This past weekend we went through what was perhaps the most pleasant car buying experience of our lives. My wife and I visited the car dealer with our guards up, our strategy pre-planned and committed to memory and were prepared. What we found was a friendly sales person who clearly wanted to make a sale, but seemingly more important, was making us happy. His approach was anything but hard. He asked us about our needs, what attracted us to the model we were looking at and where we wanted to be as far as price. Our approach was soft too, but at the same time, direct. I explained that we really didn’t want to play the “let me ask my manager” game. We didn’t have three hours to haggle and were not interested in negotiating the monthly payment, but rather the cost of the car. The approach seemed to work and he put together an aggressive offer. With one back-and-forth we had the deal done.
The experience reminded me of the benefits of soft selling. It may just be my personality that appreciates that, but I don’t think so. I tend to believe that most people would appreciate that approach to selling. Let’s take a look at the difference between the two.
The Soft Selling approach is usually focused on relationship building and trust. You don’t apply noticeable pressure on the client, but rather, you gently lead them where you want them to go. It also includes providing the client with all of the information they need to make an informed decision. Most importantly, there needs to be a mutual benefit to both parties. The sales person actually cares whether or not the client is a good fit for their product or service so that they are left happy with the transaction.
In a Hard Selling approach things work differently. Relationship building and trust are not as important as getting the deal done. The sales pitch is much more deliberate and perhaps a little gimmicky. “Hey, it’s the end of the month and I need one more sale to make my numbers. I can cut you a great deal to get this done today.”
Before we left the dealership I asked our sales guy if he thought of himself as a “soft sell.” He said, “Absolutely. Most of my colleagues are a bit old school and can muster up a really high pressure sale. They tend to make their numbers but I don’t think their customers are always very happy. I usually see my customers again in a few years.”
I can’t say for sure how genuine the guy was being. Perhaps the soft sell is an act and just a mask for the hardest sell of all. Luring someone in with a nice smile and a trustworthy tone, all the while manipulating the deal to his/her own benefit. I prefer to believe he was genuine and that his soft sell approach comes from a real desire to make customers happy.
I spoke with a couple of friends who are in sales. One sells financial products, the other, furniture. The friend who sells furniture thought that my description of a hard sell was a little unfair. “Sometimes customers need more pressure to make a decision. That doesn’t mean they will be unhappy or have buyer’s remorse, it just means someone needed to push them a bit.” The other friend struck a similar chord. “With so much competition out there you have to be a bit aggressive to catch the fish. If you’re too passive about selling you could easily get passed over when the next great offer lands in their inbox.”
Well, it seems clear that you can make a strong argument for either sales approach. I suppose it really depends on being able to read your customer and determine which approach will work best. Of course, what you’re selling makes a difference too. If you’re selling expensive “major decision” products like vehicles, maybe you need to be a little more forceful, after all the next dealership is just down the road. I would just warn that an unhappy customer who thinks they were ripped off by a car dealership or pressured into a deal they were not comfortable with, is going to tell his/her friends. On the other hand, someone who has a truly pleasant experience with a car dealer may only write about it somewhere on a blog.
