Chapter 9 — Exercises

Work these after reading the chapter. They move from understanding the ideas to doing the actual skill on the floor. Most need no answer key here — selected answers live in Appendix I; where a short check helps, it's tucked in a <details> block.

Difficulty legend: ⭐ basic recall · ⭐⭐ applied analysis · ⭐⭐⭐ judgment & synthesis · ⭐⭐⭐⭐ advanced / extension

Part A — Conceptual Understanding ⭐

A1. In one sentence each, define Feature, Advantage, and Benefit as used in FAB selling. Which of the three is always tailored to the specific customer, and why?

A2. Name the three wrong ways to select a vehicle for a customer (from §9.1) and the one right way. For each wrong way, state in a phrase what it optimizes for instead of customer fit.

A3. List the six positions of the walk-around in order. For each, name in a few words what you primarily do or show there.

A4. Why does the six-position walk-around end at the driver's seat rather than starting there? Answer in two or three sentences.

A5. The chapter says people "decide with emotion and justify with logic." Explain what that means for a walk-around, and what goes wrong if you feed only emotion or only logic.

A6. What is the "sticker recital," and list at least three distinct reasons it fails (from §9.2).

A7. What is the endowment effect, and how does it explain why "let the customer touch and sit in the car" works?

A8. True or false, and fix it if false: "A good walk-around presents every feature on the window sticker so the customer knows everything the car has." Explain.

A9. Why does the chapter say the price negotiation is "half-won or half-lost in the walk-around, before the first number"? (Connect to the idea of value and a scale.)

A10. Complete the sentence and explain it: "When you hear the customer start using the words my and we, the walk-around has ______."

Part B — Applied Analysis ⭐⭐

B1. A customer's needs analysis revealed: retired couple, no kids at home, drives mostly local errands plus two long road trips a year to visit grandchildren, the wife has a bad back, they don't tow anything, budget is comfortable but they "don't want to waste money on stuff we won't use." Which positions of the walk-around would you dwell on and which would you breeze through, and why? Name two specific features you'd present in full FAB for this couple.

B2. Take the feature adaptive cruise control. Write the advantage once, then write three different benefits — one for a long-distance commuter, one for a retiree who road-trips, and one for a nervous highway driver. (If your three benefits sound nearly identical, you haven't tailored them — try again.)

B3. Read this snippet of a real walk-around and diagnose what's wrong:

"This one's got the 2.0-liter turbo, eighteen-inch wheels, panoramic sunroof, leather seats, ambient lighting, a premium sound system, wireless charging, heated and ventilated seats, a heads-up display, and the full driver-assistance suite. Pretty loaded. So what do you think?" The customer (from the needs analysis: budget-focused single commuter, said "I just need something reliable and cheap to run") goes quiet and asks the price. List at least three specific mistakes and rewrite the walk-around to fit this customer.

B4. A salesperson selects the most expensive trim on the lot for a customer who stated a clear, modest budget, planning to "sell them up." Walk through what's likely to happen when the price lands, and explain the cost in terms of credibility and the negotiation that follows.

B5. For each of these customers, name the one position of the walk-around that's likely to be highest-value, and one feature you'd present there: (a) a contractor who tows a 7,000-lb trailer daily; (b) a parent of an infant and a toddler; (c) a 23-year-old buying their first car who's nervous on highways; (d) an enthusiast buying a weekend sports car.

B6. A customer interrupts your walk-around at Position 2: "I don't need the whole tour, just tell me what it costs." Write what you'd say, then explain why each part of your response works (agreement, the real-number promise, the time ask, the pressure removal).

B7. Explain how the AWD-vs-FWD discussion from Chapter 2 shows up at two different stages: once during vehicle selection (§9.1) and once during the walk-around (§9.4). What's different about how you use the same knowledge at each stage?

Part C — Skills & Practice ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐

C1. Build one full walk-around (do this for real). Pick one of the three vehicles from your Chapter 2 cheat sheets. Write a complete six-position walk-around for a specific composite customer (give them 4–5 needs). For each position: what you show, what you say, and which positions you dwell on vs. breeze through. This is one of your three Project Checkpoint scripts — do it properly.

C2. Write ten FAB chains. For the same vehicle, write ten complete Feature → Advantage → Benefit chains, each benefit tied to a specific stated need of your composite customer. Say them out loud. Mark any where you could only manage Feature + Advantage (no real benefit) — those are the ones to keep working until the benefit comes naturally.

C3. Role-play the price-rush. With a partner (or out loud to yourself), have the "customer" interrupt at three different points — Position 1, Position 3, and Position 6 — each time demanding the price. Practice your acknowledge → promise → two-minute-ask → deliver response until it's smooth and sounds like you, not a script.

C4. The silence drill. Write out one moment in your driver's-seat (Position 6) presentation where you will deliberately stop talking and let the customer take in the car. Note what you'll do with your hands and eyes during the silence (don't fidget, don't fill it). Then practice holding the silence for a full ten seconds — longer than feels comfortable.

C5. Tailor the same car to two opposite customers. Take one vehicle and write two short walk-arounds for two very different buyers (e.g., a young family vs. a single commuter). The car is identical; the positions you dwell on and the benefits you attach must be different. Put them side by side and circle every difference — that contrast is the skill.

C6. Diagnose a recording (or a memory). Recall (or, if you're working, record with permission) a real walk-around you gave or watched. Mark every place a feature was named without a benefit, every place the customer was passive (not touching/sitting), and the moment the conversation handed off to price. Write one specific fix for each.

Part D — Synthesis & Critical Thinking ⭐⭐⭐

D1. The chapter argues that "letting the customer own it" (the endowment effect) makes them value the car more and stretch their budget for it. Is using this knowledge ethical? Where's the line between helping a customer connect with the right car and manipulating them into wanting the wrong one? Tie your answer to the book's gut-check from Chapter 3: "Would I be comfortable if this customer could hear my thoughts?"

D2. A manager pushes you to lead every walk-around with an aged unit that carries a spiff, regardless of the customer's needs. Walk through the short-term and long-term trade-offs (recall theme #3, ethics is the profitable long game). When, if ever, is steering toward an aged unit legitimate?

D3. Some trainers teach "build maximum emotion, minimize logic, because logic gives customers reasons to say no." Argue against this using the chapter's emotion-AND-logic model. What actually happens to a customer who buys on pure emotion with no logical justification?

D4. The chapter says a "loaded walk-around for the wrong customer is just a longer recital." Unpack this. Why isn't more thorough automatically better? What's the actual variable that determines whether a walk-around works?

D5. Consider the dual-audience tension. This chapter teaches salespeople to trigger emotional attachment and the endowment effect — and also has a 🛒 For the buyer aside warning buyers about exactly that. Is the book contradicting itself, or is there a coherent position? State the position in your own words.

Part M — Mixed / Interleaved Practice ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐

These deliberately combine this chapter with earlier ones. That's the point — on the floor, the skills don't come one at a time.

M1. (Ch 7 + Ch 8 + Ch 9.) Write a single continuous mini-transcript that flows from meet-and-greet (Ch 7) → a few needs-analysis questions (Ch 8) → selecting a vehicle and beginning the walk-around (this chapter), for a composite customer of your choice. The seams should be invisible — show how rapport feeds the needs analysis, and how the needs analysis feeds the FAB benefits. (Recall from Ch 7: rapport is the front door to the needs analysis.)

M2. (Ch 3 + Ch 9.) For each of the five customer types from Chapter 3 (researcher, relationship, price, emotional, need-based), write one sentence on how you'd adjust the walk-around — pace, which positions you emphasize, how much you talk vs. let them experience, and how you'd handle the FAB. (Hint: the price buyer and the emotional buyer want very different walk-arounds.)

M3. (Ch 2 + Ch 9.) Take the SUV-vs-crossover distinction from Chapter 2. A customer said "I want an SUV" but the needs analysis (no towing, no off-road, hates the gas mileage on their current truck) points to a crossover. Write how you'd (a) select the crossover and (b) present it in the walk-around so the customer feels helped, not redirected. Use at least two FAB chains.

M4. (Ch 5 + Ch 9.) From the activity-to-income thinking in Chapter 5: a great walk-around raises your closing ratio (the fraction of presentations that become sales). Explain, in plain terms, why investing in walk-around skill is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your income — and why the "sell the priciest car" shortcut can actually lower your long-run income.

M5. (Ch 7 + Ch 9.) "Just looking" (Ch 7) and "just give me the price" (this chapter) are described as the "same animal" at different stages. Write a short comparison: what each one really means, why each is a defense not a rejection, and how the cure is structurally the same (don't fight, lower pressure, earn the right to help).

M6. (Ch 8 + Ch 9 → Ch 10.) Sketch the hand-off chain: how the needs analysis (Ch 8) feeds the walk-around (this chapter), and how the walk-around's climax (Position 6, driver's seat) feeds the test drive (Chapter 10). What's the emotional state you want the customer in at each hand-off?

Part E — Research & Extension ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Optional, for the motivated reader.

E1. Find and watch three professional vehicle walk-around videos (manufacturer channels, reputable auto reviewers, or dealer training content). For each, note: Did they use FAB or just list features? Did they tailor to an imagined buyer or present generically? How did they handle the most important positions? Write a one-page comparison of what the best one did differently.

E2. Research the endowment effect beyond this chapter (it's a well-studied concept in behavioral economics — start with reputable summaries, then a primary source if you're inclined). Write a short note on (a) the classic experiments that demonstrate it and (b) two ethical ways and two unethical ways it could be applied in car sales. Tie the ethical line back to theme #3 and the Chapter 3 gut-check.

E3. Pick one real, current vehicle on the market and build a complete product-knowledge-to-walk-around pipeline: research its actual segment, trims, and standout features (verify on a manufacturer or reputable source — see further reading), then write a full six-position FAB walk-around for a buyer it's genuinely well-suited to. Note any place the marketing materials over-claimed and how you'd present honestly instead.