DealDeskCoach · Manager TrainingWhere is this customer, really?
The stage that feels right in the moment and the stage that's actually true don't always match. That's not a knock on anybody — it's just why you check the signals before you call it.
They barely know me
They haven't spent enough time with you to have an opinion about you as a person. This isn't distrust — it's just distance.
- One visit, or a quick walk of the lot — nothing since
- Wouldn't recognize your name if it popped up on their phone
- Any reply is short, no personal details volunteered
- Every question is about the car, never about you or the store
Make a deposit
Play: First touch after they left
No email version for this one — too early for an inbox message.
No question in it. Nothing to decline. Shoot the video outside, walking, one take — wind and background noise are fine. Polished reads as marketing.
- Read the text out loud to the room, then run the follow-up call like you're actually making it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Make a deposit
Play: Already sent one, heard nothing
No email version for this one — same reason as the first touch.
Two deposits before any withdrawal. Still no ask. If this feels like a waste, remember the person who buys in March remembers who was normal with them in January.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
They know me, but they're still shopping
They'll open a message from you and read it. They're still comparing you against a couple other stores or vehicles.
- Replies to texts, sometimes quickly
- Says "still deciding" or "looking at a couple places"
- Asks specific product questions, not just "what's your best price"
- Has been back more than once, or has named a competitor or another model
Give them something useful
Play: They asked about something specific
The clip is the value here — no confirmation angle needed on top of it. Whatever they ask beyond that, show them live instead of promising to check and get back to them; the customer already has a phone in hand and can look almost anything up themselves, so a "let me confirm and follow up" is a step behind them, not ahead.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Give them something useful
Play: Gone quiet for a week or so
This gets the highest response rate of any play — and it's the one you'll resist sending. Offering to help them buy elsewhere is the strongest possible proof you're not working an angle.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Something specific doesn't add up
They like you and they're listening, but one specific thing is holding them back — usually the trade number, the payment, or whether the car really fits what they need. Naming that one thing out loud is what gets the deal moving again.
- Went quiet right after numbers came up, or right after a specific claim
- "Let me think about it" tied to one topic, not the whole deal
- Asks the same question a second way, fishing for a different answer
- Brings up a competitor's number or claim unprompted
Name the doubt
Play: It's the trade number
Raising the doubt yourself is the whole move. They were never going to bring it up on their own — they were just going to disappear. Keep the actual auction and market figures out of anything written — a written number is a written promise, and plenty of these settle the moment you talk instead of email ("get me $500 more and we've got a deal"). Explain it live, not on paper.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Name the doubt
Play: It's the payment
Separating "can't afford" from "don't trust it" is the whole job here. Most reps start discounting before they've confirmed which one they're actually holding.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Name the doubt
Play: Whether the car does what they need
This only works as an honest correction — you got something wrong and you're owning it before they find out on their own. It does not work as a "let me confirm and get back to you": on the lot, the customer already has a phone in hand and can look almost anything up in real time, so there's no ballpark left to give. If you don't know something cold, look it up on the spot. Save this play for the rare time you're actually wrong.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Name the doubt
Play: They're comparing us to another store
Include one thing that doesn't help you — that's the entire mechanism of this stage. A rep who tells the truth about a downside gets believed about everything else.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
They're sold, they're just not moving
They've decided. What's left is logistics — timing, a spouse, or a specific outside factor they've already told you about: a lease that isn't up yet, a bonus or tax refund on the way, a trade they still need to sell. Whatever it is, they already named it — your job is remembering it.
- Has said "I want it" or the equivalent, but hasn't scheduled anything
- Has told you exactly what has to happen next (spouse sees it, lease ends, bonus hits)
- No new objections coming up — it's the same one, repeating
Make it easy
Play: Nothing's in the way, they just haven't come in
Give two times, not an open question. "When works for you?" is a decision they have to make. Two options is a choice they can make in three seconds. Don't promise a specific number of minutes, and don't stage or hold the car on a guess — wait for them to actually tell you they're on the way, then get it ready. That confirmation is what you can control; a countdown clock isn't.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Make it easy
Play: Waiting on a spouse to see it
You're removing friction, not selling. The spouse's real objection is almost always "I wasn't part of this decision" — so make them part of it. Numbers mean nothing yet if the spouse isn't even sold on the car — solve that first, paperwork comes after. Only pull the unit off the line once you've actually got them confirmed — a text or email saying they're on the way — and use a travel hold for that, not a standing hold from Monday to Saturday. Blocking a car all week off a maybe isn't fair to the rest of the floor.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Make it easy
Play: Waiting on timing
Respecting the timing is what makes you the one they call. The rep who pushes here loses a deal that was already won. Don't promise to lock a number with no end date on it — rates, incentives, and inventory pricing move, and an open-ended lock just sets up a fight later when they've moved on. Keeping the number on file and being straight if it shifts is honest and doable; a blanket lock isn't.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
I'd already given up on them
Bought somewhere else, ghosted completely, or an old customer you haven't touched in months. Nothing is currently pending.
- No response across multiple attempts, spread over weeks
- Told you directly, or you found out, that they bought elsewhere
- It's been months since any real contact
No ask in this one
Play: They bought somewhere else
No email version for this one — a call or text lands more human here than an inbox message.
Costs you nothing and it's the most surprising message a customer ever gets. This is the one that produces a referral eighteen months from now.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
No ask in this one
Play: Ghosted after a good demo
Text only — no follow-up call or email for this one. They already stopped answering; piling on more channels reads as chasing, which is exactly what this message says you won't do.
This removes the awkwardness, which is usually the real reason they stopped replying. A surprising number come back inside a week.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
No ask in this one
Play: Past customer you haven't touched in a while
The referral ask belongs at the one-year touch, after the 30-day and 90-day check-ins. Ask before that and you're just another salesman.
- Read it out loud to the room like you're sending it right now.
- Ask the group: does this sound like you, or does it read like a script? Change one line together before the next play.
Match the message to the stage, not the wish
Every deal that goes quiet had a rep who guessed too far along. The signals above are how you stop guessing — read them before you decide what to send.