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Stories from the Sales Frontlines
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if you've been discussing numbers, the purchaser says i'm offering you X based on your "invoice + Y" advertisement and my research of invoice on this model, or the purchaser says "i want to buy a car from you right now, the way i figure it, i'm offering $____ to the dealership over invoice... and the customer isn't insulting you by bringing up other complicating issues like holdback or factory to dealer incentives, etc etc, do you think that rude?
cell phone? tell them to come back when they are ready to talk about vehicle or the deal. i have no issue with your rude assessment there. exceptions should be made for a parent who takes a call from a child trying to figure out how to make dinner, get home or deal with a real emergency.
Customer rebates and factory to dealer incentives have robbed the invoice of its authority.
There are 2 types of cars for sale today. Cars that you can buy below invoice and cars that you can't.
So, it really doesn't matter if the customer wants to see the invoice.
give me a break.
in the end we're all people, but some of us seem to want to judge the others by what we do for a living. i don't sell cars anymore, but i did, and i have a respect for those who still do. its not an easy profession, but it can be very fullfilling when you sell a car to someone who is truly happy, and you helped them make the right decision.
people have beat up on the salesperson for ages. and yes, dealerships and salespeople have a history of underhanded tactics. but not all, and its not right to paint everyone with the same brush.
again, its become too much of a "me first" society to ever think about someone else and walking in their shoes for a bit...
my two cents
-thene :sick:
Same thing in the grocery line. If I see a person yacking away in the grovery line, Circuit City, etc. I won't go to that line. Invariably, when it comes time to pay, they insist on holding everyone eles up behind them while they finish their call. How rude.
If I'm buying (and I would imagine selling) a car, I need someone's undivided attention.
leaving good money on the table for the dealership in the deal, it was the salesperson that was complicating matters that made me walk.
there are people that will politely tell you they are not interested in an extended warranty, they are not interested in VIN-etch, or mop-n-glow / appearence package, not interested in the mud-flaps, cargo nets, cargo trays, leather, 6-CD changer, MP3, Sat, NAV, EX, Alloy, Sunroof, remote start, security system (insert feature, etc).
they really do know what they want, and they really do know what they want to pay, and they even how they want to pay for it.
so what do you do with those people?
thats funny, thene is "elite" status! heh!
im sure you are much more well known 'round these parts than i am
how's the cadillac drama going? any new developments on that?
-thene
I must have missed that one.
Wow...this is cuatomer I sure wouldn't want!
"Told the F&I person off"
Really...can't just say "I'm not interested"?
So, some freak thing happens at 95,000 miles and the car needs an engine. I wonder if they would complain that they weren't offered a warranty?
Miss the business, thene?
I think this discussion has come up in this topic before. Bottom line, some people don't see it as an obstacle to negotiating, and some dealers are willing to sell the same car without accessories; others (myself included) are turned off when they see an addendum sticker for accessories of dubious value on every car on the lot and don't bother to inquire further.
im actually looking into breaking into the graphic design field, though its a lot harder now being out of school for 5 years and not having done it on a very consistent basis since school. i have an opportunity with a friend of my mothers who started a t-shirt company (a la life is good) that i did all the designs for. im hoping that takes off, and then life WILL be good
until then, biding my time at this wonderful corporation
-thene
I think the people who leave the "thingy" in their ear all the time, even when they're not on the phone, look really tacky.
The last post she made several months ago asked something about an auto repossession. Sounds like she may have had some sort of misfortune. I hope everything is okay.
-thene
Though let me say this, it sounded to me like the original poster who started the dreaded Invoice discussion, which means the Great Hold Back Debate will start soon, had already purchased a car and was at a different dealership asking for an invoice.
If this is in fact the case, I would not be a player either. Go get an invoice from the guy you ordered it from.
either way, all that info is available online - no need to waste a salesperson's time if a car was already purchased. if the other deal falls through, you'll have done research online, and can then go see another dealer about another deal.
my two cents anyways...
-thene
There are several other discussions at Edmunds that encourage the consumer view. Please use them rather than continuing to argue/challenge the few remaining sales people we have.
Look back a few thousand posts and you'll see that we used to enjoy great sales stories from sales people. You can read them and learn what to do and what to watch out for when purchasing a vehicle. What we have here is an outlet where sales people can share their knowledge.
Attacks/challenges place people on the defense or chase them away. Give them a break here. Give them heck on the "consumer" discussions.
lets get back to the stories - lets stop attacking the few who are still nice enough to spend their time here!
-thene
I don't think anything is rude as long as you ask it in the right manner. (With a few stipulations).
-Moo
Whoops, sorry, for the Publix comment I meant groceries.
Most people have SOME idea of what they want, and what they are willing to pay, and that is open to compromise.
If I had a nickel for eveytime someone said "I don't want xxxx" and ended up w/ precisely that, I wouldn't have to work.
Remember, just because YOU think of yourself that way, doesn't make everyone else like that.
As for the rest, there is no harm in asking.
You ask for the sale, you ask for the profit, you ask for the accessories. Yes, some people will say no, others will say yes.
Finally, to directly answer your question, if someone walks into my store and says, this is the Volvo I want and this is the price I will pay, and it is a car that I have in stock and a price that I think is reasonable, then we have a deal.
But, as I said this combination is very very rare.
Usually, these are people who have configured a car that no one carries and at a price that it cannot be bought for.
>There are several other discussions at Edmunds that encourage the consumer view. Please use them rather than continuing to argue/challenge the few remaining sales people we have.
tidester, "Stories from the Sales Frontlines" #9766, 25 Mar 2007 12:57 pm
Replying to: mako1a (Mar 25, 2007 9:38 am)
This seems to be a salesperson "only" site.
Hardly. We have well over 7,000 active discusssions here with only a very small number "dedicated" to dealers or salespeople.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
By far the craziest one I've had to date, is a lady whom I've never actually met in person, however, the conversations I had with her over the phone were by far the most entertaining time I've spent at the dealership thus far. She was about two hours away from us and wanted a very specific car (some would call it the dream car) which I did not have in stock, nor did any local dealers, so I would have actually had to go to the dealership near her to drive it two hours back to sell to her so she could drive two hours back to her home.
The first several phone conversations were a lot of setup calls...the "this is what I want for my trade...", "this is what my trade is...", basically, the lets-get-our-stuff-together-so-I-don't-have-to-make-two-trips-there calls. In the process I learned that she would be replacing a "special edition" of a very, very common (very boring if I might add) domestic car. The primary reason she bought this car in the first place was so her dad would be willing to ride in her car when she went down to his area of the state to take him and her mother out for dinner and whatnot.
That Friday evening I had someone who was just flat out nuts sitting at my desk. To give you an idea about what was getting ready to happen, I can't even remember why they were crazy...I just remember they were. While we were talking, I saw this lady's phone number pop up on the caller ID of my line at the dealership, so I sent it to voicemail to keep the ringing from distracting the customer who was at my desk.
About 10-15 minutes after she called the customers left and, remembering that the lady had called, I dialed into my voicemail and there wasn't a message. I assumed because she hadn't left a message it wasn't very important, so I continued working on my computer when all of a sudden, my voicemail light popped on...so I checked and there was a message from her. It started out fine..."Hi (name withheld) it's (name withheld) I hope you're having a great day, and I wanted to let you know that after a lot of thinking I definitely want to take delivery of the (vehicle withheld) sometime in the next week. I know father's day is coming up, and I don't know if you're going out of town to see your family, but I just thought I'd let you know I'm ready to get the car. I'll be around all weekend because I decided that I'm not going to my parents house for fathers day because [this is where it gets interesting] I hate my father."
She didn't have to go there...but she did...and it gets more interesting.
"I decided that I needed to get this car because my boyfriend decided I needed to get a car I really liked instead of getting something that my father wanted me to drive. I just have to say I love my boyfriend, I really, really, really love him. I see him more as a father figure than I see my biological father"
OH MY GOD!!!
"So I'm spending this coming fathers day [starts sobbing uncontrollably] with [my boyfriend]. I just can't tell you how much I love him [still sobbing uncontrollably] and how mean and nasty and awful my father has been to me. I can't believe I'm crying into the phone on your voicemail..."
This is where I'm going to cut and not transcribe anymore. By the way, this voicemail has been in my inbox for almost two years because I just find it so entertaining I have a hard time deleting it. What I didn't realize when I was taking the job as a sales consultant, how many other jobs I would end up being stuck with. Psychologist is not something I was expecting.
The longer this went on, the harder and harder I started laughing. Gradually all of my co-workers were surrounding me, she was on speakerphone crying into my voicemail, while all of my co-workers were standing in a circle around my desk laughing hysterically.
I learned something very important that day...our voicemail system cuts people off at 30 minutes...which is where she got cut off. In a way...I almost wish it wouldn't have...because if it didn't...it could have been very, very entertaining.
Would love to hear it. Record it and send it to my e-mail. :surprise:
-Moo
He says that one of his biggest models in his career as a writer was his father--who was not a writer but a business man who owned his own small company. He said his father took great pride in making the best quality products out of top quality materials. He charged his customers more than the competition, but his customers came back time and time again, because of the quality.
His father, Zinsser said, never walked into a store looking for a bargain. He was always looking for quality, even if it cost substantially more. Even though his dad wasn't a writer, this focus on quality rather than speed or price became William Zinsser's approach to his writing.
I like to get a good deal when I buy a car, but ultimately the quality is more important.
thene, I've done my part to get you on the fast track.
My wife bought our four-year-old son a floppy blue Life Is Good sun hat yesterday at Hudson Valley Outfitters in Cold Spring, New York, yesterday. We'll make sure he wears it a lot this summer.
i appreciate the sentiment, but i am not working for life is good - but a start up company who's shirts are similar (yet different) to the life is good brand (they are the closest i can compare to). so in essence you bought from my competitor! argh!
just kidding
i still love life is good though (and I am wearing one of their shirts today, in fact!)
-thene
For some reason, I think nutty people are drawn to me. She's only one of about a dozen I've written about in my blog.
Btw, I just rewatched Glengary Glenross last night. What an awesome movie. I didn't remember the part where they drilled Indians. So funny and so true.
-Moo
Second place is a set of steak knives.
Third place is "You're fired."
Gotta love that sales incentive.
(welcome, rlatham!)
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Be forewarned...I also posted the voicemail lady story on that blog.
It's very cool to watch after you've been selling for awhile. Very well done. I believe it was a play first.
-Moo
Well, we have a 04 Element EX-S AWD 5-speed with 90,000 miles. We have had to replace the windshield once (it's prone to chipping since it is so flat) and have had two a/c repairs under warranty. :P But it drives like it's still new and DH thinks we'll get 300k on it. As opposed to the 200k we usually try to get before we tow to the junkyard. :shades:
??? Isn't Scion supposed to be "one price" type? Or do you mean it had 2 grand of accessories and mop&glo? It it really had ADM, I would call Toyota and tell them about it.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Does Toyota have rules about the pricing of cars once the dealer recieves them?
2018 430i Gran Coupe
The trick is...sell the people a car in the way they want to be sold a car...not the way you want to sell them a car. Let the customer feel like they're in control...but...always be VERY passive aggressive :shades:
I suspect some of these "experts" are people who tried and failed in this business.
But a lot of the horror stories are so true. A lot of stores have constant turnover of salespeople and management.
Thie is exactly why I always suggest asking your family and friends for a REFERRAL instead of just walking in.
Much of my business comes to me in that fashion!
there's only so much "tough shell" to go around...after a while, it can be penetrated.
just because they are supposed to have a "tough shell" doesn't mean you can just throw out attacks and insults at will. (not saying you did, just in general!)
but, as always, this is my two cents...
-thene
This particular time he was busy and didn't appear until after the deal was done. (I always buy at invoice there BTW). As the conversation went along, and he asked me what I bought, I mentioned that I thought the trade appraisal was a little low.
You are a very fortunate buyer to have someone covering your back when you buy a car. As for me and I’m pretty sure, the others here, we just don’t have this luxury. If we pay too much for a car and/or don’t get enough for our trade, that’s it. For us it’s better luck next time or do it right by doing the correct research.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being sarcastic here, maybe a little/a lot jealous but not sarcastic.
So let’s just be good poster buddies. Who knows, if I don’t get you upset you might be willing to take me to this dealership and help me out the next time I buy. So I’ve been told, it never hurts to have a friend in the biz, any biz. OK?
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl