The worst thing about getting a new car is dealing with pushy salespeople that make the whole experience feel like a battle between the two of you. They will use a lot of tactics to get you to buy and you’ll do your best to resist them but it’s not always possible. As hard as you try, they can sometimes still convince you that you’re winning, when in reality, you’re coming away with a bad deal. The best way to make sure that you don’t leave with an empty wallet and an old rust bucket is to understand how the salespeople operate and what tricks they might try to use.
Time
One of the most important tools that they have is time. By dragging out the whole process, they hope to wear you out. After a while, you’ll be tired and hungry, making you more likely to just agree to a bad deal so you can get out of there. The best way to deal with this is to set strict deadlines before you go. Tell them that you are just here to test-drive a few cars and you will come back another time to discuss the price, that way you can leave as planned without any expectations. If they offer to negotiate the price with the manager, tell them to send you the price by email. You should also go in with a good idea of what you’re looking for in a car, that way you won’t be at risk of being convinced to buy something you don’t want.
Psychological Profiling
Salespeople have very specific training in how to persuade people to buy things. There is much more to it than you might realize. One of the biggest tricks that you should watch out for is psychological profiling. As soon as you enter car lots, they will start asking you a lot of seemingly irrelevant questions, but this is just a way of getting to know you and more importantly, your weaknesses. They’ll use this information to exploit you and get more money out of you. You can get around this by keeping your cards close to your chest. Avoid giving them any details of your work situation because it gives them an idea of how much money you have to spend. As soon as they know what you can afford, you lose all of the power.
Deadlines
The most common way of closing a deal is giving you deadlines. After you’ve shown some interest in a car, they’ll start giving you reasons why you need to buy it right away. A lot of the time they will tell you that there is a sale that is ending soon, or that somebody else has shown interest in the car. Most of the time, it’s a lie. Don’t let yourself be pressured into buying anything, you can bet that the car will still be there if you take a few days to think about things. You might also get a better price if you let them sweat for a few days.
Alternate Options
Another closing tactic is phrasing questions using two alternatives, but not giving you an option to say neither. For example, ‘Would you prefer it in yellow or green?’ This way, the customer doesn’t have the option to say no and it is already assumed that they are going to buy the car. Just be upfront and if they try to pressure you into a sale say no straightaway.