New car marketUsed Car ConferenceNewsNew car newsAMRecruitmentIndexNews digestShowroomBy Tim RoseLookers has reported a 2% year-on-year uplift in new car sales after Q3 trading, fuelled by growth in the fleet sector.The national car dealer group has seen fleet volumes increase by 30%. However private new car sales have fallen 10%. It said it continues to gain market share, and new car margins remain "satisfactory" and ahead of budget.Overall it described its Q3 trading perfor-mance as "satisfactory". It expects its full 2011 results to be in line with management expectations.Used car volumes in Q3 were slightly ahead year-on-year and 4% up year-to-date.Lookers said aftersales revenue and margins have remained in line with the previous year, despite the declining 0-3-year car parc. "This demonstrates the success of our continued investment in technology and procedures to improve customer reten-tion and average sales value per customer visit," the top five AM100 company said.Its independent parts division has performed in line with budget. The sale of surplus assets this year has raised £12.7m, and £21.8m of bank loans have been repaid. Fleet sector fuels Lookers' uplift in By Simon Bowkett, new car salesof Symco TrainingIf you spend more time on presenting, demonstrating and closing the deal, than on meeting, greeting, qualifying and looking at the part-exchange, you've probably got it the wrong way round.It's a mistake to assume you know what customers want and where they are coming from - which is why the top salespeople spend a lot of time on qualification before they start selling.Watch the video for a cautionary tale of what can happen when you act before knowing what the real issues are.The importance of good qualification Improve your selling skills - for freeFor a link to more free online videos, email me at simon@symcotraining.co.uk or call on 01829 760 679. Or follow me on Twitter @SymcoSimon.Advertisement feature'This demonstrates the success of our continued investment in technology'

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