First, relax. You hate your job because you don’t know what you’re doing. Face it. You, a car salesman, have no quantifiable methodology for selling a car. At best, you think customer "conversion" depends on your personality, product knowledge, perseverance and luck. At worst, you think it’s a simply a matter of bullying the customer into buying a car. You want to hear something funny? Bullying IS the most effective sales technique. I’m not recommending it, but if you really want to master car sales, you’ve got to understand the non-PC realities of human nature.
Before Ted Turner bought Montana and retired to shoot wildlife in a drug-addled haze, CNN’s founder had a sign on his desk that read “Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way.” Obviously, Captain Outrageous considered himself the leader; leaving everyone else to either follow his instructions or, as Ted liked to put it, f-off. And boy, did The Mouth of the South learn to work that strategy, building a multi-billion dollar empire on the back of championship wrestling and baseball. That’s because Ted Turner had an inherent understanding of his position in this world. He knew he was a born salesman.
It all comes down to testicle size. (For women, it’s the amount of testosterone in their system.) Men with larger testicles produce more testosterone than men with smaller testicles. The hormone makes them physically stronger, much more aggressive and far more inclined to take risks than smaller-balled men. As you might imagine, high testosterone or “alpha” males represent a minority of the total population. Well, if they’re not at the beginning of their life cycle, they are at the end– after competing alphas have killed each other off, died from taking stupid risks or found their way into a prison cell.
This, my friend, is you. You are a high testosterone male. Think about it. Who in their right mind would be a car salesman? There’s no job security. There’s no income security; your livelihood depends on your performance on any given day, with any given customer. If you want to know how you ended-up where you are, look down. Not convinced? Look around. How many of your male colleagues are tall/large? How many of them are losing their hair? How many played contact sports in high school? How many are cheating on their partner or just plain horn-dogging it? How many are always sweating? How many are team players?
These are your people. But they are not your customers. Car salesmen can’t get their heads around the fact that their customers do not share their psychology. You want a bigger house. A better car. A better suit. A better watch. A better wife. You were born to want MORE, and you’re willing to risk everything to get it and WIN. Your customers have smaller balls. Their primary motivation is to hang on to what they’ve got. They were born to sniff the air, follow the crowd, minimize risk and NOT LOSE.
This is why your customers fail to share your excitement about buying a new car. The majority see car buying as an endless opportunity to lose/squander their precious resources. In fact, the whole process scares them shitless. You scare them shitless. This is why car salesmen who are bullies do so well. We’ve all heard stories of burly car salesman who literally kidnap and/or physically force customers to buy a car. They do it because it works. The evil alpha salesman establishes dominance over the beta customer, who eventually decides they’d lose more by not buying a car (like, say, their life).
Again, this kind of bullying is not the right way to sell a car. But in the absence of a positive, coherent, logical and successful method to honestly and effectively utilize a salesman’s natural dominance to sell a car; it’s the most efficient. And please don’t go thinking about all the times this wasn’t or isn’t true. If you’re going to learn how to sell a car properly, you need to subvert your natural tendency to focus on exceptions to the rule. Alphas are born hunters, and hunters always look for the different thing: the old, weak or malformed member of an otherwise homogenous herd. Sales is a numbers game. Your goal is to sell cars to the majority, not the minority. So forget all the examples that illustrate that I’m wrong. Focus on all the experiences that tell you that I’m right.
Last paragraph? Wow. That went fast. There’s a bunch more practical stuff to come that’s gonna blow your mind and bring you bucks (YES MORE!). Meanwhile, a quick question. What if there’s a way to embrace your Alpha-ness that helps car customers make the right decision? And what is the “right decision?”
We’re currently shopping for a new family-mobile. We encountered the big-balled alpha-male salesman just two days ago at the Toyota dealership. He didn’t care what we wanted or needed, he wanted us in a low-end, no options Camry and nothing else was gonna do.
Of course, we walked, er, ran.
Across town at the Mazda dealer, we encountered just the opposite. I phoned first to make sure they had the model I wanted to see. The salesman actually offered to drive it to my house for me to see (a 45 minute round trip). I declined and drove out on my own. Once there, he was more than accomodating, even offering to move our child safety seat from my car into the test model and back into my car to see how it fit.
We may buy a Toyota, but it won’t be from that first dealer. And we may not buy a Mazda, but it won’t be because of the salesman.
I would totally agree, except that I don’t. Yea, I’m sure you’re not supprised to find a contrarian on this flamebait.
My wife an I were browbeat at a VW dealer for christsake. 5 freaking hours to deal on a Passat. (Yea, what was I thinking.) But after bullshit from the salesman, the second tier and finally third tier, we walked. Bought a Subaru, negotiated soley over the internet. Won’t walk into a dealership without a deal at this point.
I would fully expect TTAC readers to be able to withstand bullying car salesmen.
Remember: this is a percentages game. They didn’t get you dear readers, but they must have succeeded with many others. Otherwise, they wouldn’t use the tactic.
I stopped by the VW dealership to check out the new Golf GTI with DSG.
The VW saleswoman must have been a dominatrix in a previous career.
Aggressive, pushy, and not one dime off list.
Strange thing is, I can’t wait to go back.
How does that fit with the Farago “How to Sell A Car” theory?
A confused Alpha.
I remember inspecting a car once, and giving the ‘salesman’ a disinterested look. His cajones must’ve instantly swelled because he went from ‘I’m-your-best-defence-against-the-sales-manager’ to almost shouting at me, ‘What??? This car’s not good enough for you???’
I walked…
Johnny,
I don’t think you really want to know.
The “Fuck around” bit really gets to me.
I’ll testdrive at the dealer, but when I buy, its internet quotes and internet negotiation all the way, and OUT THE DOOR prices.
And even so, the sleaze factor was insane. I negotiated the deal, realized that there was an additional $500 credit (recent student). Fortunatly, I had a printout of ALL the email when they tried to write it up at the original price but WITh the $500 rebate in it.
I’m 23, and was looking at used car lots to see what kind of price range things would be starting at in the real world (I.E. not on cars.com or autotrader. Also, when did lots stop putting used cars prices on the cars?).
I go to an automax and some would be alpha comes out in a spearmint green doublemint twin shirt and matching tie. He asked me what my price range was, and since I knew wouldn’t be buying a car that day, I made the stupid mistake of telling him.
“about 13,000”
At which point yon dickhead points me at an 03 kia optima with over 80,000 miles on it, and says “This one is 13,500. Its the lowest we have”
Now all this is pretty standard fare for a used car dealer, and probably more so for a rookie used car dealer, but the thing that disturbed me the most was the squinty self satisfied smirk he wore the whole time, as if to say “You’re clearly a sucker, and I don’t mind letting you know you’re a sucker, sucker.”
I wouldn’t go back if they were willing to sell me an audi for a big mac value meal.
Never ever going back… ever.
I got talked down to at a BMW dealer here in Pittsburgh, because I failed to see why a certain used 330xi that I would have driven off the lot that night was priced at some $5k over KBB value. I was told it’s because of the “distinguished status that comes with driving the finest automobile on the road” and that I “surely wanted to be part of the club” and “move up in the world” because people from my “part of the city will marvel at your car, and aspire to be” me. For the record, douchebag, my neighbor has an M3, and because I live where I live it doesn’t mean it’s the bad section of that town.
When I walked because they refused to budge off of the ridiculous price, the last thing I heard was “here’s my card…call me when you’re ready to step up in class…” I just said “thanks, but I’ll pass, douche” and declined the card. The guy was baffled. I mean, I certainly, at this point, can’t afford a new BMW, but an off-loan 2-3 year old car is well within my price range, but the guy immediately rolled his eyes when I said used. I refuse to be treated like that, but I wanted to drive this car so bad, because it’s what I set out to buy, so I put up with it for an hour or so to get a 20 minute drive in the car.
About 2 weeks later, after I had bought a new car, I saw that salesman pull into a grocery store parking space as I was leaving. He had a pretty beat up old (92ish) BMW. Step up in class, eh big guy? Hope the hair plugs are going well, douchebag.
The funny part is being a pushy big-balled salesman is what also looses a lot of sales. When we bought my wife's outback a number of years ago we went to a dealer where the salesman was just an ass. Went to the next dealer and had a very nice saleswoman who just handed us the keys to try out a couple models. We bought from her that day. I'm willing to pay a little extra if need be for a good and helpful salesperson. With all that being said the best way to handle sales is through the internet. Get all your prices set, check inventories, have your financing done and if you can do it even your trade-in (that's where they screw you if you don't have the money to wait on a private party sale). Just picked up my wife's new car yesterday, it was a little bit of a hassle trying to find the right color and options but over all most of it went smoothly since everything had been decided beforehand.
I had an Audi salesman ask me “Are you man enough to own an Audi?” and I just looked at him in disbelief and left the dealership. Went and bought a BMW, and I must admit that I still won’t buy an Audi vehicle due to that interaction.
And I agree that the best way to avoid these slime is to just deal by phone, email or internet on the vehicle you want. Problem is that to try out a car you need to actually go to a dealership and finagle a test drive, and endure some sales person.
Who goes to dealers anymore? Maybe for new, but for used? You know they have to mark it up 20% over what an individual would sell. I got my last car on craigslist from a nice older teacher who was selling his daughter’s car because she left for college. Cash on the barrelhead as it were. Probably the best purchase I ever made. Didn’t even try to talk him down from his asking (which was $200 under kbb).
Well, my situation is, I have owned just 2 new cars over 1983-2005. Several times over this period I would gladly have purchased a new car, but did not due to obnoxious sales tactics. No need to recount stories of monkeys in suits bounding out to tell you complete bull and expect you to deal with them. So, I happily kept one car to 155,000 miles and the next to 238,000 miles and was satisfied with them. If I could have ordered a car from a catalog, I would undoubtedly bought new cars every 3 years. So, who benefits from these ignorant sales tactics? Me- I learned to take care of the car I have.
Seems to be alot of anger over moron car dealers, but I had one good experience with a dealer whom I even made it clear that I wasn’t buying that day. He showed me what I asked to see, and wasn’t pushy at all. Ironic that he was on a toyota lot. Maybe dealers on popular lots are less stressed since they know that the quality of the product will sell the car for them. I feel really bad for guys stranded on a pontiac lot.
stryker1 – I think it also may be what the culture is like in a particular area. I’m a habitual test driver, so I visit dealerships a lot. When I lived out east, it was always a fun challenge to get in, get a test drive, and get out without being harrased and bullied. I began to enjoy the challenge. The practice also really helped me get a good deal on my only new car ever (Subaru Legacy GT).
But now that I’ve moved to the west (Colorado) going to dealerships is pretty boring. I just walk in, ask for a drive, they give me the keys and that’s it. It doesn’t matter what dealership I go to, Ford, Audi, Toyota, etc, they’re all nice and not pushy (I’ve never gone to a GM dealership just because they have nothing I want to drive, except for a Corvette which i know they won’t let me drive.) It’s too bad I make my cars last forever – milage on the cars, 50K, 185K, and 255K for the Subaru, Saab (real Saab – not a GM Saab), and Toyota, respectively – or I’d be buying a new car in a nice atmosphere.
Here is a tip for the next time you visit a car dealership. Ask the receptionist which salesperson has been there the longest and deal only with that person. The ones that survive the test of time won’t try to harm you like the others.
Another successful approach I have used is to meet the sales manager first and tell him you plan on buying 5 cars in the next two years from that dealership and you want to be a “house account”. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is what you will get from there on out (of course this works best if you actually follow through on your promise).
When I bought my wife’s Lexus, we scoured the entire state of California for the exact configuration she wanted, and negotiated by e-mail. The dealer stayed open late for us to drive the 180 miles to San Jose, gave us free passes to a wine tasting tour, gave us 90-days same as cash, and still took a few thousand off what they knew was a sure sale. The finance guy didn’t break our balls, and the whole experience was great. I felt like I was being treated the way I deserved to be treated when buying a $60,000 car.
Compare that to VW. No straight answers, everything was my problem to fix, and tried to screw me over on my trade. No wonder they couldn’t hack it with the Phaeton–who wants to buy a $100,000 car from a used car dealer slimebag?
The consensus here is correct — use the internet. If you have to test drive it, get your wingman to call you with an “emergency”
I must be the youngest person here. Everyone here is talking about their experience buying beamers and lexi (knew a girl named lexi in high school, real looker), and here I am dreaming about a new elantra, or maybe even a civic.
Farago,
So much for BMW
-Jonny-
Jonny,
As Winston Churchill said, if you’re going through Hell, keep going.
Yeh, the car salesman is the alpha male. LOL
Most can not dream of purchasing the cars they sell.
This does not mean the customer is the alpha, either. Most customers are intimidated by any pressure and hate the deal-making portion of it all. But, they do have something the sales guy does not have and that is money.
In that way, the customer shares something with the owner of the dealership. They both have money. And they share something else, too.
In the end, only the customer and the owner will leave with things they want — the customer with a car and the owner with some sweet bucks.
The sales guy — what does he get? He works his b*tt off and gets to go back to the break room and rub his really big balls.
Some alpha male.
Well even though we are so-called “advanced primates,” I don’t think it is as much about testosterone as it is “the system.” A “system house” used to mean one using the methodology of selling franchised by Hull-Dobbs, a Ford dealership in Memphis Tenn. that started going great guns – an old fashioned phrase for selling big time – in the aftermath of World War II. Their techniques were so successful, that the method became a management system with Hull-Dobbs indemnifying a participating dealer against loss for a piece of the action. A salesman, who got tuned into the Hull-Dobbs system thought just one way: anybody who walked into the door – didn’t matter if it was the mail delivery person – owed you a commission. It also didn’t matter if the “door pop” (someone just sticking their head into the showroom) had no credit rating or not even two nickels to rub together. They were a sale – period.
Any “mooch” could be “moused – front and back.” The only difference is the “Okie charmer” has been replaced by more efficient calculators. Maybe Robert will explain a bit about what those terms mean. If not, look up an essay entitled “The Okie Charmer” by the late Leon Mandel in the Car and Driver yearbook for 1970 – if you can find it.
If you can’t find it and Robert doesn’t expand on “the system” just remember this: never buy the same day you’re looking around the dealership. Get things in writing, if you can; go home and mull the figures over and come back, with a number for the sales man (or woman) you think will work for you. It’s really no different than attending an auction. You have to be willing to walk away, to get the deal you want.
Long time reader, first time poster.
I’ve always been amazed at the variability of salesmen, all the way from the bull-necked “What’ll it take to get you into this car today?” type, replete with loud sport coat and white shirt (cue me turning on my heel like a Prussian cadet and marching out the door), to the ultra-low key sort who didn’t even try to talk up the vehicle, didn’t push any paint protection scheme, any didn’t try to sneak in any extra charge for “window etching” or some other nonsense.
Funny enough, both types were at (different) Honda dealerships.
MINI dealers were similarly variable, if only because assessed trade in values for a 2003 MCS against a new 2005 model of the same car differed by four thousand dollars. Gentlemen, please don’t try to sell me a new car whilst waxing rhapsodic about its resale value, while simultaneously lowballing me with an offer of 60% residual after only 2-and-a-half years.
As someone else said, never buy on the first day, always get it in writing, and bring a bored spouse.
to stryker1 – nothing wrong with being young, but whatever you do, do not, i repeat, DO NOT get an elantra. my ex got one, and let me tell you, that is the most painful driving experience i ever had. probably the worst thing about the car is the 1,000,000 mile 100 year warranty. trust me after 1 year of driving that thing you will wish it would die just to give you a good excuse to get a new car. and forget about selling it used. you can’t give those things away. like i said before, get a good used car (civics are good) over a crap new car. btw – my ex paid $5000 for an elantra with 20k miles on it. a year later i paid $5500 for an integra with 30k miles on it. and that car is great fun to drive, 2 years later and i still look forward to driving it.
Really? Cause I had to rent a 2006 elantra while my car was in the shop, and I loved it. Maybe thats a testament to what a plastic casket my normal car is, but it felt like a luxury sedan by comparison. Also, where the hell did you find a 30k integra for 5,500?
Best way I know of to avoid this mess, at least for a new car, is this:
1) secure your financing (cash, bank, whatever)
2) test drive and research and find exactly what you want – model, color, package, extras, etc.
3) fax the fleet manager for every dealership in a 50 mile radius, specify exactly what you want, ask for a return fax with their best out the door price, and the lowest gets your business
You only use a fax, don’t have to talk to anyone, and it’s all in writing.
M
stryker – found it on craigslist. it’s a 96, but I was lucky that it wasn’t driven much. still look up prices on late 90s lexuses, vws, integras and what not. You should be pleasantly surprised by the prices.