OPC salesmen - why?
Discussion
poorcardealer said:
Im all for looking at/valueing a customers p/ex before spending hours with him/her and doing test drives etc............what if the customer has negative equity of £10K that hes unaware of, is he in a position to clear this, he may think his car is worth 40K when its worth 30K, I think if you dont treat the customer like hes a fool, be professional, befriend him and be interested the majority of proper customers dont mind some direct qualifying questions.
Usually the ones who do mind are either stress heads or they have a dark secret to hide. (these comments are aimed at nobody by the way)
I'm not talking about asking questions before 'spending hours'...I'm talking about asking questions before they're prepared to open the bloody car door to let you find out whether you're interested in buying the thing.
While you're here...About a dozen times the following has happened...
1. Ring/Call in to enquire about an advertised car
2. Salesman tells me car is sold but they get others in just like it all the time.
3. Takes my details and says he'll contact me when they have something
4. Nothing!!
2 weeks later I see them spending money advertising what I want...no phone call. As I said, this happens ALL THE TIME.
Conclusion?
1. Selling these cars is incredibly easy...not something I've found when I come to sell!
2. The're totaly incompetent.
Or is there something else that I don't understand. Genuine question.
JDH1 said:
[quote=poorcardealer]
Or is there something else that I don't understand. Genuine question.
The company is operating below its efficient level and failing to maximise revenue.
It may be due to poor salesmen but in all honesty, these chaps have been interviewed, screened and vetted prior to employment so there is a good arguement that this is not the case.
With nearly all sales based operations any slack on performance can be linked directly to the management structure.
Even good salesment need incentivisation and while 'commission' is the easy and obvious route it is a wasted tool if not accompanied by proper management support. A bad salesmen can learn to sell if given the correct support.
Very often salesmen in most industries have a tendency towards natural idleness, as can be seen if you study their school reports
Very few have the huge inner drive that is needed to go it alone. The vast majority require ongoing support and training.
If a salesman is taking your details and saying that someone is going to call you back then he is passing the first test of sales but if you do not get the call back then he is failing the second and most important test which is the management of client expectations. When salesmen fail at this stage it is not down to a lack of ability but due to a weak management structure.
If this is enherrent on a sales floor then this is a company to sell the arse out of if listed or is ripe for buying and re-structuring.
For the people who run the business it is simply remedied by reviewing the role and performance of management. Usually not possible as it is themselves
superlightr said:
like most jobs, time -v- work load/pressure.
early bird gets the worm.
you (anyone) has to make the running to get the best anything, car, house, etc. Thats life.
Sorry, I don't understand. Are you saying that these cars are in such high demand that it's not in the salesmans interest to pick up a phone, dial it, and offer it to someone who says he wants it? And that's why they simply can't be arsed?
Seems a bit odd to me, that. I mean, why bother to spend money on advertising if that's the case.
I have another theory...that if car dealerships didn't exist, 50% of the salesmen would find themselves wielding a brush somewhere. I mean....what else would they be good for?
For what it's worth, some of the independents are not so great either. At the beginning of this year, I scraped together the necessary for a late model 993, and went searching for a car via e-mail and telephone calls to all of the independent dealers in the south east. The only dealer that bothered to respond and chased me regularly to see if I was still looking and to tell me about new stock was Paragon, so guess who I ended up buying a car from? (cheers Chris!)
As Chris said when I told him how frustrating this lack of interest was, "crap service comes as standard these days!"
As Chris said when I told him how frustrating this lack of interest was, "crap service comes as standard these days!"
Re: chasing people with cars I actually don`t like doing this. I feel it`s a bit pushy. What we do is make sure our shop front (ie the website) is bang up to date and current, that way people can view at their leisure without feeling pressured then if and when they feel ready make the step contact us.
In terms of the method of contact I wouldn`t recommend email. Certainly from us it usually results in a reply that invites the recipient to call on the phone. Emails are such a long winded way of transfering information. It could take a day of exchanged emails to replicate a 3 minute phone call.
It still comes down to putting in effort as a buyer.
That said I would never want to defend the main dealers over the warm and glowing specialist network !!!
Henry
PS. need technical help publishing video footage (Porsche related). (Am going to post new topic).
In terms of the method of contact I wouldn`t recommend email. Certainly from us it usually results in a reply that invites the recipient to call on the phone. Emails are such a long winded way of transfering information. It could take a day of exchanged emails to replicate a 3 minute phone call.
It still comes down to putting in effort as a buyer.
That said I would never want to defend the main dealers over the warm and glowing specialist network !!!
Henry
PS. need technical help publishing video footage (Porsche related). (Am going to post new topic).
THe salesman who doesnt follow you up with news of new stock which would interest you potentially, or the salesman who doesnt keep in touch anyway is a crap salesman who wouldnt last a week in a well run dealership.........bad management on the part of the sales manager who should be keeping on top of his salesman and asking the questions in the morning sales meeting.
There are some real muppets work in the prestige brand dealerships now.
A really good salesman used to earn 50-75K PA.....now they earn 35K for selling the same amount of cars..thats why all the good ones now do other things.
Warrenpeace said:
At the beginning of this year, I scraped together the necessary for a late model 993
Same with me when I had the becessary for a 993. Went to local OPC.
'I'd like a 993. Can you give me a call if you get any trade ins' - Let's not forget although it's an 8 year old car we're talking newish Boxster money even now.
nothing
Called Autoclassica helpful but nothing I wanted.
Month or so later get a call on my mobile from autoclassica. Too late ..... I'm at Autofarm, I've got a pen in my hand and under the cobra like gaze of Josh Sadler.
Local OPC have 2 or 3 cars in the next few weeks no calls from them. F
k 'em I'm sorted. So many of the people in this thread have had money burning a hole in their pocket for the car they desire (whether it be a 993 or a GT2) and feel they're being ignored.
Do we have to wear a T shirt saying 'I want it I've got the money'. Like I said in my first post it really makes you wonder how many time wasters the salesmen have to cope with.
Cue a few punter related anecdotes I think.
T
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