Glengarry Glen Ross: “We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” If you think times are tough, and they sure as Hell are, imagine being a car salesman. Wait! Imagine being a car salesman trainer. Someone like… Jack Bennett (find him at youshouldsellcars.com, although his mantra is “you can sell cars”). Jack writes a regular column for Dealer Sales & Marketing. So, I wondered how Jack would take the current, uh, “challenges.” “I remember a time when I was working at a dealership and a technician came to the showroom. A salesperson was standing at the window with his hands in his pockets. The tech said, ‘All you sales guys do is stand around with your hands in your pockets.’ The salesperson turned and said, ‘Sometimes my job is to stand here with my hands in my pockets.’ And you know he was right. This salesperson is trained to do one thing: serve people. So when the letters have all been sent out and the follow up calls made, sometimes he has to wait for the people to serve.” Read more? Well it could change your life.
When it comes to drumming-up new biz– or, indeed, any biz– Jack’s got jack. So, meanwhile… “If you were to look at all the deals you didn’t get, all the customers that walked, I’ll bet a high percentage of those deals had missed steps [listed in the column], or the steps were not done well or done completely. There you have it, short and sweet. Let’s get back to basics, do what we do best and sell some cars. Good luck and great selling… and remember, don’t take no for an answer.
I eagerly await the day when I can buy a car online as easily as I buy everything else. No haggling, no pressure. no bullshit… just a few clicks and I’m done. Until that day I’m refusing to step into a showroom, or buy a new car.
–chuck
Bahhh Bahhh where do I isgn
Amen to that.
Thought I wanted a 2009 V6 AWD Rav4. Just a basic car not the bling model. No can do in Northern California. At some level in Toyota they decided that to get V6 and AWD you need the Bling. Local sales person says “maybe we can order it but it will take 6-8 months and you will pay MSRP why don’t you look at what we have in stock”.
Another manufacturer or a Toyota dealer in Nevada or Oregon will get the sale when I decide to buy.
Let me configure it online. Let me know where it is available in the system and I will pay shipping. Maybe they could outsource sales to Amazon or Costco. Just handle the service and repair.
Like the first poster I decided my current car (1985 Volvo 245 DL) suits me just fine.
Chuck didn’t rule out buying a used car. Personally, I want a 1932 Chevrolet convertible:
http://www.gmphotostore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=53216795
You have to see this car with whitewall tires and a two-tone paint job. Beautiful car.
That aside, anybody who thinks Alec Baldwin is just a feckless Bono wannabe needs to watch the scene.
hmmmm…….no one for you to complain to?
Costco? Trade ins?
go to buyatoyota.com ….first thing they ask for is your zip code so you can find out how they are built in your area. Toyota is the lowest cost producer supposedly…the way they do that is to tell how they are going to build the cars instead of vice-versa.
You wouldn’t be happy if there weren’t dealers….you would have no one to complain about or to.
Everything that is wrong with car salesmen can be summed up in that last line: “Don’t take no for an answer.” If I don’t want the car, or am unhappy with the dealer, or just plain don’t like you, get off my a$$ when I tell you “No!”
I just want to be able to buy a mass produced car in the same manner that I buy every other mass produced item. There is more than a little “schadenfreude” from what is happening to dealers. Especially as everytime people express the sentiment that they want to be able to buy cars like every other mass produced item in life, the dealers and car sales types come on this board and express things like just pay MSRP or you won’t have anyone to complain to.
Full disclosure I am a salesperson.
Sherman Lin
It is natural when someone suggests something and you see a flaw in there logic to point it out. I have been in the auto business for 12 years and I can tell you that a person’s merit is proven when things “go sideways”. That is why people always pipe up in these threads.
I think of the example of bank ATM’s. It seems that we have come full circle and now dealing with a real human face to face is considered a selling feature.
Cheers
Swervin