"What would it take to get you into this car tonight?"

My husband and I have been thinking about buying a car. OK- so we've driven a couple cars and thought we had it narrowed down.

That's the fun part.

Now comes the not fun part. Dealing with the numbers. Actually, the numbers aren't the not-fun part, it's the salespeople. Since both of us have a sales background, we tend to be a bit critical of our salespeople. We're also suckers for really good ones. We appreciate the hustle, the technique, the experience.

So, if I tell a salesperson I don't want to play the games, that I just want to have a good experience, then don't go through the whole list of closing techniques.

You see, we can recognize the techniques:

What are the features that you're looking for? (commitment)

Do you prefer A or B? (narrows choice)

Can't you picture yourself...? (visualization)

How much do you want to spend on a vehicle?

How much do you want your payment to be? (to get past price)

Making you wait in the showroom. (domination)

The car may not be here tomorrow. (fear of loss)

If you put $500 down we'll hold the car for you. (fear of loss and commitment)

And my least favorites:

"What do we have to do to put you in this car tonight?" (baloney)

And - going to the sales manager... over... and over... (more baloney)

So where did the salesman go wrong? The obvious answer is "he didn't listen". He didn't hear that we didn't want to play the games. He didn't listen when he kept pushing the model with fewer features. He didn't listen when we said "no". He just continued in his own process.

It was a terrible experience. Buying a car should be fun! But this was not. And I don't have a new car.

What kind of experience are you creating for your buyers? Are you listening not only to what they want to purchase, but how they want to be treated? Are you being respectful of their time- being on time, educating them on the front end to save time and misunderstanding on the back end? How do your clients feel about the entire experience? Are you listening and hearing?

Or are you ruining the experience? (And losing the sale.)