We are surrounded by data but starved for insights. — Jay Baer
Customers are overwhelmed with information. The internet and its easy access to huge amounts of information can lead many customers to discount everything placed in front of them as irrelevant or suspect to manipulation. They are tired of information overload. They feel the information could be exaggerated, incorrect, or simply made up. The last thing customers want from us is more information. It all becomes a blur, and they put aside important decisions, most likely never making them at all. Instead, what customers want is insight — information that tells you not only “what” but also “why.”
Insight Makes ‘Yes’ Easy and ‘No’ Hard
Insight sellers come to every customer encounter with valuable information that they will not find anywhere else. They can take terabytes of information and translate it into small digestible bits of information that moves many to understand and buy products they questioned before. Telling a customer, “Your car had a lot of computers,” is information they’ve seen or read hundreds of times before, and it is brushed aside as more noise to be tuned out.
However, asking that same customer, “How many networks do you have in your house?” will lead most to answer that they have just one. Now here comes the insight: “You have 20 networks in the vehicle you are buying. That is how complex this vehicle is and a major reason the service contract makes sense for the vehicle you are buying. Transferring the risk of this technology having issues will assure a red light on the dash doesn’t cause you to have to stretch your budget. Wouldn’t it be great if a computer in your car fails, and someone else pays for it?” This insight will make it easier for more customers to say yes to the service contract. That is insight selling at its finest.
Insight Builds Trust and Confidence
Customers can tell the difference between anyone just repeating information as opposed to providing insight into what the information means to them. We used to call it commission breath, and now we call it surface selling — both are offensive. They recognize that insight is the result of deep research on the underlying reasons why they should buy a particular product. They trust the person that is willing to dig deep for insights that will help them, and they have confidence that this person is looking out for their interests and concerns.
Most resistance to the products offered in F&I offices is not because the products do not have perceived value. It is because the efforts come across as surface selling as opposed to insight selling. The two approaches couldn’t be more opposite, and the results also look very different. Insight gets people’s attention, opens their minds to information, and moves them to buy. Customers do not buy what a product is, rather what that product will do for them. Insight enables the customer to see why they need a product and why the benefit of that product is a perfect match for their situation. Job one for general agents is to “raise the numbers,” and enabling F&I managers we serve to see the value of insight selling will move more customers to purchase the products they need — and then everyone wins. Information is for the internet; insight is for the F&I office. Fill the process with insight and you will fill the office with happy customers. Happy customers buy more, and they are glad they did.
