Car salesmen that don't sell...?
Discussion
With 5 mins to kill in the BMW main dealer showroom collecting my car, I was drawn to a lovely looking Bright Blue M3.
Snooping around, then inside, with a salesman sat right next to the car.
He begrudgingly gave eye contact, but then went back to staring at his screen. I asked how much of the spec on that car was optional - I guess a lot, LEDs, Cameras, full leather etc...."Not sure" was all he could muster before returning to his screen, then made no other effort to engage? Ditto the other salesmen that were nearby?
The last time I killed 5 minutes looking at a car that attracted me was almost exactly 2 years ago..., I'd ordered one before I'd left the dealership.
Do salesmen no longer even try to sell you a car nowadays, merely there to process orders? 2 minutes of his time and he could have weened enough information about me, my car and thus my BMW history and put forward an offer to tempt?
If one of my sales guys had been so uninterested in a potential big sale, he'd have been on a disciplinary if he'd been lucky enough to keep his job.
Snooping around, then inside, with a salesman sat right next to the car.
He begrudgingly gave eye contact, but then went back to staring at his screen. I asked how much of the spec on that car was optional - I guess a lot, LEDs, Cameras, full leather etc...."Not sure" was all he could muster before returning to his screen, then made no other effort to engage? Ditto the other salesmen that were nearby?
The last time I killed 5 minutes looking at a car that attracted me was almost exactly 2 years ago..., I'd ordered one before I'd left the dealership.
Do salesmen no longer even try to sell you a car nowadays, merely there to process orders? 2 minutes of his time and he could have weened enough information about me, my car and thus my BMW history and put forward an offer to tempt?
If one of my sales guys had been so uninterested in a potential big sale, he'd have been on a disciplinary if he'd been lucky enough to keep his job.
Gary29 said:
Probably already hit their targets for February and no extra incentive, try walking back in the first week in March and see if their attitude is any different.
Dealers are usually the opposite IME. Later in the month, the eagerness heightens. Last time it was the last day of the month.Theophany said:
If you're interested in buying the car surely you'd make that clear? I don't want to be convinced to buy a car and would be annoyed if I can't browse without being slobbered over. Does sound like he could've been a bit more personable in his response to your question, mind!
Not sure how i'd have made it clear, aside from a Dom Joly style announcement "I'd like to buy a car..."But the good salesman would surely sell, not just process an order/respond to an enquiry.
GOG440 said:
There was a long thread on here that I started a couple of years ago where I got a lot of stick, called "being ignored in the dealers" or something similar where I had a very similar experience where a salesman was much more interested in cold calling previous customers than he was in talking to the customer stood in front of him.
And at the time I was most definitely not a tyre kicker, I was changing jobs and losing my company car but gaining a car allowance.
There has to be a happy medium somewhere between being harassed the second you walk through the door and being completely ignored.
Exactly. If he spent 2 minutes getting my name he would have realised that I've bought 7 cars from that dealership in the last 12 years and find out that my current car (supplied by them) was a) very nearly 2 yrs old, and b) had a list price more expensive that even that well-optioned M3, he would have seen I was a good target.And at the time I was most definitely not a tyre kicker, I was changing jobs and losing my company car but gaining a car allowance.
There has to be a happy medium somewhere between being harassed the second you walk through the door and being completely ignored.
Wills2 said:
I do find it difficult to understand how someone who has bought 7 cars from a dealer manages to be ignored by the sales staff when he wants to buy an M3 from them?
I have a sales guy at my local dealer and I just call/email or arrange to see him and he sorts it all out, these threads do come up often (or seem to) but buying a car is pretty easy, isn't it?
Salesmen change so often, there is no-one there that was there 2 yrs ago.I have a sales guy at my local dealer and I just call/email or arrange to see him and he sorts it all out, these threads do come up often (or seem to) but buying a car is pretty easy, isn't it?
The guys that sold the last 3 is still within the group, but moved to a different dealer.
Butter Face said:
Does the salesman you bought the last 7 cars from not work there anymore?
It may be incredibly likely that they did recognise you and didn't want to get drawn into a conversation that may take up their time just to have to pass the sale (if you bought) back to their colleague....
Just playing devils advocate!
(Still not nice if it happened exactly as you describe)
Not a case of not nice, just a huge miss opportunity for them. A good salesman with as attractive a deal as I got last time would have had a high chance of getting a sale from me.It may be incredibly likely that they did recognise you and didn't want to get drawn into a conversation that may take up their time just to have to pass the sale (if you bought) back to their colleague....
Just playing devils advocate!
(Still not nice if it happened exactly as you describe)
Sump said:
Ares said:
james_gt3rs said:
Maybe they knew you didn't want to buy so didn't waste their time?
How did they know? Truth being, if he'd made me an offer that was good enough, I may have gone for it. M3 looking like what I fancy moving to next.The only reason I know someone would do this is a psychological issue where you would want the other salesman to notice you, engage with you, and end with thinking he has persuaded you to a out of the blue upgrade just so you can get him to think you're extremely wealthy? I can't see any other reason for the smokes and mirrors.
t. I wasn't testing at all.I was there collecting my car from service dept. Same as 2 years ago
I'm not really planning to change my car for another 11 months or so. Same as 2 years ago
I'm always going to be tempted to move early by a car I'm already attracted by. Same as 2 years ago
I did change early last time because the salesman was interested. Unlike this time.
No interest. No sale.
Pixelpeep7r said:
Ares said:
With 5 mins to kill in the BMW main dealer showroom .
I am guessing they are used to dreamers/anoraks looking at the shiny performance cars wanting to show off their vast knowledge to the salesmen and enter into some kind of awkward nerd-chat.Maybe he was exceptionally good at spotting the fact that you were waiting for your own (reasonably new?) car and didn't want to waste his time chatting when he could be prospecting/catching up on warm leads?
Theophany said:
Ares said:
Theophany said:
If you're interested in buying the car surely you'd make that clear? I don't want to be convinced to buy a car and would be annoyed if I can't browse without being slobbered over. Does sound like he could've been a bit more personable in his response to your question, mind!
Not sure how i'd have made it clear, aside from a Dom Joly style announcement "I'd like to buy a car..."But the good salesman would surely sell, not just process an order/respond to an enquiry.
I can see where you're coming from, but I get the impression that car dealerships try to be a bit more like retail outlets now - you would walk straight out of a Bond Street shop if you couldn't browse without being pestered by a sales assistant. An uncle of mine runs a dealership in West London and this is how they've always operated - allow the customers to browse their stock and the salespeople are not there to 'sell' in the traditional way, but to inform potential customers of the benefits and drawbacks of each car, they're expected to know the full history of each car from memory etc. Obviously this approach would never work for car dealers where sales volume is crucial but perhaps for premium or 'aspirational' brands like BMW and Mercedes, the cars will tend to sell themselves anyway so the old ways of having to work for a sale are discouraged/not necessary/don't work as well these days.
The last two times I bought a car from a dealer, I approached them in the showroom to say I was interested in a particular car they had in stock. Much prefer it that way, personally!
Ironic that you use Bond Street shops as an example. We were there last Friday and every store we went into got us a polite "Good Afternoon Sir, can I be of any assistance...." then if we were still there 5 mins later, a second polite approach.
THAT is a good sales person!
RVVUNM said:
If everyone took off their Jonny big trousers attitude and talked to the salesman instead off expecting him to mind read then you may get what you want. OP, why didn't you just say you may be interested in changing your car for the M3?
Because the first 2 touch points showed zero interest? smithyithy said:
RVVUNM said:
If everyone took off their Jonny big trousers attitude and talked to the salesman instead off expecting him to mind read then you may get what you want. OP, why didn't you just say you may be interested in changing your car for the M3?
To be fair, I don't think it's even a case of him wanting the M3 or not, but that he asked a pretty simple, reasonable question and was shrugged off.Whether he's interested in the car or not, it doesn't exactly shout professionalism to respond to a potential customer that way.
james_gt3rs said:
Ares said:
james_gt3rs said:
Maybe they knew you didn't want to buy so didn't waste their time?
How did they know? Truth being, if he'd made me an offer that was good enough, I may have gone for it. M3 looking like what I fancy moving to next.
TREMAiNE said:
Ares said:
smithyithy said:
RVVUNM said:
If everyone took off their Jonny big trousers attitude and talked to the salesman instead off expecting him to mind read then you may get what you want. OP, why didn't you just say you may be interested in changing your car for the M3?
To be fair, I don't think it's even a case of him wanting the M3 or not, but that he asked a pretty simple, reasonable question and was shrugged off.Whether he's interested in the car or not, it doesn't exactly shout professionalism to respond to a potential customer that way.
Regardless of whether someone in your showroom actually has then intention of buying a car, as a salesman you have to try. You make the effort and at least be professional in what you're doing, not shrugging off simple questions.
Ares, I vaguely remember when you first ordered your 6 Series, didn't you walk into the showroom looking to buy a Mini for your wife? Ended up buying the 6 Series as well as the Mini (and effectively getting the Mini for free with discounts on the 6 IIRC)?
Seeing as your car was being serviced at that dealership, the sales guys should really have been prepared for you to be there and been ready to try to get you to upgrade, given that its been nearly 2 years. Its basic sales stuff. In addition to cold calling and taking inbound calls, I'm always sieving through my old customer records and inquiring to see if any are ready to upgrade their current setup - its not cars I sell, but its the same basic principle of selling and providing a service.
CS Garth said:
Or put another way. Who wants the car buying experience to be like buying a sofa?
Personally I think if you walk into a showroom and haven't got the gumption to walk up to a salesman and engage in a conversation you are a bit of a plonker.
Presumably if no one offers to sell you a pension, buy a house or apply for a job you just sit at home staring in to space. I'm not exactly pro car salesman but some people seem to expect spending some money to entitle them to be as obnoxious as possible.
Personally I think there is something effortlessly cool about being loaded and not acting like an entitled ar$e
So being baffled at lack of engagement is now seen as being obnoxious?Personally I think if you walk into a showroom and haven't got the gumption to walk up to a salesman and engage in a conversation you are a bit of a plonker.
Presumably if no one offers to sell you a pension, buy a house or apply for a job you just sit at home staring in to space. I'm not exactly pro car salesman but some people seem to expect spending some money to entitle them to be as obnoxious as possible.
Personally I think there is something effortlessly cool about being loaded and not acting like an entitled ar$e
What % of car sales go to people being tempted and offered a deal that was too good to miss when they were totally set on changing their car that day?
A quick tot up over my car buying history, and over three-quarters of my cars bought have been my being tempted by a great deal to persuade me to swap early. If thats indicative of most people, the CBA salesman, who will only wake up with the phrase "I'd like to buy a car", will miss out on 75% of potential sales.
If my sales guys only responded to inbound enquiries, they'd go hungry.
daemon said:
Ares said:
Here's the deposit receipt from the same scenario last year if that helps in the meantime.
So to clarify, is your definition of "not trying to sell" you the car you not getting offered it at a price you want?Thats quite different from you walking in to a showroom and being ignored by someone "not trying to sell" you a car.
walm said:
12lee said:
Ares said:
Aside from holding keys to a £70k+ 6-series that they supplied, I was in a Boss suit, Oliver Sweeney Shoes, wearing a Rolex and carrying a Mulberry Briefcase. If that doesn't make me prime (cliched) BMW territory I don't what else does 
I think you may have transposed a couple of letters within your forum name Someone actually wrote that about themselves.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff