A great teaching moment in marketing from a used car salesman ...

... but he had no idea he had just given me a lesson in marketing.

My Mum wanted a new(er) car, actually what she wanted was an automatic because of the arthritis in her knee was making gear changes painful. So she enlisted my help to go look at automatics.

We rocked up and wandered into a showroom... there was no point in us starting to look at the cars on the forecourt as Mum had a very specific criteria, plus neither of us really know that much about cars.

We were left hanging. We were in the showroom looking somewhat lost and helpless and it took a few minutes for someone to approach us.

Which reminds me of the time my husband and I were looking for a car. We both went into neighbouring showrooms as he preferred one and I preferred the other make. I was was wandering around that particular showroom for a good 20m or more and not one person came up to me. Which in itself is fine as I don’t like to be pestered, but I do like to be ‘welcomed’.

So there I was wandering around looking at the particular models I happened to like, opening doors and boots etc while there were a handful of sales assistants standing chatting in 2 or 3 groups.

In walked my husband, and within 30 seconds he had a now very alert looking sales guy march up to him asking if he could help with anything, and which models was he interested in.

I just stood there for a few seconds slack jawed and slightly gob-smacked. A ‘man’ was obviously this guy’s perfect client and completely ignored the female that had actually been far more interested in what he had to offer than her male partner.

Needless to say that garage did not get our business. We did eventually, a few years later bought that particular make, and they still did not get our business.

Lesson 1) Make your prospects feel welcomed, they are not a nuisance and you are prepared to spend the time to find out if you are the right fit regardless of any preconceived notions.

However, back to Mum. So my Mum, who is in her 80’s and is very much a Grandma type looking lady was also left hanging for a few minutes. I am presuming that she also didn’t quite fit the bill of their perfect client. Eventually a female customer service lady comes up to us, asks if any one is seeing to us and fetches a sales man.

Mum said what she was looking for, an automatic that was 4 doors, not too big and quite economical. “Us pensioners have to watch every penny” type of a speech. I actually think she was lining him up for a pity discount, she’s clever like that my Mum.

He started to tell her about this particular one that was a hybrid, which Mum immediately said she wasn’t interested in a hybrid, couldn’t be bothered with faffing around at her age. At which point I interjected to ask why she felt like that.

“Well I don’t want to be bothered with getting a charging point installed in the house, I might not be there for much longer...”etc. So I explained what a hybrid actually was and she was immediately up for having a look. She took it for a test drive and bought it that day.

Lesson 2) does your Client actually understand what solution you are offering. Do not assume that they have figured out the technical details and come to you to because of the features you can offer. First find out what issues they are trying to solve and their thoughts around why they are talking to so you can gauge at what level their understanding is, and more importantly what it is they are trying to solve. Because if you talk to them in technical terms spouting features without knowing if they really appreciate what you mean by those terms and how those features can solve their particular problems you will have already lost the sales conversation. Miscommunication or confusion does not breed trust.

And retrospectively ... Lesson 3) do you truly understand your target markets and how their needs change depending on their stage of life?

From all of this my ultimate experience of any car salesman has been extremely one dimensional. (I am sure there are some out there that are not in alignment with my experience, I just haven’t had the pleasure yet)

And yet there is my Mum who is of the senior / retired age, a target market that is about to become the largest this country has ever seen as baby boomers are starting to retire and head into older age, and her needs have changed, simply because her health issues are becoming a bigger consideration than ever before.

Her main consideration used to be how much shopping could she fit in the boot easily, be able to strap all the kids in, and does it have a towbar with enough engine power to pull a caravan for holidays, etc. Not so much now.

This particular target market, the grey pound as some call it, is going to have even more buying power as a group and yet they still seem to be ignored. Money on the table is my opinion.

These types of businesses may just have been missing a trick. Mum’s focus wasn’t on ecological benefits, that was a nice bonus, or engine size, or even to some extent price, or how ‘new’ it was, her main focus was her ease of driving so she could continue to drive for a bit longer and be relatively pain free while doing it. Her secondary focus was cheap to run on a monthly basis, because although she had saved up for a car, she was still living on a pension.

If that had been the marketing message in the letter she got that she would normally bin, if they had understood that someone in their 80’s has a different criteria to someone half that age she would have been over to that garage looking for the next car about 3 years ago.

Dear Mrs xx

We know how much independence your car provides

We understand that being able to continue driving for as long as possible is of the utmost importance to keeping your independence and living life on your terms. Because we recognise just how that important that is to our more senior clientele we sourced a selection of cars that can specifically make driving both easier and cheaper. From reducing car tax and fuel consumption to reducing the strain on joints while driving.

Phone us now to make an appointment with our specialist adviser on which car would be the best fit for your circumstance. Even if we don’t have it in stock right now we can arrange a time when we have something suitable.

Yours sincerely

Mum would have been sold before she lifted the phone, and not bothered with any other showroom ... ever.

Image source: Freepik - Creator: Snowing