can it garner leads online; it can actually improve salespeople’s showroom performance.

A good automotive presence on social media, one that is professional and results in sales, is defined by value and authority. A salesperson who provides insight and guidance to prospective clients on social platforms will build relationships and ultimately motivate the client through the front door.

Makes sense right?

When a salesperson shares content like articles or video about his product, he is commanding attention and defining himself as a resource—giving the consumer a reason to want to work with him directly. This, the ability to command attention using social media, is a key component of success in tomorrow’s automotive business. The salesperson’s improvement on the show floor is simply an extremely fabulous side effect. Take a look at two key ways social selling improves showroom selling:

Content Becomes Dual Purpose

Any content a salesperson shares on social can also be dual-purpose, meaning it can be used in the showroom. Imagine a client out shopping on a Saturday who swears she won’t be making a buying decision. This client has visited two of your competitors, test driven both competitive vehicles, and now you (or your salesperson) deliver your strongest product presentation.  This client still insists she needs to think it over. In addition to the brochure you hand her before she walks out the door, you give her a print out of a blog post that highlights this vehicle and shares some recent awards to this make and model. Or, you hand her something else of value like a competitive comparison or a positive Consumer Reports article on the vehicle. On the bottom of this information page is your contact information and your photo.

This client sits down on her couch tonight with some serious fatigue from so many trial-closes and TOs. In front of her sits: three brochures, three business cards, and your value information—who stands out? Who looks invested in helping this client choose a vehicle? Who, of these three has begun to build a relationship? Using the information already being shared on social to provide value and differentiation can be a powerful way to stand out and win more business.

Perspective Develops 

We usually spend about 95% of our waking life thinking about ourselves. People are concerned with their own problems; they are interested in looking for solutions and help in their own life.

In the showroom, salespeople can get so focused on the road to the sale, the demo drive, qualifying their buyer, or wondering if this will result in a sale that they forget to tailor the process around the client’s wants and needs. A client’s perspective is the only thing to consider when determining if what is shared on social will be relevant and engaging, without doing so content is both ineffective and ignored. Like a muscle that can be trained, the ability to acknowledge a client’s perspective grows stronger over time, allowing the socially connected salesperson to conduct a stellar wants and needs analysis, better hear his customer’s objections, and ultimately enjoy more sales.

Creating a personal brand and building an engaged following may take some time, but winning more business because of the effort begins immediately. Encourage an atmosphere at your dealership where this type of social selling is celebrated and you will witness the resulting, powerful and positive improvement in the showroom.