Question: “I sell more ‘full-pop’ deals than any other salesperson here. But how do I handle it when a customer is loaded with money and buying seems to be a ‘game’ to grind us until there’s no profit left? This type of person seems to care less if I feed my family or pay my rent. It’s really frustrating me.”

Answer: The good news ... he’s the 10 percent-er, not your normal customer.

Who knows why people like him do whatever they do ... maybe just to watch salespeople and managers squirm. In the case of a special finance customer, he finds out he's approved and starts shopping everywhere just because he can.

It sounds like you normally do everything by the book, so don’t change a thing when you get this customer, except for this: no matter how bad you want the sale, always remember, “He who cares least, wins.” That’s especially true in buying and selling and more so when you’re in the negotiation.

Why? Because money isn’t the issue with this customer, and if you’re willing to (pretend to) shrug off losing a sale with the, ‘I just hate to see you miss out’ attitude, he’s more likely to buy.

Why? A host of reasons. The point is, you can’t ever be the underdog and win, which means you can’t allow yourself to keep running back and forth from your manager to a customer like a scared rabbit trying to make a deal.

Instead be calm, focus on the benefits he’s looking for, keep repeating (in different ways) why and how only you and your dealership can help him get those benefits and keep closing the sale.

Remember the vehicle is just a vehicle and he can get that anywhere he wants to. In the end, it’s almost always about you and your dealership (the people and service). It’s the people, not the vehicle, who offer the added value and that’s what you sell to every price shopper, especially someone who just wants to make your life in sales miserable.

My strategy with this type of buyer...

Step 1. Relax and agree with him. When we are down to the wire and he says he can buy anywhere he wants and can always save more there, I always nod and agree: “Of course you can, and unfortunately you’ll still never get that best deal, because no matter where you buy, somebody else would have saved you another $10 or $20. (Short pause...) Since you’re trying to get the best deal overall, it’s a shame to miss out on everything else you get here at our dealership compared to the other places you might buy from, just to save a few bucks up front.”

Step 2. With any luck, he’ll ask, “What will I miss?” and now you get a chance to do more selling of you and the dealership. If you have a free oil change program, loaners, car wash, shuttle, storage, etc., you need to sell the added value. And most important, I tell my customers they’ll miss ‘me’ and the extra mile I go for my customers.

Step 3. I sell myself as the added value he can’t replace down the street at any price. If I do a good job up to this point, they already know I'm right because they can easily spot the difference between me and the other salespeople they’ve dealt with in their ‘best price’ quest.

Step 4. I always ask customers like him if they’ve ever wasted a day in service or were frustrated at a dealership in the past. They all say ‘yes’ and then I explain how I take care of my customers and follow through for them to make sure that doesn’t happen here, which in the end saves them time and more money than they could ever save by buying down the street, just to save $50 or $500.