A Lesson From Eddy Kay

Feature Story: After a 10-year hiatus, the man who trained many of the top merchants in car audio returned to KnowledgeFest in Dallas last month. Here are some of the takeaways from his packed seminar:

Do you answer the phone as if “it sucks to be me,” [his words] or are you excited about what you are selling.  The point is to be excited, “This subwoofer will change your life.”

The average salesman sells 2 out of 10 people.  That includes the people calling up on the phone.  “When a customer calls in for the store hours, and you answer ‘9 to 5,’ you just walked somebody you had an opportunity to sell.”

“If I can get you to sell one more, that’s a 50 percent increase.  That’s what sales training is about.  It’s about learning how to do it and even more, what not to do.”

“Just selling what the customer came in for is clerking.  Selling him more is selling.  You don’t have to be dishonest or lie.  It’s stuff he may need.”

“A pair of speakers will sound better with an amp on it. I used to run Al & Ed’s Autosound with 40 stores.  A guy would come in with $200 and say, ‘I want a good pair of speakers for my car.’   It’s run with 9 watts, so his speakers will really sound worse.  I sell him what he really came in for…I’d sell him an amplifier.  Customers don’t know…”

“A price attached to nothing is worthless.”  The customer asks, ‘How much to put this amplifier in the car?’  “You have channel molding, 17 screws, you have to take out the seat that has 4 bolts plus electronics, that’s $85.  Does that make sense?  You have to sell it, can’t quote it.”

“Discounting is going out of business on the installment plan. Discounting is something that will kill you.  You don’t sell cheap stuff; you sell magic.”

“You are not installers, you are techs. I got my guys lab coats.”  Techs are skilled at electronics, electricity, upholstery, carpentry, dash and trim parts replacement, audio engineering and security.

Closing the Sale

Kay said his natural method of closing a sale would be to say, “What do you think,” “Or do you like it?”  “That’s the worst thing you can do.  You tell him he likes it and you tell him to buy it.”

“Customers like to be closed. How many times did you go to buy something and didn’t know which one, but you wanted to buy.”

“Customers make decisions all day long.  Would somebody please make a decision for them?  You are helping them out and yourself out…..I was always afraid to close until someone taught me how.”

“The customer will let you know when its time to ask for the sale.”

Signs:

He can’t stop touching the item.

He asks if you have it in stock.  “Don’t say yes, go in the back and get it and hand it to him.”

He touches his wallet, checking to see if he has it.

He touches his chin, face, anything above the neck.

“If you see a buying sign, ask for the close.  Say something like, ‘Hey, you’re in love with this.  Let’s go write it up.’ People will do what you say if you set it up right.  You turn and start walking away. If you are lucky, he’s walking right behind you.”

Invoice Close.  You walk behind the counter and say, “Come with me. How do you spell your name?  That’s the invoice close.  You’re assuming he’s going to buy it.”

Assumptive Close.  “You start telling him what he’s going to do with it when he gets home.”

Either or Or Close.  “Do you want this one or that one?”

The Penalty Close. “It’s the worst close. The sale is over tomorrow. Or it’s the last one in stock.”

The Add On Close.  “This is where the money is.  And the add on is the greatest customer service you could possible give a customer.  If he buys speakers, sell him an amp; it will sound better.  It’s not what you sell that makes you a living, it’s what you sell with what you sell that makes you a living.”