The Car Salesman's Thread
Discussion
Some may slate us, but we need a thread! Be it advice, rants, the old man that just comes in for a chat, funny stories, awkward customers, awkward salesmen even!!
Every dealer knows the old man that just comes in for a chat, our one came in yesterday and had crashed his car, not his fault apparantly and told one of our sales girls that he would expect it of her, a woman, because according to him, they always crash!! Geniusly sexist!! He's also been in and insulted waiting service customers before with his old fashioned views, the comedy value of this guy is immense!
Anyway, I'm sure everyone will have something to give to this thread.............
Every dealer knows the old man that just comes in for a chat, our one came in yesterday and had crashed his car, not his fault apparantly and told one of our sales girls that he would expect it of her, a woman, because according to him, they always crash!! Geniusly sexist!! He's also been in and insulted waiting service customers before with his old fashioned views, the comedy value of this guy is immense!
Anyway, I'm sure everyone will have something to give to this thread.............
T5R+ said:
Can you gents/ladies drop a few more of these types of stories into the thread.
Back on topic, I was in today, absolutely non stop, we shut at 4 and I didn't leave till nearly 5. Was a productive day with plenty to go on for the week ahead but no deals on the board, it's going to be busy this week, my diary is filling up very nicely. How did everyone else get on today?
robsco said:
Well today was a better day. Redeemed myself for yesterday's failures by knocking a couple of deals in. Also got a very promising lead to follow up tomorrow on a new MiTo. Couldn't close her today as she's wanting to drive a Mazda 2 for comparison... sounds like we're home and dry. Very attractive lady too. 
Sounds like you'll sell a stunner to a stunner! Please provide contact details....... 
LHD said:
When i worked for Ford i discovered a mystery shopper quite early on (unusual for a sales controller to do the demo but all my guys were tied up)
Casually dropped into the conversation 'so how long have you been mystery shopping?' and the guy didn't know quite what to say.
He'd mystery shopped me at Renault a number of years previously but didn't remember me.
Funnily enough Lorien never sent us that film.
Brilliant!! I'm yet to be mystery shopped here. Funny what was said about successful salespeople getting low scores, one of the guys here was 'let go' at the beginning of December for poor performance, a couple of weeks later we get his mystery shop score through, 100%!
daydotz said:
would a decent part ex work in the customers favour say a 12month old polo 5k on the clock plenty of options
or would they be suspicious why the customer wants to change it so soon and devalue it accordingly
its sounds retailable
It certainly is retailable, I would obviously ask why they want to change as I do with all of my customers, but it certainly wouldn't raise suspicion. We have a couple of customers that change every 6 months, more money than sense but it's more than welcome!or would they be suspicious why the customer wants to change it so soon and devalue it accordingly
its sounds retailable
Edited by daydotz on Tuesday 10th January 18:11
A.J.M said:
Question for you lot. How are the car sales holding up.
RAC visit tonight has confirmed my mums car is mechanically buggered beyond likely enconomic repair, so we need to get a new one.
My idea is a new fiesta zetec in bright red with nice alloys as she's owned the current car for 9 years so my thinking is, get something nice and decently equiped as she will have it for similar time again. She doesnt need a large engine or a massive car as in 9 years she racked up 34k, and a few were my doing as i learned to drive in the car and was insured on it for a year before getting my own car.
If we buy new, with finance, what sort of discount could we realisticaly get for the car. Current car is auction fodder regardless of current condition so i wont expect much for it.
There is a customer saving of £1000 on the Fiesta at the moment, dealer discount could be anything up to £950. Alloy wheel upgrade on Zetec is £225 and red is a solid colour so there's no extra to pay for that. Expect to pay anything between £11-£12k depending if you went for 3 or 5 door. Ask your local dealer about Ford Acquire. HTHRAC visit tonight has confirmed my mums car is mechanically buggered beyond likely enconomic repair, so we need to get a new one.
My idea is a new fiesta zetec in bright red with nice alloys as she's owned the current car for 9 years so my thinking is, get something nice and decently equiped as she will have it for similar time again. She doesnt need a large engine or a massive car as in 9 years she racked up 34k, and a few were my doing as i learned to drive in the car and was insured on it for a year before getting my own car.
If we buy new, with finance, what sort of discount could we realisticaly get for the car. Current car is auction fodder regardless of current condition so i wont expect much for it.
king great start to the week. Deal just confirmed for 3 Fiesta's and they want a Kuga for the boss!! 
A.J.M said:
Fiesta idea is a no go, too big according to her.
Ka though is her prefered option. Found a 11 plate 1.2 zetec with 1,810 miles for £7799.
With £1000 for current car as trade in. So £6799 for new car.
Im thinking its a decent deal, what do the sales folk think?
I sold a brand new KA Zetec in Midnight for £8250 just after xmas............now that was a stonkingly decent deal, an absolute bargain from a customers point of view! We lost money on it but it meant we hit our quarterly target. For a used KA, I think the one you've found is at a very good price, has the seller already offered £1000 for your PX?Ka though is her prefered option. Found a 11 plate 1.2 zetec with 1,810 miles for £7799.
With £1000 for current car as trade in. So £6799 for new car.
Im thinking its a decent deal, what do the sales folk think?
With regard to the old single/couple/kids situation I quickly learnt to ask who the decision maker is. When I first started selling I'd deal with blokes would wander the forecourt and take a fancy to something so I'd go through the process thinking I'd got a deal on my hands, only for them to say 'I'd better talk to the wife' then for the woman to veto any thoughts hubby had of a new car. Now if a guy is on his own or vice versa, I'll ask the question about decision makers and if he/she would need to talk to the OH, I'll re-appoint for both to come down and not waste any more of each others time, something I'm sure we all do. Possibly a reason why single man at Audi didn't get seen at a busy period when he was next in the queue!
Amen to that zwolf, recently I was getting pissed about by a woman interested in a Sportage, she decided she didn't want the car then a few weeks later she rings up and says shes reconsidering the car and can she borrow our demo for the weekend. My response was this - 'Sure, come down to the dealership, we'll agree a deal in principal, you pay a small deposit on the car then have your weekend test drive, if you're happy come Monday morning we'll order your car.' She told me she wasn't prepared to do that and wondered why we wouldn't just let her have the car for the weekend! I pointed out that if she was serious she'd have no problem. Needless to say she didn't take me up on the offer and I never heard from her again!
spats said:
While selling vans which included the fab VW Caravelle, we actually did offer to rent the bosses demo out for the weekend as we had a rental service for vans on site. The cost was £500, which covered inurance and allowed a decent mileage allowance and we could add cover abroad too. Of course we agreed to refund some or all the cost dependant on the deal struck, it was surpising how many simply wouldnt entertain it, no matter what! now I wonder why that would have been?
They must be the ones who's addresses are changing that very weekend!! Do the general public think we're stupid!Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff