Sell Well in Hispanic Market

Mauricio Espinosa, founder of Grupos 20, a Hispanic 20 Group benchmarking company, emphasizes the need in auto retailing for awareness of and sensitivity to the differences among people comprising the vast Hispanic market.

“If you are in Texas, for instance, you'd probably be correct in assuming that most of the Hispanic background is Mexican,” says Espinosa. “However, the market may have some Venezuelans, Argentines or Bolivians, among others. If you concentrate too much on Mexicans, you will miss the Latinos from other backgrounds and may even alienate potential high-value customers.”

Espinosa was part of a special seminar that gave auto dealers a crash course in selling to the expanding Hispanic market.

G20 and NCM Associates Inc. developed the seminar — “How to Sell to the Booming Hispanic Market” — in association with the Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater Kansas City Automobile Dealers Assn., Kansas Automobile Dealers Assn., Missouri Auto Dealers Assn. and National Independent Auto Dealers Assn.

Held in Overland Park, KS, the conference drew more than 40 area dealers and managers.

The gathering was in response to dealers' common missteps and misperceptions regarding the cultural and legal issues in hiring, training and selling to Hispanic employees and customers.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing and largest minority group in the nation, comprising 13% of the U.S. population. They also represent more than $580 billion in buying power.

There are negotiation differences between American and Hispanic customers, says Espinosa. Americans tend to prefer negotiation sessions that are quick, informal and center on the proposal first. Hispanics prefer a longer, more formal process that offers explanations first, then the proposal, says Espinosa.

He says American customers are more aggressive and looking for a “good deal,” whereas Hispanics are more questioning and looking for a long-term relationship.

Meanwhile, auto dealerships employing Hispanics should know of cultural differences in the work environment, says Espinosa. He says Hispanic workers will respond better to a long “paternal talk” from a manager, rather than a reprimand and quick discussion.

He says Hispanics tend to be hard-working and their way of exchanging information tends to be more indirect. Consequently, their reports tend to be longer than necessary by American standards.

“Training on this cultural issue becomes very important for reports and meetings,” he says.

Espinosa produced a 7-DVD training series that teaches Hispanic employees how to sell to Hispanic customers (in Spanish) called “Escalera al Exito,” or “Steps to Success.”

“Everybody knows that the Hispanic market is a big thing, but nobody could find meaningful literature and training tools addressing what to do with it,” he says. “So, I created it myself.”

Nix the Flamenco Dancers

Points raised at a metro Kansas City auto retailing conference on selling in the fast-growing Hispanic market include: