Salesman goes into the back for ages to talk to his manager

[unrepentant]

Wacky Racer said:

yonex said:

unrepentant said:

O/T Why is your user name Yonex?

Someone already had 'unrepentant'

He likes playing Badminton..

C'mon Wacky, you have to be quicker than that!

[Wacky Racer]

unrepentant said:

Wacky Racer said:

yonex said:

unrepentant said:

O/T Why is your user name Yonex?

Someone already had 'unrepentant'

He likes playing Badminton..

C'mon Wacky, you have to be quicker than that!

Sorry rep, I hadn't read your previous post.

I'll go and have a lie down......

[TVR1]

shake n bake said:

jjr1 said:

Salesmen are completely st at their job if they can't even sell to buyers with cash and ready to do a deal.

Let me give you an example; of the most recent Mystery Shopper survey at Sytners !

65% of mystery shoppers ready to buy a car at this group of dealers failed to walk out with a car.

They either were completely ignored whilst on the sales floor or were told to come back next week and book an appointment to discuss their needs, despite them having the virtual cash to buy on the spot.

This makes no sense at all, mystery shoppers don't buy cars?
Also, unless this mystery shop cash buyer has rolled over and paid full price then any salesman will have to get approval for the deal.
Finally, any dealership that's regulated by the fca (which all main and nearly all Indy dealers are) there will be lots of paperwork to do before figures can be discussed.

Ah, you see, that's why people like working at Sytner. Top 4 'Sunday times best companies to work for' 5 years in a row. Their mystery shoppers do 'buy' the car, as long as the full process is followed. They do negotiate and achieves deal. Deposits are paid (and then refunded). The salesman is paid £250 for a successful mystery shop but the 'sale' doesn't count to numbers.

As to FCA regs, nope there isn't a mountain of paperwork to complete prior to discussing figures. IDD is all that is required. The requirement to complete a Demands and Needs Statement only needs to be completed prior to the conclusion of the sale. If it's done correctly, it should be a natural, flowing process

[sim72]

The last time I went to a main dealer (hello a well known Midlands VW main dealer) it look me as long as it took them to offer me £100 for my trade-in (would have gone for £600 min, probably more, at auction - 900 on Parkers) to walk out again.

[jjr1]

TVR1 said:

shake n bake said:

jjr1 said:

Salesmen are completely st at their job if they can't even sell to buyers with cash and ready to do a deal.

Let me give you an example; of the most recent Mystery Shopper survey at Sytners !

65% of mystery shoppers ready to buy a car at this group of dealers failed to walk out with a car.

They either were completely ignored whilst on the sales floor or were told to come back next week and book an appointment to discuss their needs, despite them having the virtual cash to buy on the spot.

This makes no sense at all, mystery shoppers don't buy cars?
Also, unless this mystery shop cash buyer has rolled over and paid full price then any salesman will have to get approval for the deal.
Finally, any dealership that's regulated by the fca (which all main and nearly all Indy dealers are) there will be lots of paperwork to do before figures can be discussed.

Ah, you see, that's why people like working at Sytner. Top 4 'Sunday times best companies to work for' 5 years in a row. Their mystery shoppers do 'buy' the car, as long as the full process is followed. They do negotiate and achieves deal. Deposits are paid (and then refunded). The salesman is paid £250 for a successful mystery shop but the 'sale' doesn't count to numbers.

As to FCA regs, nope there isn't a mountain of paperwork to complete prior to discussing figures. IDD is all that is required. The requirement to complete a Demands and Needs Statement only needs to be completed prior to the conclusion of the sale. If it's done correctly, it should be a natural, flowing process

I was just about to reply to Shakenbake but I see you have succinctly managed to sort out his doubts. Cheers.

It is still a damning indictment on Sytners sales staff.

[Sheepshanks]

jjr1 said:

TVR1 said:

shake n bake said:

jjr1 said:

Salesmen are completely st at their job if they can't even sell to buyers with cash and ready to do a deal.

Let me give you an example; of the most recent Mystery Shopper survey at Sytners !

65% of mystery shoppers ready to buy a car at this group of dealers failed to walk out with a car.

They either were completely ignored whilst on the sales floor or were told to come back next week and book an appointment to discuss their needs, despite them having the virtual cash to buy on the spot.

This makes no sense at all, mystery shoppers don't buy cars?
Also, unless this mystery shop cash buyer has rolled over and paid full price then any salesman will have to get approval for the deal.
Finally, any dealership that's regulated by the fca (which all main and nearly all Indy dealers are) there will be lots of paperwork to do before figures can be discussed.

Ah, you see, that's why people like working at Sytner. Top 4 'Sunday times best companies to work for' 5 years in a row. Their mystery shoppers do 'buy' the car, as long as the full process is followed. They do negotiate and achieves deal. Deposits are paid (and then refunded). The salesman is paid £250 for a successful mystery shop but the 'sale' doesn't count to numbers.

As to FCA regs, nope there isn't a mountain of paperwork to complete prior to discussing figures. IDD is all that is required. The requirement to complete a Demands and Needs Statement only needs to be completed prior to the conclusion of the sale. If it's done correctly, it should be a natural, flowing process

I was just about to reply to Shakenbake but I see you have succinctly managed to sort out his doubts. Cheers.

It is still a damning indictment on Sytners sales staff.

You weren't convincing in your source of the statistic.

To be fair, though, stories of being turned away from dealers due to not having an appointment are legion on the Merc forums I visit.

[Chrisgr31]

Last time my father bought a brand new car he was a cash purchaser with no part exchange.

He knew what make and model he wanted and send an email to the 4 nearest dealers saying this was the car he wanted and this is what he wanted to pay. The one dealer that responded yes got the sale.

[jjr1]

Sheepshanks said:

You weren't convincing in your source of the statistic.

To be fair, though, stories of being turned away from dealers due to not having an appointment are legion on the Merc forums I visit.

I never divulged my source and your half baked aside about 'your' knowledge of mystery buyers was completely irrelevant.

[anonymous-user]

unrepentant said:

Are you a badminton type?

I only ask as I once met Mr Yoneyama (the original) in Munich and later had a meeting in London with a couple of his lieutenants, who rather amusingly were both called Takahashi. They told me a funny story about him.

I used to play before knackering my knees/ankles/shoulder. Cycle now. Need a new username

[DukeDickson]

Hot1 said:

The problem is with these type of threads you always have the ones who think they know it all yet have never done the job!!

As said there are bad salesman and good ones like any profession!

With regards to gap and paint protection personally I will offer it to every customer, if they are not interested then fine, that's that and carry on! Simple!

However, they may have indirect, but relevant, experience.


I guess the issue seems to be more about attitudes, behaviour and the slightly silly charade of the chat with the sales manager, more often than not.

As for the specifics of GAP & the like, it would probably remove all the negativity around it if it was sensibly priced and sold appropriately. I've no great problem with the former, unless it is 3x the price of what's generally available elsewhere.

[Sheepshanks]

jjr1 said:

I never divulged my source....

Of course you don't.

jjr1 said:

...and your half baked aside about 'your' knowledge of mystery buyers was completely irrelevant.

I didn't claim any such knowledge.

[Ari]

DukeDickson said:

I guess the issue seems to be more about attitudes, behaviour and the slightly silly charade of the chat with the sales manager, more often than not.

It isn't a 'slightly silly charade' though is it?

Go pay the price on the sticker - no SM visit required. Ah, but you don't want to, you want a discount, and you want a price for your car, and that needs to be managed because there are a lot of moving parts (like back end bonuses, current used stock levels that might affect how much is paid for the p/x, etc etc etc) that only someone with an overview of the whole sales operation (a sort of manager of the businesses sales - we could call them a 'sales manager') can make a judgement call on.

If you go into Goldsmiths today, pick up an Omega Seamaster and pay the ticket price, the shop assistant will smile and take your money. If you ask whether there is any discount he's going to either say no, or he's going to say 'let me ask the manager'. Would you regard that as a 'slightly silly charade'? Because it's exactly the same thing!

[Roo]

I bought a new, to me, car yesterday.

Strange experience as I'd been in the trade for over twenty years until I quit last year so I was going in as a retail customer.

Phoned and made an appointment. Turned up on time with part exchange car and all its paperwork. Had a quick demo and sat down for a chat.

Salesman went off to appraise my car, spoke to his sales manager and came out and made me a cost to change offer. I said I wanted a couple if extras on the car and would give x amount plus my car. Another quick visit to the SM to confirm the deal could be done and it was all sorted.

If you go in with the right mindset it's a very easy, and enjoyable, process.

[Ari]

Roo said:

I bought a new, to me, car yesterday.

Strange experience as I'd been in the trade for over twenty years until I quit last year so I was going in as a retail customer.

Phoned and made an appointment. Turned up on time with part exchange car and all its paperwork. Had a quick demo and sat down for a chat.

Salesman went off to appraise my car, spoke to his sales manager and came out and made me a cost to change offer. I said I wanted a couple if extras on the car and would give x amount plus my car. Another quick visit to the SM to confirm the deal could be done and it was all sorted.

If you go in with the right mindset it's a very easy, and enjoyable, process.

Exactly this.

It's not complicated, and it does make you wonder about the mindset of those who insist it's akin to entering the gladiator's arena - especially those that report multiple issues with different dealers. They never seem to stop to think what the common denominator is...

When I was selling cars, an old chap pulled onto the forecourt with a very old and battered MK2 Cortina (what's that, late sixties, early seventies?) Interestingly though, it looked from a distance like it was a Lotus Cortina, which intrigued me. Instead of driving round to the car park he'd parked next on the forecourt by the used cars and was having a look at them. I strolled out to say hello and was about to comment on his Lotus Cortina (which I was interested in having a little look at) but before I could say anything he started squealing about You salesmen, always trying to hound me and pressure me!, virtually sprinted to his waiting Cortina and roared off, leaving me entirely bemused by the whole thing!

I did wonder at that point whether that's why he was driving a forty year old car - if every time someone politely approached him that was his response!

I wonder whether he's on here...

[limpsfield]

Ari said:

Exactly this.

It's not complicated, and it does make you wonder about the mindset of those who insist it's akin to entering the gladiator's arena - especially those that report multiple issues with different dealers. They never seem to stop to think what the common denominator is...

I think this is the reality. As in all walks of life there are aholes. Maybe there are more amongst salesman but probably not.

This is an Internet forum. Most normal people won't post on them. So it does attract some weirdos ( we are all included). It is also a car forum- car geeks are weird too.

So I think on these sort of threads you have a narrow band of people who are not the social norm reporting on problems they have had that most people won't.

I have never had a problem with a car salesman, an EBay seller, Chris Evans or a woman- probably like most people on PH. But still enjoy reading about the adventures of those who do.

You freaks!

[Harji]

Ari said:

DukeDickson said:

I guess the issue seems to be more about attitudes, behaviour and the slightly silly charade of the chat with the sales manager, more often than not.

It isn't a 'slightly silly charade' though is it?

Go pay the price on the sticker - no SM visit required. Ah, but you don't want to, you want a discount, and you want a price for your car, and that needs to be managed because there are a lot of moving parts (like back end bonuses, current used stock levels that might affect how much is paid for the p/x, etc etc etc) that only someone with an overview of the whole sales operation (a sort of manager of the businesses sales - we could call them a 'sales manager') can make a judgement call on.

If you go into Goldsmiths today, pick up an Omega Seamaster and pay the ticket price, the shop assistant will smile and take your money. If you ask whether there is any discount he's going to either say no, or he's going to say 'let me ask the manager'. Would you regard that as a 'slightly silly charade'? Because it's exactly the same thing!

Six years ago I got a discount on an Omega Speedmaster from Selfridge's of all places, and yes he did have to get authorisation and I'm glad I asked and happy the salesman went to the effort of finding out.

[stemll]

Cyder said:

We went to look at a car at a carshop in Northampton and to test drive my wife had to hand over her licence. Following he test drive we decided we didn't like the car and decided to look elsewhere but they weren't keen on giving back her driving licence.

Being a pregnant hormonal angry ginge she went absolutely ballistic at the salesman after a few minutes of him fking her around and demanded her licence back and announced she wouldn't buy a car from them ever.

We had exactly that (except for the pregnant hormonal wife ) at the same place. I will never go back, most of the stock is quite tatty ex fleet/rental stuff anyway.

[oldnbold]

stemll said:

Cyder said:

We went to look at a car at a carshop in Northampton and to test drive my wife had to hand over her licence. Following he test drive we decided we didn't like the car and decided to look elsewhere but they weren't keen on giving back her driving licence.

Being a pregnant hormonal angry ginge she went absolutely ballistic at the salesman after a few minutes of him fking her around and demanded her licence back and announced she wouldn't buy a car from them ever.

We had exactly that (except for the pregnant hormonal wife ) at the same place. I will never go back, most of the stock is quite tatty ex fleet/rental stuff anyway.

I went there with my daughter who was looking for her first car, desperate to have a Mini. We were driving by so just popped in on the off chance they might have something suitable.

The salesmen, well I call them men but they all looked about 18, were stood in the car park in the snow waiting for the next punter to drive in. Once in the showroom a possible suitable Mini was identified on the screen, but after 20 mins of the salesman trying to find the car out on the lot, we left...... Never to return.

[Ari]

Harji said:

Six years ago I got a discount on an Omega Speedmaster from Selfridge's of all places, and yes he did have to get authorisation and I'm glad I asked and happy the salesman went to the effort of finding out.

Thanks, precisely my point. How people can create a problem out of that is a complete mystery to me.

[hondansx]

Brave Fart said:

I've just been through the process of buying a brand new car and I must say I'm not impressed with the process. You have dealerships who just ignore you even when they aren't busy, you have salesmen who just don't know the product very well ("yes, this one has dynamic chassis control"......no it doesn't), you arrange a test drive and they forget you're coming.....but most of all this crazy adverserial nonsense of you battling to get the best deal.

Honestly, it feels like a very outdated business model, where the onus is on the customer to avoid getting shafted. There must be a better way, after all you'd think that spending big money on a car would be fun, yes?

It's no wonder people use online brokers where the price is fixed.

I don't see why people moan, personally. These guys are like estate agents; there is no qualification to become a car salesperson; you are just ideally good with people and confident enough to give it a go. With such easy access to the job, why would anyone be surprised that many aren't up to scratch?

I also don't understand why people assume seeing a manager is all for show. Surely it's not remarkable that on any given day, week or month margins will fluctuate.

I wonder how many people - on the flipside - focus on being a good customer? The reality is a car salesperson is in it for themselves; it's a ruthless job. However, they may give a nice bloke a better deal and opt to shaft someone else to compensate. I'd rather go for the former approach rather than assuming you are going into battle.