The Customer Thinks You’re Making Thousands

“You're making thousands of dollars on this.”

I've heard that from customers. You're at invoice or close to it on a deal, and the person across the table believes you've still got thousands to give away.

You know the room you have. They think you know the room you're hiding.

I think a lot of the car-buying content on TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit feeds that belief. Somebody tells them how dealers work, what to refuse, and how much further to push. A boring explanation of invoice has a hard time competing with that.

By the time your salesperson presents the pencil, the customer already has an explanation for why the number is too high.

Another pencil feels like doing something

I've been the manager who sent the salesperson back with another number. I was busy. I couldn't get out there, and I trusted their read of the problem.

That's a reasonable thing to want to do. You need to trust your people.

But the salesperson has to bring you more than their best guess.

The customer is nervous, questioning the price, still on the fence. The salesperson hasn't asked enough to pinpoint what's bothering them. They start looking for a lower price or a payment they feel more comfortable presenting.

Now two people are working a number without knowing what the number is supposed to answer.

And from behind the desk, it looks like you're working the deal.

This is where I think managers have to catch themselves. How much of your decision came from what the customer said? How much came from what the salesperson assumed they meant?

Find out what they're trying to get comfortable with

In the 2024 KPA Dealership Trust Survey, conducted by The Harris Poll among 2,098 U.S. adults, 76% said they didn't trust dealerships to be honest about pricing.

That matters when you're sitting across from someone who thinks you're holding something back. You know your intentions. They know what they've heard about dealerships and what this conversation feels like.

Put the pencil where the customer can see it. Explain the whole deal: selling price, taxes and fees, optional products, trade allowance and payoff, cash down, amount financed, rate, term, and payment. Make estimates and anything awaiting approval clear.

Then ask:

“Which part of these numbers doesn't match what you expected?”

Stay with the answer. A customer who can't afford the payment needs a different conversation from one who thinks you changed it after they arrived.

For that second customer:

“We started with the online estimate. Are the differences between that estimate and this payment clear, or should we go through one of them again?”

When the payment itself is the problem:

“Is that more than you want to spend each month, or different from the payment you expected coming in?”

When they're comparing prices:

“What are you comparing this price with?”

These questions help you find out what you're working on. Use the answer to explain the actual deal honestly, including the difference between room to discount this car and the dealership's total profit.

What stopped the salesperson from asking?

That's the coaching question.

Maybe they didn't know how to explain the number. Maybe they were worried another question would irritate the customer. Ask them. Let them recognize where they stopped listening and started guessing.

You can train the team to explain the store's position perfectly and still miss what the customer needed to feel comfortable buying.

Bring me one of those deals for a free 30-minute working session, and we'll work through that part together.

Once you've answered the questions, ask for the business: “Does this work for you, and are you ready to move forward?”

Before you send back another pencil, be able to tell me what the customer needs that pencil to answer.