What’s Enterprise hiding under that big brown bag their cars are wrapped in? According to this report, it could be their intent to humiliate you into buying car insurance.

“Couple weeks ago I rented a car from Enterprise for the day,” Tim Nudd writes us. “As I was waiting for the guy to run my credit card, I noticed a piece of paper on the counter…It seemed to be a one-page cheat sheet for how Enterprise employees should go about selling car insurance to its customers. It was just sitting there, so I took it.”

A transcript of the document, after the jump…

NET OTHER SALES TRAINING

I. Initial Sales Pitches

A. “I assume you want us to protect you bumper to bumper on the car, right?” (assumption makes the customer feel like everyone takes it)
B. “You’ve rented from us before?” (if yes) “Then, I’m sure you took our coverage last time, right?” (customer will feel silly for having not taken it)
C. “How long do you need the car?” -three days- “Three days? That’s only $60 and protects you the full value of the car!” “…it’s only $19.99/day and protects you of the full value of the car!!!” (make sure the customer feels your excitement)

II. Handling Objections
A. I have my own insurance- “Yes, but you have exposure. Meaning, if anything happens, we’d have to collect your deductible, place a claim through your insurance, you’d have to worry about surcharges, insurance rates going up, etc…” (exposure, most powerful objection word ever)
B. No, I’m ok… I don’t need it- “80% of my customers under 10 days do take it because they would not be responsible for any damage, regardless of fault!” (customers love to be a part of the majority, it’s comforting)

III. Thing You Should NEVER Say
A. “How do you want to cover the car?” (this gives them the option of their own insurance, and they’ll use that option every time)
B. “Do you want to take our coverage or use your own insurance?” (Are you kidding me?! This is not sales!)
C. “We offer a protection package that can cover you bumper to bumper…” (Duh, that is precisely what you’d be doing… offering, not SELLING!)

IV. A True Seller…
– A true seller can close the deal within 30 seconds.
– A true seller doesn’t even need the “three no’s.”
– A true seller “persuades” rather than “offers.”
– A true seller believes in what he/she is selling.
– A true seller uses 1 to 2 powerful words, rather than a novel.
– If you work for Enterprise, you are a true seller (you just might not know it yet).

This was at one of two Enterprise locations in Fort Lee, NJ.

Says Tim, “To be fair, I don’t know if this is a standard-issue Enterprise sales sheet or what. Plus the guy didn’t even bother with any of this crap when I told him I didn’t need his insurance. I did think it was a little weird that this Enterprise location has it in writing that making the customer feel silly can be a good thing.”

This is, in all likelihood, not a standard-issue document but rather, the dissemination of upsell tactics by the franchise’s manager. Like most such proclamations, it’s ignored by the employees who continue to conduct business in the same way they did before. It’s interesting to note that there’s still some sales professionals who view the relationship between seller and customer in an old-school, combative, manner, rather than trying to discern and diagnose client’s problems and sell them the solutions. Soon these dinosaurs will be extinct and their bones can be compressed and converted into fossil fuels and injected into energy-efficient rental cars of the future.

[photo credit]

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