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

[Thankyou4calling]

DonkeyApple said:

Don't panic. You said Birmingham. No one is going to be envious.

True. I was a bit concerned at leaving my car outside.

[V8A*ndy]

vikingaero said:

Butter Face said:

Only makes you look like a muppet.

We (car sales people) have to have deals approved by managers, part exchanges valued, finance rates checked etc. Sometimes it takes a bit longer than others, never leave a customer more than 5 minutes alone though.

But conversely it is a very common sales tactic to have the salesman trot back and forth pretending to authorise a deal JUST FOR YOU because he's your mate...

At a dealership I visited once, the sales guy trotted off for a chat with the sales manager. I went to the loo while he was gone and one of the windows was open and he was standing beside the window out the back having a fag talking to some other guy about football.

[daemon]

Thankyou4calling said:

[quote=buyer&seller]

Bull St

Bit unusual to have two Rolls Royce dealers 100yards apart.

You'd think a prestige car like that would have a broader appeal, still, what do I know.

A bloke heard that Michael Caine said it 40 years ago so it must gave happened.

It does seem to have happened - all bar the 100 yards apart

http://www.thinkinghomebusiness.com/2012/03/09/the...

[unrepentant]

djdest said:

I grew up with large amounts of cash hidden around the house in the 80's and 90's, my dad has his own building company and often got paid in cash for extensions and big jobs.
I remember when we picked up his brand new Audi 80 quattro in '88 it was paid for in full with cash, and the 80 Sport in '86 before that was too come to think of it

Worst "my Dad was a tax cheat" line ever.

[Bebee]

Was you left alone?
I ask because they sometimes listen to a couple talking about the car and finance etc, they use a listening device at the sales desk and go off claiming to talk to the manager but are in fact listening to your conversation.

[djdest]

unrepentant said:

Worst "my Dad was a tax cheat" line ever.

I don't really feel that I have to justify my Dad's business that he ran very successfully all his life, thanks for the disrespectful comment

[unrepentant]

djdest said:

unrepentant said:

Worst "my Dad was a tax cheat" line ever.

I don't really feel that I have to justify my Dad's business that he ran very successfully all his life, thanks for the disrespectful comment

It's easy to be successful when you avoid VAT and income tax by taking cash for jobs and not declaring it. It's not just your Dad but many in the building trade who do it. I read somewhere that if all grey market cash was declared the base rate of income tax could be reduced by 10 points. So as someone who spent 20 years paying top rate tax in the UK yeah, it pisses me off when people cheat the system.

And I'm sure you're going to respond by saying that you're old Dad declared every penny but still paid in used notes for his cars. My turn to

[Riktoid]

unrepentant said:

djdest said:

unrepentant said:

Worst "my Dad was a tax cheat" line ever.

I don't really feel that I have to justify my Dad's business that he ran very successfully all his life, thanks for the disrespectful comment

It's easy to be successful when you avoid VAT and income tax by taking cash for jobs and not declaring it. It's not just your Dad but many in the building trade who do it. I read somewhere that if all grey market cash was declared the base rate of income tax could be reduced by 10 points. So as someone who spent 20 years paying top rate tax in the UK yeah, it pisses me off when people cheat the system.

And I'm sure you're going to respond by saying that you're old Dad declared every penny but still paid in used notes for his cars. My turn to

Meanwhile a cruise missiles costs a million quid a pop.

[buyer&seller]

Sheepshanks said:

Blimey - not only are the streets of London paved with gold but there's a Rolls Royce dealer every 100 yards.

To be fair back in the 80's and early 90's there were several London dealers, Jack Barclay on Berkeley Square, Mann Egerton on Dover St, H R Owen in South Kensington and the factory had their own showroom on Conduit St, going back further there may have been more, I don't know London that well but they were all close together. The rest of it is nonsense though.

[CS Garth]

Back on topic I am surprised by the number of people who appear to have researched their choice of car, set out to buy it, and then allowed their emotive response to the salesman prevent them from buying said car and thus buying what I assume must have been their second choice.

I'm not sure this makes the buyer the winner here, a small victory over some smarm bag results in you driving round in your no 2 car for however long. Personally if I didn't like he salesman I'd just said I'd love to buy a car from you the garage but I'm not feeling the chemistry can I deal with someone else. This marks the salesman down and he doesn't get commission but you get the car you actually want.

[Hyde]

Bebee said:

Was you left alone?
I ask because they sometimes listen to a couple talking about the car and finance etc, they use a listening device at the sales desk and go off claiming to talk to the manager but are in fact listening to your conversation.

Think this happened to me quite a few years ago
Salesman trotted of to speak to his boss, my Wife and I were left at his desk
We discussed what deals we would consider accepting, with some quite specific details (cost to change and particulars we wanted included in the deal)

Salesman returns and offers us a deal spot on to what my Wife and I had finalised in our discussion
We were smitten with the car and happy with the deal
It was only on the way home from the dealer we started to question what had happened

[CS Garth]

Back on topic I am surprised by the number of people who appear to have researched their choice of car, set out to buy it, and then allowed their emotive response to the salesman prevent them from buying said car and thus buying what I assume must have been their second choice.

I'm not sure this makes the buyer the winner here, a small victory over some smarm bag results in you driving round in your no 2 car for however long. Personally if I didn't like he salesman I'd just said I'd love to buy a car from you the garage but I'm not feeling the chemistry can I deal with someone else. This marks the salesman down and he doesn't get commission but you get the car you actually want.

[deadslow]

V8A*ndy said:

vikingaero said:

Butter Face said:

Only makes you look like a muppet.

We (car sales people) have to have deals approved by managers, part exchanges valued, finance rates checked etc. Sometimes it takes a bit longer than others, never leave a customer more than 5 minutes alone though.

But conversely it is a very common sales tactic to have the salesman trot back and forth pretending to authorise a deal JUST FOR YOU because he's your mate...

At a dealership I visited once, the sales guy trotted off for a chat with the sales manager. I went to the loo while he was gone and one of the windows was open and he was standing beside the window out the back having a fag talking to some other guy about football.

Yes, but if you walked out at this point, apparently you would look like a muppet

[ATG]

If the salesman was left to do the deal himself he may just need one more deal to reach target and earn a big chunk more commision, so he'll agree to anything just to get a sale and reach that target. Therefore with few exceptions the sales manager has to be part of the decision making process.


[/quote]

So the salesman's incentives are not in line with those of the business as a whole? What a shambles.

[daemon]

ATG said:

So the salesman's incentives are not in line with those of the business as a whole? What a shambles.

No, because the business may take a quarterly view or a yearly view to profits, whereas salesmen are paid monthly?

Seems fairly logical to me?

[ATG]

daemon said:

No, because the business may take a quarterly view or a yearly view to profits, whereas salesmen are paid monthly?

Seems fairly logical to me?

I don't think you've really thought this through.

[33q]

When I bought my current car there was a little bit of to and fro....so I suggested the Sales Manager joined us. He did. I knew I was close to the limit that was possible .... but I got a few extra pounds off. £100 is a £100 in my book. Everybody was happy.

Deals change day by day and whatever is anybody's best price today may change up or down tomorrow.

[vikingaero]

CS Garth said:

Back on topic I am surprised by the number of people who appear to have researched their choice of car, set out to buy it, and then allowed their emotive response to the salesman prevent them from buying said car and thus buying what I assume must have been their second choice.

I'm not sure this makes the buyer the winner here, a small victory over some smarm bag results in you driving round in your no 2 car for however long. Personally if I didn't like he salesman I'd just said I'd love to buy a car from you the garage but I'm not feeling the chemistry can I deal with someone else. This marks the salesman down and he doesn't get commission but you get the car you actually want.

If you have a choice of 2 cars that are so close together that there is no real No.2 choice - for example a 320d or a 220CDI then yes I would let the behaviour of a salesman dictate which car I purchase. If a dealership works on a smarmy level then the service department could be equally bad. If a salesman was professional then I would be inclined to think the service department was equally so.

[daemon]

ATG said:

daemon said:

No, because the business may take a quarterly view or a yearly view to profits, whereas salesmen are paid monthly?

Seems fairly logical to me?

I don't think you've really thought this through.

Its hardly a shambles though is it? Very few salesmen are going to want to be bonused once a year. They are thus bonused monthly on targets which are aligned to the business quarterly / yearly targets.

Its up to the people in between to manage that - called "sales managers" i think - to ensure that happens in a structure way that works for the business, the salesman and the customer.

[Sheepshanks]

vikingaero said:

CS Garth said:

Back on topic I am surprised by the number of people who appear to have researched their choice of car, set out to buy it, and then allowed their emotive response to the salesman prevent them from buying said car and thus buying what I assume must have been their second choice.

I'm not sure this makes the buyer the winner here, a small victory over some smarm bag results in you driving round in your no 2 car for however long. Personally if I didn't like he salesman I'd just said I'd love to buy a car from you the garage but I'm not feeling the chemistry can I deal with someone else. This marks the salesman down and he doesn't get commission but you get the car you actually want.

If you have a choice of 2 cars that are so close together that there is no real No.2 choice - for example a 320d or a 220CDI then yes I would let the behaviour of a salesman dictate which car I purchase. If a dealership works on a smarmy level then the service department could be equally bad. If a salesman was professional then I would be inclined to think the service department was equally so.

Or customers could just go to another dealer for the same marque - a lot of people visit two or three before purchasing. For example where I live there's five (six until recently) VW dealers within easy reach. Or buy from broker.