Do You Listen With Intent To Understand?
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
- Stephen Covey
Although there are times when we feel fully engrossed in our customer’s words and can sympathize with them, there are also times when we are all guilty of thinking about what to reply in our minds instead of trying to truly understand what the customer is saying. Well yes, it may be practical when you need to exchange a lot of information to one another in a short time, but generally, practicing more on listening and understanding what your customer is saying can be beneficial in securing F&I product sales.
Listen with the intent to understand rather than just reply.
There are times when your customer hesitates to purchase F&I products because they "had it before and never used it." Then there are those customers who hesitate to purchase by stating "I’ll take my chances." What are they really saying in those two instances? Many F&I managers in those situations conclude their customers perceive no value or have little, or no, interest in the product and often will reply by saying something along the lines of, "Your luck is about to run out" or "Why take your chances?"
When your customer states "they had it before and never used it" what they’re really saying is they feel they wasted their money. In this situation, empathy goes a long way:
Business Manager: “I understand how you must feel… why pay for something you feel you wasted money on in the past? There may be another way of looking at it. You had PEACE OF MIND while you had the coverage in the past. Doesn’t it make sense to have that same PEACE OF MIND this time as well?
What your customer is really saying when they say "I’ll take my chances" is they do see a risk. Making them realize what they actually said will often reduce their hesitation:
Business Manager: “I appreciate what you’re saying… Can I assume you do see a risk?
Customer: “Yes.”
Business Manager: “Would you like to eliminate that risk?”
Customer: “Of course.”
Business Manager: “Sign here.”
Turning their hesitation into a "yes" is all in your willingness to listen with the intent to understand, rather than just reply.