Sales people who don’t want to sell
Discussion
Bear with me on this... I may at times rant... But seriously what is happening to sales people these days???
So, I need a new car. I mean, I am in the market for a new car and i’m going to buy one. I’m not kicking tyres and I’m not out to waste an afternoon doing test drives. I am pretty serious about this AND I want to move quickly...
I want a seven seat SUV and I’ve narrowed it down to 3 cars, Audi Q7, Volvo XC90, and Landrover Discovery.... So, I phone a couple of dealerships and make it clear just how serious I am about buying. I think you’re getting the picture...
The first I see, salesman at volvo, takes my details, even spends 1.5 hours with me showing me round the car and taking me for a test drive. I’m thinking this is going well, like the car, sales guy seems ok, I might actually buy this. He then says, “ to be honest I don’t want to sell you a car today. I have a sales event coming next week I’ll get you in on that and get you a big discount.” Jolly decent chap I thought. I said ok, exchanged contact details and off I went.
Later I even followed up with an email saying right, are we on for the sales event.
No reply...
I mailed again, no reply....
I gave him the benefit of the doubt, after all maybe he was ill or something.
So I pop today, a week after we’d met.
“Oh”, he says. ‘I got your mail about the car spec you want, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get that”. “What? You don’t want to sell me a new car”?
“Ehhh, I’m with a customer at the moment, did you make an appointment?”
“No, because you never got back to me”
“Right, if you want to wait I’ll try my best to squeeze you in, or maybe you could come back monday”?
“What? Monday? As in tomorrow? When I’m at work along with everyone else who has money to buy cars”???
“Tell you what, I’ll wait a while and see if you can ‘FIT’ us in”.... Starting to get rather irked...
So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Far more than I should have. But I’d travelled 20 miles and dragged the family with me, after all this is big deal as we haven’t bought a new car in donkeys’ years.
After 30 minutes, I’m getting bored, my wife is getting bored, and my kids are now VERY bored. My wife and I discuss it and agree he has no intention of fitting us in or making any attempt at lining his colleagues up to speak with us. In the end we turn and head for the door... He makes a vague attempt to recover the situation, I leave shaking my head saying “I can’t believe you guys just don’t want to sell cars...”
Audi, exactly the same. No call back after a week, no enthusiasm for the sale. I kind of expected this from them as life tends to be a bit easier for a company turning out 8m cars a year.
Landrover, what a joke. The girl in the showroom was pleasant enough but then said we couldn’t test drive the discovery as they had no cars... On a weekend??? WTAF???? “Come back in a week” she says....
What is it with these current sales people? Their sales muppetry would suggest they’d be better placed selling jeans in Primark never mind in supposed ‘Premium Brand’ car dealerships...
I thought this country is teetering on the edge of recession. Is the market so strong that they’ve all hit their numbers so don’t have to try very hard??? Every sales lead should be precious I’d have thought.
Is the car industry employing some Jedi sales methodology where a strong prospect gets ignored? Is this reverse psychology or simply muppetry???
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Is this part of their training, or indeed a sign of a lack of training?
Do I expect too much?
Am I doing something wrong in giving clear buy signals?
I have to say after this experience I’ll Just turn to CarWow. At least least my expectations will be set suitable low.
So, I need a new car. I mean, I am in the market for a new car and i’m going to buy one. I’m not kicking tyres and I’m not out to waste an afternoon doing test drives. I am pretty serious about this AND I want to move quickly...
I want a seven seat SUV and I’ve narrowed it down to 3 cars, Audi Q7, Volvo XC90, and Landrover Discovery.... So, I phone a couple of dealerships and make it clear just how serious I am about buying. I think you’re getting the picture...
The first I see, salesman at volvo, takes my details, even spends 1.5 hours with me showing me round the car and taking me for a test drive. I’m thinking this is going well, like the car, sales guy seems ok, I might actually buy this. He then says, “ to be honest I don’t want to sell you a car today. I have a sales event coming next week I’ll get you in on that and get you a big discount.” Jolly decent chap I thought. I said ok, exchanged contact details and off I went.
Later I even followed up with an email saying right, are we on for the sales event.
No reply...
I mailed again, no reply....
I gave him the benefit of the doubt, after all maybe he was ill or something.
So I pop today, a week after we’d met.
“Oh”, he says. ‘I got your mail about the car spec you want, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get that”. “What? You don’t want to sell me a new car”?
“Ehhh, I’m with a customer at the moment, did you make an appointment?”
“No, because you never got back to me”
“Right, if you want to wait I’ll try my best to squeeze you in, or maybe you could come back monday”?
“What? Monday? As in tomorrow? When I’m at work along with everyone else who has money to buy cars”???
“Tell you what, I’ll wait a while and see if you can ‘FIT’ us in”.... Starting to get rather irked...
So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Far more than I should have. But I’d travelled 20 miles and dragged the family with me, after all this is big deal as we haven’t bought a new car in donkeys’ years.
After 30 minutes, I’m getting bored, my wife is getting bored, and my kids are now VERY bored. My wife and I discuss it and agree he has no intention of fitting us in or making any attempt at lining his colleagues up to speak with us. In the end we turn and head for the door... He makes a vague attempt to recover the situation, I leave shaking my head saying “I can’t believe you guys just don’t want to sell cars...”
Audi, exactly the same. No call back after a week, no enthusiasm for the sale. I kind of expected this from them as life tends to be a bit easier for a company turning out 8m cars a year.
Landrover, what a joke. The girl in the showroom was pleasant enough but then said we couldn’t test drive the discovery as they had no cars... On a weekend??? WTAF???? “Come back in a week” she says....
What is it with these current sales people? Their sales muppetry would suggest they’d be better placed selling jeans in Primark never mind in supposed ‘Premium Brand’ car dealerships...
I thought this country is teetering on the edge of recession. Is the market so strong that they’ve all hit their numbers so don’t have to try very hard??? Every sales lead should be precious I’d have thought.
Is the car industry employing some Jedi sales methodology where a strong prospect gets ignored? Is this reverse psychology or simply muppetry???
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Is this part of their training, or indeed a sign of a lack of training?
Do I expect too much?
Am I doing something wrong in giving clear buy signals?
I have to say after this experience I’ll Just turn to CarWow. At least least my expectations will be set suitable low.
On the flip side we recently got a used cayenne from a porsche main dealer in bristol and the whole experience was brilliant.
They really wanted to sell us a car but were not pushy, no bulls
t, negotiated a deal we were both happy with. Prepped it so it basically looked like brand new, unveiled it under a sheet, gave us a load of porsche memrobelia, let us sit in and sniff round some expensive stuff. Didn't speak down to us and were all very very professional.
I was bowled over tbh.
Maybe that along with the massive gfv is why i am seeing cayennes and macans by the bucket load, literally!
Especially after i phoned a merc dealer who had the bad man accent and told me 'we don't discount amg bruv cos it devalues the brand'
They really wanted to sell us a car but were not pushy, no bulls
t, negotiated a deal we were both happy with. Prepped it so it basically looked like brand new, unveiled it under a sheet, gave us a load of porsche memrobelia, let us sit in and sniff round some expensive stuff. Didn't speak down to us and were all very very professional. I was bowled over tbh.
Maybe that along with the massive gfv is why i am seeing cayennes and macans by the bucket load, literally!
Especially after i phoned a merc dealer who had the bad man accent and told me 'we don't discount amg bruv cos it devalues the brand'
I’m just astonished at how utterly pathetic their approach is. No basic sales discipline, no appetite to sell, no empathy for a customer ho has clearly made an effort to be there, TWICE....
I have to say, it’s really shaken my opinion of Volvo. It actually reinforced a story I was told by a colleague who wanted to buy a XC90 when they first came out only to be told by the numptie rep that he couldn’t take his order as he was prioritising existing customers!!!
As for the Land Cruiser. Yes, I like the reliability of Toyota, my family have had the brand for years. However, I think it would be like having an ugly wife. She might be very reliable but every morning when you look at her you’d feel nothing but disappointment and regret at having chosen such an ugly brute.
(Sorry girls, same goes for ugly husbands...) 😉
I have to say, it’s really shaken my opinion of Volvo. It actually reinforced a story I was told by a colleague who wanted to buy a XC90 when they first came out only to be told by the numptie rep that he couldn’t take his order as he was prioritising existing customers!!!
As for the Land Cruiser. Yes, I like the reliability of Toyota, my family have had the brand for years. However, I think it would be like having an ugly wife. She might be very reliable but every morning when you look at her you’d feel nothing but disappointment and regret at having chosen such an ugly brute.
(Sorry girls, same goes for ugly husbands...) 😉
colin79666 said:
Yes I’ve had this and it is why I drive a Lexus CT 200h and not a VW Golf. Both VW dealerships I’ve been in were awful and made no effort to sell me a car. Lexus (ironically part of the same dealer group) were the complete opposite.
VW also disinterested here.Mum in law wants a new car. She is 66 so will pretty much buy what we suggest. Business purchase so needs to be on finance.
VW Golf a preferred choice followed by a Merc B Class.
Went to VW Ruislip, spent time witb a salesman who was pleasant enough but was not allowed by his manager to give me a finance quote or show me what specific cars and specs they can lay their hands on.
Now they’re calling me every couple of days.
Merc on the other hand couldn’t have been more helpful.
andyalan10 said:
RosscoPColtrane888 said:
‘I got your mail about the car spec you want, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get that”.
Salesman doesn't want to sell a car he hasn't got, and can't get hold of. What's wrong with that?I’ve decided it’s pointless trying to deal with large main dealers as a private individual. My (small) local Subaru dealer is brilliant, but other than that, I think I’ll just PCH anything else for 2 years at a time. It’s all just white goods, buy on price or total cost of ownership. Avoids a whole world of pain.
So far in my experience:
VW - couldn't care less, didn't stick to agreed time for test drive then tried to push a used diesel on me instead
Hyundai - couldn't care less
Jag - one dealer appalling one dealer excellent
Honda - good, bit pushy
Ford - very good
Summary: luck of the draw with the sales person but there does seem to be a trend with VW
VW - couldn't care less, didn't stick to agreed time for test drive then tried to push a used diesel on me instead
Hyundai - couldn't care less
Jag - one dealer appalling one dealer excellent
Honda - good, bit pushy
Ford - very good
Summary: luck of the draw with the sales person but there does seem to be a trend with VW
RosscoPColtrane888 said:
Am I doing something wrong in giving clear buy signals?
Are you telling salespeople that you're a cash buyer, or mentioning anything that would suggest to them that you're looking for a good deal?RosscoPColtrane888 said:
I have to say after this experience I’ll Just turn to CarWow. At least least my expectations will be set suitable low.
Bought our last new car (VW) through CarWow and the speed of initial response, and to follow-up questions, was an absolute revelation. Our nearest two dealers both quoted through it - one of whom we'd walked out of as the guy we were dealing with was completely stuck in 'script' mode.I would suggest not using it until you're pretty set on what you want though - if you make repeated enquiries they'll just think you're a time-waster.
I was surprised by receiving almost the opposite experience at a massive Renault dealership of all places this weekend.
Called to ask if they had a demonstrator of the model I was interested in. I was immediately put through to the sales manager who took my details down and passed them on to the guy who specialises in that model, 30 minutes later they had emailed me a full walk round video of their demonstrator listing all the options it had for my comparison. Turned up the next day, and when I told the receptionist my name she was expecting me despite not making an appointment. All the more impressive by the fact this place was massive and absolutely mobbed.
I have previously found attitudes at Audi and Mercedes in particular a bit arrogant.
Called to ask if they had a demonstrator of the model I was interested in. I was immediately put through to the sales manager who took my details down and passed them on to the guy who specialises in that model, 30 minutes later they had emailed me a full walk round video of their demonstrator listing all the options it had for my comparison. Turned up the next day, and when I told the receptionist my name she was expecting me despite not making an appointment. All the more impressive by the fact this place was massive and absolutely mobbed.
I have previously found attitudes at Audi and Mercedes in particular a bit arrogant.
RosscoPColtrane888 said:
I have to say after this experience I’ll Just turn to CarWow. At least least my expectations will be set suitable low.
I think part of the issue is that perhaps this is what happens even when a salesperson at a dealership offers the 'experience' you're after. I can imagine they spend a lot of time with customers who then ultimately go and try to beat down another dealer on the deal to win the order. Would you still go with the same salesperson if you shopped around and found they were 5-10% dearer on the same car that you could get elsewhere? That said, it does sound like the salesperson dropped the ball in terms of getting you to the event which might've resulted in you getting the discount he'd mentioned and him closing the order with you.Perhaps start with CarWow and then speak to the two dealers who come back with the lowest price? I don't recall exactly but I think you often end up dealing with a different part of the dealership when you go through CarWow so the process etc might be better.
Similar experience OP, after a new or nearly-new SUV and spent a month searching.
All dealerships were a painful, stressful and draining experience despite phone calls to book appointments before stepping foot in the showroom. The reluctance to spec up a factory order was shared with all the dealers, ramming a stock car with options we didn't want and/or in a color we didn't want down our throat and not showing the slightest bit of interest in searching for anything close to what we wanted. We made a couple of appointments through Carwow too and the attitude was the same, although these were all VW or Skoda dealers so could be a brand attitude with WLTP related production delays etc.
In the end I went through all the brokers with our desired spec and the experience with Coast 2 Coast Cars and their Skoda dealer was brilliant, certainly the future of new car purchases for me.
All dealerships were a painful, stressful and draining experience despite phone calls to book appointments before stepping foot in the showroom. The reluctance to spec up a factory order was shared with all the dealers, ramming a stock car with options we didn't want and/or in a color we didn't want down our throat and not showing the slightest bit of interest in searching for anything close to what we wanted. We made a couple of appointments through Carwow too and the attitude was the same, although these were all VW or Skoda dealers so could be a brand attitude with WLTP related production delays etc.
In the end I went through all the brokers with our desired spec and the experience with Coast 2 Coast Cars and their Skoda dealer was brilliant, certainly the future of new car purchases for me.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff