Tips from two of the best sales execs in the business

Ruth Bowie and Sam Street were named two of the top three best sales employees in 2020. The VW employees gave their tips for success.

Have a personal checklist

Both Ruth and Sam have been through VW’s training and but both have their own elements they bring to the early stages of interaction with a customer.

“I like to make sure that I know what a customer is looking for before they come in,” says Sam. “If they are not sure what they want I make sure that I get to know them first. This means I get to know what they are after. I make sure I know what we have in our compound so I can physically show them a car.”

Ruth looks to build a rapport with the customer, putting engagement as her first priority.

“I try and find a common ground, take a step back from the sales experience – talk about family, pets, etc. I have a little pug so dogs are a good conversation topic,” she says. “I like to make a friend and take it from there.”

Treat new and used the same

Sam’s relative newness to the automotive industry means that he can still remember his early prejudices, and he recalls thinking there would be a big difference between the approach needed to sell new and used cars.

“When I first started working here I thought there would be a different mentality until I had a sit down with my manager and he said ‘You just have to just treat every customer the same and every car the same. With a new car, treat it as a used car,’” he says. “I thought a used car would be easier to sell because the car is physically here. If I adopted that manner with new cars I would find it easier. Since I have adopted that way of thinking it has helped me tremendously. It has built my confidence tenfold and it has helped me see an improvement in sales as well.”

Upselling to a new ‘friend’

Both Ruth and Sam espouse the benefits of building a personal relationship with a customer, which is obviously proving beneficial to their overall sales. However, does building a personal rapport make sales of extras and finance easier or harder?

Ruth maintains it is the former, saying: “We only offer three products and the products we offer we do because we believe in them ourselves. If they have things like dogs, families etc then you pick that up at the start of the sales process – things like LifeShine that is a no brainer if they have pets. We have to explain it to them the best we can and hopefully it comes across as a benefit to them.

Sam agrees, saying: “It is different with every customer. I have to make sure I build the value in those add ons, I know not every customer is not going to want to spend extra money. Sometimes I then put it into an email as it is a lot to take in so they can spend time in the comfort of their own home. That has worked a few times as well.”