car sales- now a good time?

[Mc Lovin]

I've got an interview with Nissan, for a sales exec position, they have a good stock of new and used vehicles.

I've been wanting to get into this area of sales for a while but didn't have the experience untill now.

I currently Earn £15k basic, work 9-5:30 5 days a week.

If i take the Job at Nissan i'll get a laughable 12k, they reckon OTE is 45k....

My question is, the market being the way it is, is this a bad move considering i'd like a career in vehicle sales?

As i see it the second hand car market has picked up, they have a decent amount of used stock, Nissan are affordable and the new scrappage scheme could help new car sales thus providing me with a half decent wage.

Is this the case or am i being optimistic?

[escargot]

12k isn't a bad starting salary at a volume dealership. £45k is probably a touch optimistic though, certainly for the first few years anyway (unless you take to it like a duck to water).

[Mc Lovin]

escargot said:

12k isn't a bad starting salary at a volume dealership. £45k is probably a touch optimistic though, certainly for the first few years anyway (unless you take to it like a duck to water).

I've been in the trade for a few years, so its not like i'm a newbie. However i tend to agree, but even if i made £30k, it'd keep my head above the water.

I do worry about slow periods like around Christmas, but i guess thats when you fall back on savings if its particularly bad.

Hmmm....

[escargot]

Mc Lovin said:

escargot said:

12k isn't a bad starting salary at a volume dealership. £45k is probably a touch optimistic though, certainly for the first few years anyway (unless you take to it like a duck to water).

I've been in the trade for a few years, so its not like i'm a newbie. However i tend to agree, but even if i made £30k, it'd keep my head above the water.

I do worry about slow periods like around Christmas, but i guess thats when you fall back on savings if its particularly bad.

Hmmm....

Well yeah. Typically you should be squirreling money away during the good months so you can fall back on it in the bad months. However, in the history of car sales, I've never seen a salesman do it. Mostly it's just wked away on toys and then moaned about when times are hard. Such is life.

[Mc Lovin]

escargot said:

Mc Lovin said:

escargot said:

12k isn't a bad starting salary at a volume dealership. £45k is probably a touch optimistic though, certainly for the first few years anyway (unless you take to it like a duck to water).

I've been in the trade for a few years, so its not like i'm a newbie. However i tend to agree, but even if i made £30k, it'd keep my head above the water.

I do worry about slow periods like around Christmas, but i guess thats when you fall back on savings if its particularly bad.

Hmmm....

Well yeah. Typically you should be squirreling money away during the good months so you can fall back on it in the bad months. However, in the history of car sales, I've never seen a salesman do it. Mostly it's just wked away on toys and then moaned about when times are hard. Such is life.

I think i'll give this some serious consideration, see what comes up in the meantime, i dont want to shoot myself in the foot, Before i would have jumped at the chance, well 2 years ago i would have, now though, its not so straight forward!

[okgo]

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

[Mc Lovin]

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

[escargot]

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

The nature of car sales is such that it's a demanding job on your time. You'll never feel more frustrated than at 17:59 on a Friday evening when some tire kicking muppet comes into the dealership and keeps you tied up with inane bullst for another hour. The problem being, 99 out of 100 of them are messers, but you don't want to miss the 1 that will do a deal.

That said, I loved my time in the job and it taught me a hell of a lot of good stuff that's now proving useful to me.

[okgo]

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

The hours are dogst, and the money doesn't warrant the amount of stress/work that goes in.

However your hours sound worse than the ones I do. We do 5 days a week (every saturday but a day off in the week, mine is Thursday) and 1 in three Sundays (10-3) and for that we get a half day extra in the week, so it really is a 5 long day a week job here. Same hours as you mentioned.

But I used to work 8-8 6 days a week with fuxtons, so this was a stroll in the park..

[Mc Lovin]

okgo said:

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

The hours are dogst, and the money doesn't warrant the amount of stress/work that goes in.

However your hours sound worse than the ones I do. We do 5 days a week (every saturday but a day off in the week, mine is Thursday) and 1 in three Sundays (10-3) and for that we get a half day extra in the week, so it really is a 5 long day a week job here. Same hours as you mentioned.

But I used to work 8-8 6 days a week with fuxtons, so this was a stroll in the park..

Thats not so bad then, but still as you say alot of work for feck all basic, what position are you working toward?

escargot said:

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

The nature of car sales is such that it's a demanding job on your time. You'll never feel more frustrated than at 17:59 on a Friday evening when some tire kicking muppet comes into the dealership and keeps you tied up with inane bullst for another hour. The problem being, 99 out of 100 of them are messers, but you don't want to miss the 1 that will do a deal.

That said, I loved my time in the job and it taught me a hell of a lot of good stuff that's now proving useful to me.

what do you do now if you dont mind me asking?

I'm not shy when it comes to putting in the time i just want to make sure that its going to be worth my while in the long run, as its been said, its a lot of work for bugger all money to start with.

[okgo]

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

The hours are dogst, and the money doesn't warrant the amount of stress/work that goes in.

However your hours sound worse than the ones I do. We do 5 days a week (every saturday but a day off in the week, mine is Thursday) and 1 in three Sundays (10-3) and for that we get a half day extra in the week, so it really is a 5 long day a week job here. Same hours as you mentioned.

But I used to work 8-8 6 days a week with fuxtons, so this was a stroll in the park..

Thats not so bad then, but still as you say alot of work for feck all basic, what position are you working toward?

escargot said:

Mc Lovin said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

How do you find the hours? they want me to do 8:30am to 6pm 6 days a week, working weekends and i would get one sunday a month off.

I work in publishing at the moment, but have worked at used car dealers in the past when i was 18-20

The nature of car sales is such that it's a demanding job on your time. You'll never feel more frustrated than at 17:59 on a Friday evening when some tire kicking muppet comes into the dealership and keeps you tied up with inane bullst for another hour. The problem being, 99 out of 100 of them are messers, but you don't want to miss the 1 that will do a deal.

That said, I loved my time in the job and it taught me a hell of a lot of good stuff that's now proving useful to me.

what do you do now if you dont mind me asking?

I'm not shy when it comes to putting in the time i just want to make sure that its going to be worth my while in the long run, as its been said, its a lot of work for bugger all money to start with.

Not working to any position, probably leave in the summer. I wouldn't want to climb the slippery pole, to much bks/politics/pointless audits/training for me to put up with in the high positions, and the current for that matter.

[escargot]

I started out as a trainee salesman working at a franchised Jag dealership. Over a period of 6 years I progressed up to the point where I was running their top end used car operation as well as launching a finance & leasing operation for them. I suppose I was lucky in the sense that whilst it was a franchised dealership, it was a family owned business so there was scope for me to move into different areas and suggest new ideas without any corporate bureaucracy getting in the way.

It taught me the basics of business such as managing a bottom line, profit & loss, VAT and perhaps more importantly, doing a deal.

Now I own a recruitment firm. It's worlds away from the trade but there are some synergies and as above, the trade gave me a lot of transferable skills.

[Mc Lovin]

The jury really is out on this one, i am passionate about cars and in princable i'd like to work at a dealership selling them, I have a good overall knowlege of them and i think its easier to sell something you know inside out as it gives you more confidence.

However what puts me off is the hours and working for not much money. I hear that you have to start somewhere, but i'm already on a 15k basic, i dont want to go backward. I had thought i'd do it and give it my all to climb the ranks but the more i think about it, im not sure i want its right direction to go in.

I think because i hate my current job with a passion and i'm so confused about what i want to do i'm clutching at straws.

I'm happy to take a pay cut in order to train up and actually settle into a good career, but i just dont know where to go from here.

When i first started here, i was extremely enthusiastic and hungry to go places and do things, but i've done everything and more thats been asked of me, i've not been paid the comission ive been due and that and other things i've had to put up with have left me totaly pissed off with it.

[escargot]

Mc Lovin said:

When i first started here, i was extremely enthusiastic and hungry to go places and do things, but i've done everything and more thats been asked of me, i've not been paid the comission ive been due and that and other things i've had to put up with have left me totaly pissed off with it.

With the above in mind, is a drop in basic salary to £12k really a backwards step? Especially if you're getting st on as it is.

[okgo]

Forget the basic, its not really relevant, if you have to fall back on it that often you will be fired for not performing.

5k is a big difference but 2k is easily made up in commission.

[Mc Lovin]

escargot said:

Mc Lovin said:

When i first started here, i was extremely enthusiastic and hungry to go places and do things, but i've done everything and more thats been asked of me, i've not been paid the comission ive been due and that and other things i've had to put up with have left me totaly pissed off with it.

With the above in mind, is a drop in basic salary to £12k really a backwards step? Especially if you're getting st on as it is.

I guess not, but it depends which way you look at it. I have built up a large client base who i can draw on regularly to ensure i get the sales in, but i guess if i dont get paid what im due then thats no better.

However, if the car market gets worse, then i'm stuck on a lower basic with not much comission coming in, working longer hours and sacrificing my weekends.

I'd work all hours of everyday for a job which gave me a decent wage, infact i'd do anything it took, i dont realy care what it is and i'd be happy to do training courses on top etc.

I've applied for a lot of jobs but not had much joy, even though i feel that my CV is pretty good and i have had some good experience.

This company has given me experience and i have done things like registering and marketing books which i found interesting.

[stockhatcher]

my advise is

don't do it with this company. or nissan.

find yourself a family owned or independent dealership. the politics will still be there but you'll be able to work less hours. Typically it should be 5 days a week, then 6 days then back to 5 days and repeat. some of the better organised dealers give you a weekend off every other week. However the weekend is prime selling time.

being a car enthusiast does not really help in car sales. the vast majority of customers could not give a toss about the car they are about to buy. and unless your interest in cars stems in mpg's book capacitys and whether or not the car comes with air con, your knowledge will be useless.

Ford are currently a good bet, market share is increasing, and new fiesta and KA are flying out of the showrooms. However used cars makes more money.

avoid pendragon dealers


in summary there are plenty of jobs available in car sales, just find one where the hours, product and environment are right.

also as you are on a low basic, your job is relatively safe even in these hard times.

[MC99]

escargot said:

I started out as a trainee salesman working at a franchised Jag dealership. Over a period of 6 years I progressed up to the point where I was running their top end used car operation as well as launching a finance & leasing operation for them. I suppose I was lucky in the sense that whilst it was a franchised dealership, it was a family owned business so there was scope for me to move into different areas and suggest new ideas without any corporate bureaucracy getting in the way.

It taught me the basics of business such as managing a bottom line, profit & loss, VAT and perhaps more importantly, doing a deal.

Now I own a recruitment firm. It's worlds away from the trade but there are some synergies and as above, the trade gave me a lot of transferable skills.

I can vouch for doing something similar - worked for ford selling cars with no basic at all - did it for 2 years; taught be alot about hard work; (1 day off every 2 weeks), doing deals that work for you and meet the target that gets you paid the most (like selling from stock to hit month qtr targets and getting the extra commish etc.)

This was many years ago in the early-mid 90s, but I learned lots and I still use some of the lessons in completely unrelated industries where earnings are far greater..thankfully!

[okgo]

swerni said:

okgo said:

Had same thoughts as you this time last year, got a job at MINI, been doing it since.

I must say it does get boring quite quickly, but then again that might just be me.

What have you been doing before?

12k is ok, I am on that, but some places will do up to 15..

Portsmouth Road???

Cobham.

[pgrhodes]

12K basic is about the average at most car dealerships (main dealers anyway) and virtually all of these position state an OTE of about £45K. Usually in really £45 is not achieveable but £30K plus certainly is.

Try to negotiate a guarantee for a month or two for you find your feet. Try to approach the jobs with the view that you are self employed and you will be sucessfull. Product knowledge is useful, but no where as important as being able to make any customer feel welcomed, people will buy from people they like, always have always will.

Also as said previously, avoid Pendragon dealerships!

Good luck