Whether a customer buys the Honda Civic on offer or not does not depend solely on the price. However, the price ...
Whether a customer buys the Honda Civic on offer or not does not depend solely on the price. However, the price decision is without question an adjusting screw in the sales process. If you know how customers perceive prices and how you can motivate their willingness to pay, you will not only improve pricing at the dealership. We give you five tips for selling used cars.
Used car buyers first have to interpret the prices of the vehicles on offer. In doing so, they use points of reference and tried and tested rules. At the same time, they are subject to unnoticed psychological effects. Simple tips can be derived from these mechanisms for sales practice in car dealerships, which you can use in everyday sales.
1. DEPLOY THE ANCHOR
All figures that used car buyers perceive at the dealership are anchors. Anchors influence price perception and serve as a comparative value when evaluating a price. Behavioural economic studies have clearly demonstrated the anchor effect. For example, if a used car customer has the basic price of their dream car of 22,700 euros in mind, the cost of the separately selected additional equipment is just peanuts to them. The salesperson's reference to an expensive model at the beginning of the sales talk also makes all other prices seem favourable. Therefore, set specific anchors for your customers at the dealership!
2. BE CAREFUL WITH MONEY SYMBOLS
Images of bundles of money, coin towers or currency symbols encourage egotism and market logic in your customers. If you want to sell a sports car to a pit bull type of customer, it is worth using money symbols. A Golden Retriever type customer looking for a family car, on the other hand, will not feel addressed at all, in the worst case even repelled.
3. OFFER SOMETHING SPECIAL
When people assess a price, they take the context into account. Used car buyers are therefore willing to pay more if the dealership or the vehicle has something special. The brand image of the vehicle manufacturer is also a tempting extra that you can build on.
4. SMOOTH PRICES NOT WANTED
Labelling odd prices has been proven to boost sales. For a used car buyer, 15,375 euros looks more trustworthy than 15,000 euros. The reason for this irrational interpretation: the buyer does not know the value of the desired model, but assumes behind an even amount that you round up the price at the dealership instead of rounding it down.
5. ALLOW PAYMENT BY CARD AND IN INSTALLMENTS
Among other things, buyers are subject to the payment transparency effect: the type of payment method determines their price perception and their willingness to pay. Breaking large notes is the biggest hurdle. Card payments, on the other hand, are the least painful. ‘You simply can't tell how much you've spent with a debit card, but you can with an empty wallet,’ Kai-Markus Müller aptly writes in his book NeuroPricing. If the total cost is also divided into small instalments, buyers perceive the total price as lower. This motivates them to buy. Attractive financing offers are therefore also very important when selling used cars.
