"...no time is wasted beating around the bush, playing charades around price or leaving the customer feeling like prey who haplessly wandered onto a car lot."
Typically, I write about concepts and use examples to highlight them, but in this case I want to write about a specific example of a process most find to be anything but efficient: buying a car. True, buying a car is not a typical task one performs in a corporate environment, but most people who work in corporations eventually go buy a car. And if you’re an efficient CEO like me, you want the process to be quick, painless and rewarding.
Yesterday I met Larry Shapiro at Bob Smith BMW. I have to admit that I am partial to BMW for their vehicles and their best practices. (Have you ever taken part in the “Ultimate Test Drive” event? Don’t miss these!) But that doesn’t guarantee every sales person at a BMW dealership is going to be the person you want to buy your car from. Larry was anything but your typical sales guy and a role that I would hope more sales people in general can emulate.
First, Larry did not introduce himself as a ‘client advisor’ or ‘consultant’ or other shallow disguise – he made no apologies for being a good sales person and spoke fondly of his 16 years selling BMWs. Second, he spent time to listen and understand, including driving a few cars, exploring the features we cared about and directing us to a vehicle that met our specific desires and needs.
Third, Larry negotiates like I do – he offered his best price first. Wouldn’t life be easier if we just knew the best price right up front?
How exactly is this process efficient? Maybe you’re not in Southern California and/or not in the market for a BMW, but you can learn from Larry’s example of servicing client needs with efficiency. By listening to customer needs and then providing the best fitting solution and lowest price first, no time is wasted beating around the bush, playing charades around price or leaving the customer feeling like prey who haplessly wandered onto a car lot. Moreover, there were no pretenses or uncomfortable tension about each step. Larry made the process effortless.
Are you working this concisely with your customers? Larry is and I applaud him. Thanks for the inspiration Larry ( larry.shapiro@bobsmithbmw.com).
Thanks for reading,
Richard Walker
