The Car Salesman's Thread
Discussion
I've worked with good and bad progress chasers.
The good ones are organised and invaluable they need to be cherished. The bad ones are worse than useless, too many skiving opportunities. (always too busy to actually do anything) You may as well look after everything yourself because at least you know it's done.
The good ones are organised and invaluable they need to be cherished. The bad ones are worse than useless, too many skiving opportunities. (always too busy to actually do anything) You may as well look after everything yourself because at least you know it's done.
TVR1 said:
But it's ok to call us a bunch of con artists, liers and whatever, just because we happen to be in the motor trade, with no expectation of a reply? This isn't 'let's abuse the motor trade thread'.
Sometimes, customers are indeed wrong, totally unreasonable and beyond help. I will agree that shady/underhand things still go on but not with or from me. I think that most of 'the trade' posters on here are the same. That's sort of why we have lasted in this business. Ethics, a fair deal and looking after our customers as best we can.
Not sure I've called you (collectively) con artists/liars etc? If that's the impression I've given, my apologies. I've had appalling experiences with the motor trade, but equally, I've had just as poor a time with architects, solicitors, and bankers. Sometimes, customers are indeed wrong, totally unreasonable and beyond help. I will agree that shady/underhand things still go on but not with or from me. I think that most of 'the trade' posters on here are the same. That's sort of why we have lasted in this business. Ethics, a fair deal and looking after our customers as best we can.
And you're right, some customers are either too thick to be protected or have utterly unreasonable expectations about the value of their minging trade-in. I'd hate to deal with them.
The bottom line is, unfortunately, I just don't like dealing with the motor trade. Far too many salesmen seem to know very little about what they're selling beyond what's in the brochure. There are, of course, exceptions - some salesmen have a truly encyclopaedic knowledge of their product; as an example, Zwolf has displayed geekery (on other threads) that I couldn't even begin to approach, and I'm a dyed-in-the-wool car fanatic. I tip my hat, sir.
Maybe I expect too much; when I worked at Ford I was amazed at the number of people who really didn't care what we produced, who weren't excited at the difference between the Puma's beautiful 1.7 engine and the tedious bits of iron 'powering' the Escort at the time. So maybe my expectations are simply too high, and a deep knowledge of financing and GAP options are what's really needed to be a successful car salesman. Maybe it's as well that those selling the cars are not, in the main, emotionally attached to the product they sell.
The real difficulty is that, for the PHer at least, buying a car is an emotional decision, and as enthusiasts we want that same level of enthusiasm to be displayed, rather than a relentless attempt to flog us more add-ons which are, in many cases, either unwanted or of limited value. The best salesmen won't do this, of course, but those really good ones are not representative of the norm, at least in my experience over the last thirty years.
HTP99 said:
1) Forgetting to book the car in for a valet to the point of the valeters refusing to clean it as once again they are being asked to clean it as the customer "is here".
2) Doing a handover with the car still on the ramps in the workshop.
3) Forgetting they have a handover until the customer turns up.
4) Popping out just before a handover leaving the customer sitting around waiting for them.
5) Even though a certain salesman has made his own deal file checklist as he is always forgetting to do certain paperwork he still forgets bits.
6) Fuelling the car at handover with the customer in the car.
I had the pleasure of experiencing several of these exciting and fun developments when collecting Mrs Whoami's new RR last month.2) Doing a handover with the car still on the ramps in the workshop.
3) Forgetting they have a handover until the customer turns up.
4) Popping out just before a handover leaving the customer sitting around waiting for them.
5) Even though a certain salesman has made his own deal file checklist as he is always forgetting to do certain paperwork he still forgets bits.
6) Fuelling the car at handover with the customer in the car.
Point 6 was a real highlight.
Well my 9am's been and gone. Third viewing and second test drive over a fortnight and no deal, because we won't take £1k off a £9k car and looking at an £8k one is "pointless" with their £8k budget.
"Goodbye then".
Of course the 9am appointment set up for my colleage has failed to pitch up. So having given it an hour he called them to discover that they haven't made it in as they're now going away for a long weekend - which presumably they didn't know about at 6:15 last night. Yes, they are Motab customers as it turns out...
"Goodbye then".
Of course the 9am appointment set up for my colleage has failed to pitch up. So having given it an hour he called them to discover that they haven't made it in as they're now going away for a long weekend - which presumably they didn't know about at 6:15 last night. Yes, they are Motab customers as it turns out...
texasjohn said:
Do you ever say anything to no-shows or is it not the 'done thing' as far as the boss/dealership policy is concerned?
Always wondered why it acceptable practice to either:a)just not turn up with no phone call
b)turn up late, with no phone call
c)turn up an hour early, without checking that is fine
Pisses me off no end, you wouldn't do any of the above at the Drs. or Dentist.
I don't say anything to no shows or people who rock up late, it's not worth it but it is bloody rude and can really screw you over, a simple "im not coming" phone call isn't hard and nothing worse than waiting for someone who doesn't show and whilst waiting someone walks in and deals with your colleague.
I have only once lost it with a customer, he hung up on me after giving me all the right signals when infront of me, after a bit of chasing I got him on the phone and he subsequently hung up, I rang back and left a rather stern message on his voicemail letting him know exactly how I felt.
Probably the wrong thing to do but it made me feel better.
Edited by HTP99 on Saturday 13th October 10:22
Zwolf said:
Well my 9am's been and gone. Third viewing and second test drive over a fortnight and no deal, because we won't take £1k off a £9k car and looking at an £8k one is "pointless" with their £8k budget.
To be honest they are only after just over 10% off? If its a super keenly priced car I take your point but without knowing that, they might have been reasonable in asking for such a discount 
HTP99 said:
I have only once lost it with a customer, he hung up on me after giving me all the right signals when infront of me, after a bit of chasing I got him on the phone and he subsequently hung up, I rang back and left a rather stern message on his voicemail letting him know exactly how I felt.
Probably the wrong thing to do but it made me feel better.
It's a lot easier in my line of work (defence industry), if the customer fails to meet their obligations we're usually quite upfront about it; professional, but frank.Probably the wrong thing to do but it made me feel better.
It works both ways though.
Fox- said:
Zwolf said:
Well my 9am's been and gone. Third viewing and second test drive over a fortnight and no deal, because we won't take £1k off a £9k car and looking at an £8k one is "pointless" with their £8k budget.
To be honest they are only after just over 10% off? If its a super keenly priced car I take your point but without knowing that, they might have been reasonable in asking for such a discount Fox- said:
To be honest they are only after just over 10% off? If its a super keenly priced car I take your point but without knowing that, they might have been reasonable in asking for such a discount
It's a used Fiesta, margins for such are slim enough before you've agreed to take a penny off. It is keenly priced - that's why they called up about it in the first place.It could be up at £9,999 and we could therefore give £1k off it, but then it'd be grossly out of kilter with the rest of the market for them and as such, we wouldn't open a door on it.
That we have five leads on it across three of us today indicates that it is indeed keenly priced as it is.
Would you give away 11% to make or lose 1% just for the sake of doing a deal? Especially when we're not talking about a car running up to 90 days and that has other active interest on it?
Not every offer a customer makes is viable and when even the halfway point between their low-ball offer and our offer isn't doable, sometimes you do just let them walk away.
My prediction is that it'll go this weekend to a fresh walk-in for a better deal than has been offered to us so far...
Edited by Zwolf on Saturday 13th October 10:57
Fair enough - just felt it needed more context thats all. On a Fiesta I can see your point. I've always aimed for 10% when buying and get it, too, but I tend to be after cars that probably have more margin and that dealers want to get rid of rather than nearly new Fiestas which I'd imagine almost never hang around past 90 days?
E31Shrew said:
Great thread!
I retired at the end of 2011, but being relatively 'young' [ 53 ] got incredibly bored. Had sold a few large screens to a local MINI dealership and approached the DP to see whether he had any vacancies.
So from March this year have been Progress Chaser! Enjoying every minute of the job, must walk 10-15 miles each day, but great fun
Do most other dealerships have such bods or do you sales guys handle all the SMART repairs,taxing, DVLA visits,refuelling,driving, and other assorted menial tasks yourself?
Also looking to improve the handover diary on the computer system. Current one is basically a word doc that is visible on the 6 sales bods computers. Are there any 'off the shelf' systems that anyone is aware of?
Great to read all the stories, and amazed at the relentless nature of this industry. I sold electronic chips for 20 years, and then AV systems, but have never experienced an industry, such as the motor trade, for the sheer non stop nature of each and every month!
Surely most properly run sales environments are broadly similar - the pressure of the target etc.I retired at the end of 2011, but being relatively 'young' [ 53 ] got incredibly bored. Had sold a few large screens to a local MINI dealership and approached the DP to see whether he had any vacancies.
So from March this year have been Progress Chaser! Enjoying every minute of the job, must walk 10-15 miles each day, but great fun
Do most other dealerships have such bods or do you sales guys handle all the SMART repairs,taxing, DVLA visits,refuelling,driving, and other assorted menial tasks yourself?
Also looking to improve the handover diary on the computer system. Current one is basically a word doc that is visible on the 6 sales bods computers. Are there any 'off the shelf' systems that anyone is aware of?
Great to read all the stories, and amazed at the relentless nature of this industry. I sold electronic chips for 20 years, and then AV systems, but have never experienced an industry, such as the motor trade, for the sheer non stop nature of each and every month!
I have just been reading about Goldman Sachs bonus policy. Basically they wanted to separate the bonus payable from the $$ generated by the trader, thinking that if someone understood the bonus system and got to, say $5m bonus with a couple of months left to run, they might not 'push the envelope' much more in those couple of months and that might result in the bank missing out on much bigger returns. Quite interesting.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 13th October 11:07
HTP99 said:
texasjohn said:
Do you ever say anything to no-shows or is it not the 'done thing' as far as the boss/dealership policy is concerned?
Always wondered why it acceptable practice to either:a)just not turn up with no phone call
b)turn up late, with no phone call
c)turn up an hour early, without checking that is fine
Pisses me off no end, you wouldn't do any of the above at the Drs. or Dentist.
I don't say anything to no shows or people who rock up late, it's not worth it but it is bloody rude and can really screw you over, a simple "im not coming" phone call isn't hard and nothing worse than waiting for someone who doesn't show and whilst waiting someone walks in and deals with your colleague.
I have only once lost it with a customer, he hung up on me after giving me all the right signals when infront of me, after a bit of chasing I got him on the phone and he subsequently hung up, I rang back and left a rather stern message on his voicemail letting him know exactly how I felt.
Probably the wrong thing to do but it made me feel better.
Edited by HTP99 on Saturday 13th October 10:22
What about when it happens the other way though?
In the same way that once salespeople have hit target for the month and top banded commission, deliveries will start to slip over into the following month as a headstart.
11am is here, so the living dead should be here soon, followed in about 2 hours time by all the buyers in the world that will outnumber the sales staff 2:1 for a couple of hours...
11am is here, so the living dead should be here soon, followed in about 2 hours time by all the buyers in the world that will outnumber the sales staff 2:1 for a couple of hours...
Zwolf said:
In the same way that once salespeople have hit target for the month and top banded commission, deliveries will start to slip over into the following month as a headstart.
11am is here, so the living dead should be here soon, followed in about 2 hours time by all the buyers in the world that will outnumber the sales staff 2:1 for a couple of hours...
The guy running the GS Prop trading team in the 90's reckons it was worth tens of millions of dollars to the bank...11am is here, so the living dead should be here soon, followed in about 2 hours time by all the buyers in the world that will outnumber the sales staff 2:1 for a couple of hours...
I think there is something to learn from that in every sales environment. After all, more poke made overall means a bigger bonus pot overall. That's another thing about GS - never mean at paying for performance
More profit overall pays sales and general managers more bonus, not salespeople.
Therefore there's always a balance to be struck as whilst if I do 17 deals one month and 13 the next against targets of 15 - it pays me to move two over.
The profits by deal are unchanged whichever month they're invoiced in, but my pay for the two months could be markedly different.
Of course that increased pay is also an increased departmental cost for the same profit, hence the monthly "pay review" and haggle session with managers...
Therefore there's always a balance to be struck as whilst if I do 17 deals one month and 13 the next against targets of 15 - it pays me to move two over.
The profits by deal are unchanged whichever month they're invoiced in, but my pay for the two months could be markedly different.
Of course that increased pay is also an increased departmental cost for the same profit, hence the monthly "pay review" and haggle session with managers...
Zwolf said:
Of course that increased pay is also an increased departmental cost for the same profit, hence the monthly "pay review" and haggle session with managers...
I'm glad to be out of that, my MD trusts me enough to add up what I'm owed, write myself a cheque and he signs it, job jobbed.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff