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:

1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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?

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