A Sales Guy How Would You Sell A Toyota Today?

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Our second Collaborative Coaching post targets Toyota’s recent difficulties.

A reader asked; “How would you approach selling new Toyota’s given the recent news?”

What a great question. When companies are hit with recalls, and defective products that put peoples lives at risk, selling is the last thing most folks are thinking about. Yet, the selling must go on.

Think Tylenol, the Ford Escape and Firestone Tires.

Despite the news, and the hysteria, Toyota dealership are still open, and the sales guys still have a quota.

Understanding this, how do you sell a Toyota in this environment?

A couple of my suggestions:

Educate – share the facts with prospects, break the problem down to exactly what it is, how often it happened, what Toyota is doing to fix it, how it’s been addressed with newer models and therefore not a problem, etc. Give your prospects as much information as possible. Don’t hold back. The more info they have, the less the risk will appear.
Other models- remember Toyota has a fleet of brands that are not defective and have incredible resale value, and are extremely reliable. Remind your prospects why Toyota has become the number one car company in the world
Embrace fans – despite the negative press, Toyota has a huge following and fan base. Reach out to your fan base and offer special incentives for them to buy or thank them for being owners. Give them free oil changes, discounts on required maintenance, etc. Pull-out all the stops with your fans. They will sell for you.
Don’t over react – a number of people won’t buy a Toyota today because of the news. But a lot of people will and are. People still buy Fords, Firestone still sells tires and Tylenol is still given out by hospitals. Treat it as business as usual, with the news being just one more objection to overcome. Just don’t make it more than it needs to be.

Selling a Toyota is going to be harder, but it’s not going to be impossible. Be open with the information, remember what makes Toyota good, listen to your prospects, reward your loyal fans, and don’t over react. The sales will come.

What do you guys think? How would you sell a Toyota today?

Toyota president vows company will change its ways (sfgate.com)
Toyota Leads in NHTSA Unintended Acceleration Complaints, Edmunds.com Analysis Shows (eon.businesswire.com)
“Toyota memo gloats on savings” and related posts (amfix.blogs.cnn.com)
Toyota Recalls May Free Jailed Camry Owner (newser.com)

http://twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

Let the customer know they are a smart consumer to take advantage of the sales incentives Toyota has put in place because of these recalls.
http://www.facebook.com/jerrylkennedy Jerry Kennedy

Totally agree, Jim. Like any other product, open, honest conversations are the best sales tool you can employ.

I think it's really important for Toyota salespeople to resist the temptation to downplay the prospect's concerns. Instead of glossing over the situation, have a discussion about the facts. Remember that these consumers will, in many cases, be transporting their kids. Acknowledge that they may be feeling a little apprehensive, discuss how the situation is being handled from Toyota's point of view (as opposed to what they're hearing from the media), and be prepared to offer an alternative.

Great question, Jim!
http://twitter.com/CompassNorthInc Tony Johnston @ CNi

Reaffirm how Toyota continues to view quality and reliability as extremely important to its future success as an auto maker, and how the company continues to be absolutely committed to offering buyers the best and most reliable vehicles at competitive prices, despite how the recent recalls show Toyota has not met its own expectations by keeping up its excellent reputation as well as it had been able to do in the past.
http://www.tlchome.ca tlchome

I had planned on writing a blog post on taking accountability – my thoughts were with Tiger Woods after his apology and how I felt it was sincere and complete. There were no signs of shuffling blame or excusing his behaviour, and I believed it.

In Toyota's case it's crucial to present accountable answers and offer timely solutions. After this storm is over Toyota will have earned a reputation as a company that stands behind its product… and its customers.
http://www.sellbetter.ca/blog Tibor Shanto

The only thing I could add to the great points you make Jim is to also add some perspective through quantifying the issue. By this I don't mean that they should down play the small number of actual injuries, because there are still individuals involved. But by highlighting the scale of the response vis-à-vis the actual scale of the issue relative to number of Toyota's on the road, their overall track record over the years, and the accountability that the local dealer is will to take on.

If they do the things you suggest, and no more skeletons are discovered, I bet this will go down along with Tylenol as a n example of crises and brand management. Especially leveraging your point number 2. and the brand equity of Lexus.

Cheers, Tibor
SkipAnderson

This is an excellent topic (damn, I wish I would have thought of it). Your suggestions are great. It's also important to know that every year consumers buy many, many crappy cars. If consumers were only interested in the best, well-made vehicles, there would only be 2 or 3 auto companies in existence (and up until recently, Toyota would have been one of those companies).
http://asalesguy.com Keenan

great points Tony,

they certainly have a lot of years of making reliable cars and an emphasis on safety
http://asalesguy.com Keenan

in any environment where trust has been lost, “acknowledgment” is critical

Nice recommendation
http://capelinks.net/ CapeLinks

Jim, thanks for posting my question.

I wrote this when the news first broke: Toyota Recall: Local Advertising Opportunity

Looks like you got some good feedback. I agree that Toyota should recover fine, like Tylenol, Firestone, etc…, but time will tell.
http://capelinks.net/ CapeLinks

Jim, thanks for posting my question.

I wrote this when the news first broke: Toyota Recall: Local Advertising Opportunity

Looks like you got some good feedback. I agree that Toyota should recover fine, like Tylenol, Firestone, etc…, but time will tell.
http://www.justmobilephone.com GreenPoison iOS

Im stilll planing to buy a toyta vechile for my personal use. i still love toyota.

How Would You Sell A Toyota Today?

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