One of the big things that is used to check the temperature of a prospect is to ask a question like "If it wasn't for the price would you buy today?" or "If I can get you the Alpine White Pearl that you want will you drive it home right now?" These are probing questions designed to tell whether they actually have someone who is ready to make a decision now.



Another popular technique is the "If I could would you?" ploy. What they do here is use information you have given them and through it back out to try to close you on the vehicle. For example, let's assume that they asked you about what kind of payments you wanted and you said that you wanted them under $300 per month. They would say, "If I can get your payments under $300 per month would you take the car right now?" Or you said you wanted $10,000 for your trade in. "If I could get you $10,000 for your trade in would you buy today?" The whole key to this again is to establish that you are ready to make a decision. They may get your commitment and then come back and say "I can get to $9000, can you meet me halfway?" See what I mean?

Another popular ploy that is still used today is the "I am in a contest" ploy. If every car salesman that used this was given a cruise or trip for the supposed contest the dealerships would be completely empty of salesmen! Don't get me wrong there are real contests like bonuses for selling the most cars, the highest profit deal, the highest average profit, the most rust proofing sold and more. They will also offer special commissions for selling a particular car. All this doesn't have anything to do with you getting a better deal on the car. They are just trying to get your guard down.

The next one is the "I'm the salesman of the month" line. You need to be especially careful of these guys. If you have a guy that has a wall full of plaques for Salesman of the Month it is because he is good at selling cars and making a profit for the dealer not because he some great humanitarian. Watch your wallet and remember, this is just business.