is car sales one of the most overrated jobs around ?

[scjgreen]

Qubit said:

If the product is good you dont really need a salesman.

If on the otherhand your product is a bit ropey, then you will need an army of silver-tongued individuals to do whatever is necessary to shift the stuff.

Apart from when the Customer knows they want a new car, know what they want from a new car but have no idea which model/engine/spec they will need.

Yeah apart from that your right all Sales Staff are probably redundant.

[Qubit]

okgo said:

Who's going to help persuade a person to buy their good product instead of a competitors good product?

Thats what marketing is for?

[okgo]

MRPULLHARD said:

think the reason I started this thread is that I work close to MB and BMW dealerships , see the sales people - some fairly young - driving around in their co. vehicles ( are they actually co. vehicles ? do they pay tax on them ? think not !) if they are company vehicles they must be earning big money to cover company car tax if they are not paying BIK then its not fair on the likes of technicians who are unlikely to be able to afford to drive such vehicles.

getting people to buy things they don't really want is not a skill - unless you would also call being a pick pocket skill full !

mr mullen you really don't do yourself or scom any favours on this site ! taking an enquiry in the early hours of the morning isn't exactly in the same league as rebuilding on engine on a GT2 is it ?

like most sales people your sense of importance of yourself in the grand scheme of things is deluded !

You really are embarrassing yourself.

[Butter Face]

MRPULLHARD said:

think the reason I started this thread is that I work close to MB and BMW dealerships , see the sales people - some fairly young

Gasp, young sales people? How dare they??!

MRPULLHARD said:

driving around in their co. vehicles ( are they actually co. vehicles ? do they pay tax on them ? think not !)

I expect they do, as if a company is going to avoid paying tax just to benefit an employee and risk getting themselves in the crap

MRPULLHARD said:

if they are company vehicles they must be earning big money to cover company car tax if they are not paying BIK then its not fair on the likes of technicians who are unlikely to be able to afford to drive such vehicles.

As above, they will be paying tax, and do you think techs get paid scraps and peanuts? The well trained techs who prove their worth will get paid very well and only have to work mon-fri, 8.30-5.

MRPULLHARD said:

getting people to buy things they don't really want is not a skill - unless you would also call being a pick pocket skill full !

I'd call being a good pickpocket a great skill actually, wouldn't you? And getting people to buy things is a great skill, a valuable skill, and has been said many times that to a lot of salespeople it doesn't matter if you're selling cars/phones/houses/potatoes, the same skills can be used for them all.

MRPULLHARD said:

like most sales people your sense of importance of yourself in the grand scheme of things is deluded !

Edited by Butter Face on Monday 21st July 17:07

[scjgreen]

okgo said:

You really are embarrassing yourself.

Let him keep digging his hole....

Without people selling the Cars then

Mechanics have no work
Valeters have no work
The Assembly Line Workers have no work
The Parts Suppliers have no work

So on and so forth, whether you like it or not its a job that needs doing by someone and his prejudice towards sales people is quite funny!

[wjwren]

Worked at Bristol street motors for 5 years - get taxed on company car, as I would never be in the same car that long as it would often be sold then they would just use an average co2 figure such as 1.6 Focus which is mainly what I had. I had a basic of £4500 a year, so if you didnt sell then you earnt nothing. I was earning ok money at the time, chap that had been there for 22 years and had loads of repeat business had a yearly P60 of £82500 so was doing well. Just before I left they changed the structure and increased the basic to £11k and decreased the commission so you earnt a lot less, most of the commission I used to earn was from finance, often we would practically sell the car at cost and make a wedge on the finance. Just to add this was on used cars not new. From memory the new car guys got something like £50 a car.

[markmullen]

MRPULLHARD said:

think the reason I started this thread is that I work close to MB and BMW dealerships , see the sales people - some fairly young - driving around in their co. vehicles ( are they actually co. vehicles ? do they pay tax on them ? think not !) if they are company vehicles they must be earning big money to cover company car tax if they are not paying BIK then its not fair on the likes of technicians who are unlikely to be able to afford to drive such vehicles.

getting people to buy things they don't really want is not a skill - unless you would also call being a pick pocket skill full !

mr mullen you really don't do yourself or scom any favours on this site ! taking an enquiry in the early hours of the morning isn't exactly in the same league as rebuilding on engine on a GT2 is it ?

like most sales people your sense of importance of yourself in the grand scheme of things is deluded !

So, to surmise you're jealous of young salesmen getting a company car?

I am going to take a wild guess that you are a parts person who aspires to be a mechanic but aren't trained. You don't dare make the move to sales because you have neither the ability, nor the attitude, to succeed in that area of the business.

Enlighten us, you say you've been involved with dealers (not just working nearby), in what role?

As to taking an enquiry in the early hours of the morning not being as important as rebuilding an engine? Which do you think makes my boss the most money? Rebuilding an engine or selling a £1.5m car?

[Sheepshanks]

okgo said:

Correct. I was paid on profit (for used cars, new were different).

Also, gap insurance, tyre insurance, paint protection, they're not something people usually have in mind to buy when buying a car (not the average punter), it does take some selling to shift these. And I used to make as much money on flogging these, as I did the car.

Also, attempting to convert cash buyers into finance buyers, selling them the concept of switching your car for a new one etc. This does not work on everyone, but I think people on here forget that the average punter is not as clued up as a bunch of blokes on a car site. Often there were cash buyers who were clear they would not consider finance that came out with a PCP full of profit for us...

Mentioned in another thread that I bought a new car the other day at a dealership VIP event.

I found the whole process as weird as ever. "VIP Event" appeared to mean absolutely nothing. They opened with the car at list so I sent the salesman off to get the sales manager. She just went straight for what she insisted was her absolute bottom line, included a service package and paint protection, and then resolutely refused to budge from that.

There was 0% PCP deal which if we took meant a further £500 off. They couldn't or wouldn't explain the logic in that. No attempt was made to sell me the included packages, or to sell me anything else.

Flash dealership which was deserted. There must be massive gross profit in new cars somehow or I just can't see how their business make any sense.

[LA167]

Sheepshanks said:

Mentioned in another thread that I bought a new car the other day at a dealership VIP event.

I found the whole process as weird as ever. "VIP Event" appeared to mean absolutely nothing. They opened with the car at list so I sent the salesman off to get the sales manager. She just went straight for what she insisted was her absolute bottom line, included a service package and paint protection, and then resolutely refused to budge from that.

There was 0% PCP deal which if we took meant a further £500 off. They couldn't or wouldn't explain the logic in that. No attempt was made to sell me the included packages, or to sell me anything else.

Flash dealership which was deserted. There must be massive gross profit in new cars somehow or I just can't see how their business make any sense.

If you were that impressed, why did you buy the car!?

[Sheepshanks]

LA167 said:

If you were that impressed, why did you buy the car!?

I bought it because that was the purpose of the visit.

[DoubleSix]

okgo said:

MRPULLHARD said:

think the reason I started this thread is that I work close to MB and BMW dealerships , see the sales people - some fairly young - driving around in their co. vehicles ( are they actually co. vehicles ? do they pay tax on them ? think not !) if they are company vehicles they must be earning big money to cover company car tax if they are not paying BIK then its not fair on the likes of technicians who are unlikely to be able to afford to drive such vehicles.

getting people to buy things they don't really want is not a skill - unless you would also call being a pick pocket skill full !

mr mullen you really don't do yourself or scom any favours on this site ! taking an enquiry in the early hours of the morning isn't exactly in the same league as rebuilding on engine on a GT2 is it ?

like most sales people your sense of importance of yourself in the grand scheme of things is deluded !

You really are embarrassing yourself.

It certainly makes painful reading. He doesn't seem to have made the link between selling and consuming either i.e. The best salesman is one that uses the product, hence getting the sales force out in the cars.

[technodup]

MRPULLHARD said:

getting people to buy things they don't really want is not a skill - unless you would also call being a pick pocket skill full !

mr mullen you really don't do yourself or scom any favours on this site ! taking an enquiry in the early hours of the morning isn't exactly in the same league as rebuilding on engine on a GT2 is it ?

like most sales people your sense of importance of yourself in the grand scheme of things is deluded !

Jeez.

Generally people are paid in accordance with their value to the business. e.g. a Greggs worker gets minimum wage to hand out pies because if they don't fancy it one day there are another thousand with no qualifications ready to take their place. To sell high value goods or services though, particularly B2B requires skill as well as attitude and perseverance. I've done both, and recognise the friction between departments but there's no contest. Selling the GT2 earns a lot more money than fixing it.

I do take the point about standing around though- imo when there are no customers the sales guys should be on the phone, hitting the list and trying to generate interest. That's real selling.

As for the grand scheme- it revolves around sales, in every industry. Period. No sales, no servicing. No repairs, No warranties. No insurance etc etc. It's really not difficult to get.

[Roo]

Deva Link. Is that you?

[tdm34]

johnny fotze said:

Not sure about over-rated, they're paid a percentage of what they sell so they get what they deserve.
It's not a job that requires much technical skill or even a significant amount of training. It's not a job I could do though.

Have a look at the regulations that govern our trade, you have to learn all this, last one for me was a 204 page manual then a test that I had to get a pass rate of at least 75% to qualify, and I have to retake it every year for complience purposes, if I fail three times I can lose my job! A good firm will give you lots of training as regulations change all the time and you have to be complient with all of it.

I've just started with a very well known Northern Car Supermarket, who's bosses decided to break all the stereotypes that car sales are associated with, so I don't get a company car! my basic is very much higher than the norm if you hit your targets and I genuinely will have an opportunity to earn close to £40k per year or more, and because the departments book everything at the genuine cost price and labour is charged from service to sales at £18ph there's no friction between them.

But remember that all of you Car sales knockers have a go consider this, unless i've got a booked holiday week I work every weekend! but I do get two days off in the week, I swore i'd never go back to the trade but my redundency from my chosen sales career meant I had to look again and i'm glad I did, because I can genuinely say that for the last two weeks i've not seen or heard a cross word between any of the departments.

But back to the job itself, it's not for everyone the hours are long and there are some real fk nuggets in the trade, but I challenge any doubters to give it a go, and then you'll see just how difficult it can be...

[POORCARDEALER]

Most of the successful entrepreneurs have a degree of salesman in them, its an important skill in business, the ability to adapt to individual customers needs and style of dealing is a great thing to have in the armoury IMO.

As for not having car salesmen in branch, a few brands have tried and it didnt work for whatever reason.

A very small percentage can buy a car off the net, unseen, and are happy with that, but the vast majority cant.

PH is not a proper representation of car buyers.

[MajorProblem]

I think Jordan Belfort started off in car sales.

[Roo]

POORCARDEALER said:

Most of the successful entrepreneurs have a degree of salesman in them, its an important skill in business, the ability to adapt to individual customers needs and style of dealing is a great thing to have in the armoury IMO.

Branson and Stelios spring to mind.

POORCARDEALER said:

As for not having car salesmen in branch, a few brands have tried and it didnt work for whatever reason.

Worked well for Daewoo.

Oh, hang on.....

[Urban Sports]

Selling cars is a piece of piss, in my experience anybody in the job who says otherwise is telling fibs or really does find an easy job hard.

[POORCARDEALER]

Urban Sports said:

Selling cars is a piece of piss, in my experience anybody in the job who says otherwise is telling fibs or really does find an easy job hard.

If you can do it its easy, why do most fail?

[Urban Sports]

POORCARDEALER said:

If you can do it its easy, why do most fail?

Because they're more suited to working in Tesco or selling beds etc.