1. Meet and Greet

-Steps that car salesmen use to sell cars.

Step One: Meet and Greet - Salesman's Goal: Establish Rapport and Control.

This step is designed to welcome the customer to the dealership and to allow the salesman to introduce themselves. However, the salesman's primary concern is to establish control of the process. (Read more about salesperson control in the Dealer Secrets Chapter.)

Most of the time, customers will try to avoid talking to a salesman and will maintain a defensive posture. Almost always the when greeted by a salesman the customer will respond with “I’m just looking”

Keep in mind, the management requires that every customer be assisted by a salesman. This philosophy is paramount to dealerships. Every customer must be properly greeted or "Uped" upon arrival.

If a salesman greets a customer that is “just looking” and doesn't properly engage them, they will run the risk that the customer will buy a car somewhere else. Even worse, they may buy from another salesperson at their own dealership.

During this step, the salesman is instructed to establish rapport with the customer. Rapport is extremely important and without it the salesman knows they have a slim chance of selling a car. This is why salespeople are sometimes viewed as phony, because during the ‘meet and greet” they are quickly attempting to find some common ground.

The next challenge for the salesperson during the “meet and greet” is to get the customer to reveal a "need". Once a customer expresses what they are looking for, the salesman can proceed with satisfying that request.

They will then move to the next step: Qualifying.