Right, and I guess the mentality there is everyone is getting the same deal without having to spend a lot of time working for what they feel is a fair price. They've done all of our service and I must admit they treat people pretty well. We actually decided to go with an Acura this time around instead of a Honda, but I'm sure if we decided to replace the Odyssey with a newer one, we'd start our shopping there.
Ok I should be used to this after all these years but it still drives me crazy.
Got a deal I have been trying to get approved for 3 or 4 days, gone to the top of the food chain at our local Ford Credit branch to try to get the deal done. It has no merit except the customer has 4000 bones down a 9 year job, and 6 year residents, so he has 3 of the big 4, what he does not have POP probability of pay. But I keep busting away at it because he has the $4000.
So after going as far to have the owner of the dealership call FMC to get the deal done I tell the customer I need more help. He ask if a co-signer would help.
Now usually a co signer is for some one with no credit, not for a guy with bad credit, but I got 3 days vested in the chuckle head and I don't want to let the deal die.
So he has his pop go to our web site and send me a credit app.
DADS CREDIT SCORE IS 12 POINTS LOWER THEN HIS KIDS!!!!!!!!! NO HELP!!!!!
How many of my sales brethren has to spend yet another holiday watching people show up to do nothing but eat the free hot dogs?
We are open but as luck may have it my scheduled day off is tomorrow. I won't be within 10 miles of this place tomorrow. i can see my self grilling ribs, sitting by the pool, and drinking one beer to many
1. That entire market segment is off just look at the entire Lexus SUV line. The only two SUVs in that segment that had increases were the Cayenne and X5. Both of those have recently been redesigned.
2. Highly competitive segment. Compared to the segment the Sport and Range Rover are in the LR3s segment is the most competitive. There are just a lot more choices then in the other two rover segments. The Range Rover doesn't even really have any direct competition. There is nothing quite like it in the marketplace.
The LR3 gets pressure from below with the Expedition, Tahoe, Suburban, Explorer etc. and from above with the G500, GL-Class, Q7, LX470/Land Cruiser etc.
3. Styling is polarizing and the LR3 is entering its third model year with no exterior re-fresh. For 2008 a minor interior refresh is being done which should help but the rear end of the LR3 needs to be tweaked.
4. No incentives at all until recently and even those are very tiny. There is a little bit of lease support and a couple grand of marketing support for retail/cash customers but not enough to make much difference. On July 10th the programs are changing so hopefully things will get competitive for the third quarter.
here is my reason for not wanting one, and I can't imagine I am alone.
5. slow gas guzzler. great looking vehicle. i want to love it. but getting worse mileage than many other mid-sized SUVs while being quite a bit slower is NOT a strong selling point for me.
yeah, yeah, i know. its much heavier, a much more capable off-roader, etc. But I don't need to ford streams or traverse the desert. I need to go to the grocery store and home depot with junior in the back ... like 95% of suv buyers.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Yeah the full size, or heavier then full size weight, with midsize footprint kind hurts it too. Before the 2008 EPA estimates came out the LR3 had climbed up to 20 mpg highway but now it is down to 17 or 18.
About the only thing that is going to help that is the diesel engines from europe and that is not happening anytime soon.
You know what is sad though...
The R-class with the same hp, less weight, 7 speed tranny and better aerodynamics gets the exact same mileage as the LR3.
My local dealers never have any free eats. Is this a southern thing? Seems like a good deal though. Visit different dealers for breakfast, lunch and dinner, bring your six kids, grandma and uncle Bob. Drive some cars, wipe mustard on the seats. They probably don't serve beer though, right?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Oh man do they. Last year about this time a wholesaler I work with was at a Mercedes dealership doing some business.
The GM tells him he can't leave without buying a new car cause they are one sale away from an objective. The wholesaler looks at him like he has three heads.
I don't buy knew cars I just pick up cars at wholesale for a song you know that.
GM says, "Yeah but I can lease you a R500 for 400 bucks a month nothing down just sign and drive."
That is a 60,000 dollar plus car.
He signed all the paperwork and picked up the car a couple days later.
Do they just not sell? I can't remember ever having a customer tell me they were comparing Quests to Odysseys. Siennas a lot but never Quests.
I think it's the same deal with the MPVs. Even though the Quest is sportier and "more fun" than your typical minivan, people by vans for their utility. They want the space and functionality of van and will go for a Sienna or Odyssey. If they were going give up the space they go for a SUV or CUV. People buy and don't buy minivans for the same reason...Because it's a minivan.
The R-class with the same hp, less weight, 7 speed tranny and better aerodynamics gets the exact same mileage as the LR3.
I never knew that and I'm currently shopping the segment. Is that R500 or R350. The R320 CDI is a good option for high mileage. Unfortunately the LR3 doesn't quite cut it since this is a 100% family mover and will never see anymore than a gravel parking lot. The size and mileage does hurt it for a pavement cruiser. My neighbor seems to love his RR Sport and friends love their Discovery so much that they wanted to buy another one when they heard they were discontinued.
Those R Class do have some amazing incentives. Too bad I wasn't shopping last year, with those $12K below invoice deals. A $400 lease on a R500 and I'm all over it, even though I don't usually lease. The GL450 looks interesting, but the thing that drives me nuts about MB is charging extra for leather seats and HID lights on a $60K vehicle. They should just include them and bump up the base. A friend on mine is looking at a E550, S550, LS460 and those things bug him as well.
The reality of poor Quest sales is their terrible reliability in the first 2 years of the new body style. They are reliable now, but still hurting from that stigma.
Isell, you're correct. When I sold Hondas, I rarely had someone talking to me about Quests when they were shopping minivans. Siennas mostly and Town and Countries. Whatever, it cracked me up when I saw that.
With all respect for my brand, the Quest has done much better lately. I just am not selling them.
I went to see it last night with my two youngest who are 22 and 25. My oldest who is 28 took my grandson to see it yesterday up in Northern VA. Back in the early to mid eighties these toys were the craze of the day. I remember looking for them at Toys R Us one day and the stock boy laying an open fox on the floor and just walking away. I walked over took a few and walked away too! I remember a lady asking me if they were Transfomers, I just smiled and nodded my head. Next thing you know it's a mad house from customers running and screaming to get some. Oh, yeah. The movie was AWESOME! They took some artistic liberties with the cars like making Bumblebee a Camaro when originally it was a VW bug. Others were changed too, mostly to GM car which was ok since the spirit of the original Transformers came through. :shades: Mackabee
And now we return with the latest installment of the ongoing saga: "Treat them like they are your folks" Tonights episode: "The Take Away"
Last time on Treat them like they are your folks our Hero Mackabee had just tried his best to close the sale with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson even offering them the vehicle to drive overnight which they vehemently denied. God forbid they fall in love with it and decide to buy it! Let's join our friend and let him tell us what happens next.
It's Friday morning and I call the Johnsons to see if they have made a decision. Mrs. Johnson picks up the phone and tells me Mr. Johnson is working out so she will wait until he gets back to talk to him about the van. She tells me they were busy the day before so they didn't have a chance to sit down and hash things out. I thank her and tell her I will touch base with her later. I get a call from Mrs. J. later that afternoon. "Can you hear me." she asks. "I can hear you fine." I reply. "My son-in-law is here and we are going to sit down this evening and decide what we are going to do. This stupid phone is not working right. Can you hear me?" she asks again. "Yeah, I hear you fine." I tell her. "I can barely hear you. Ok, I'll talk to you later."
On Saturday morning it's a beautiful day and I'm ready to go to work. I went to the movies Friday night with two of my sons and my grandson who was spending the weekend with us. It was a movie about a rat that has always dreamed of being a famous chef. The animation was by Pixar and it was excellent. :shades: So anyway, I get ready and have my morning cup of coffee and say my morning prayer before leaving the house. I put Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees in the cd player and begin singing along with one of my favorites "Ohh, look out for that lowdown. That dirty, dirty, dirty, lowdown." The drive is uneventful but I keep my eyes peeled for smokies as they tend to hang out under the overpass on a well known speed trap by the beach. I get off the expressway and within minutes I'm at the dealership. I go to the receptionist say good morning and go for another cup of coffee at the service department while inconspicuosly checking out the customers to see if anyone I know might be getting their car serviced and stop and say hello. I head back to the showroom and climb the stairs to the training room for our weekly Saturday morning meeting. The usual suspects begin arriving with their untucked shirts and undone ties and some looking like they just climbed out of bed. "What a motley looking crew." :mad: I think to myself and wait for the sales managers to come in. It's the last day of the month so the GSM is pumping us up to sell a bunch of cars. We ask for "spiffs" which are bonuses for this day but he knows we won't have a shortage of customers so says: "I'll have one for tomorrow." and a collective groan permeates the room . "Hey, I know it's Sunday but I'll be here. Plus any car you sell will count for the month of June. AND I'll put out a killer bonus to boot." he continues. "We had a killer day yesterday. We sold 25 cars! and it was a Friday!." he exclaims. Fridays are usually not a big sale day. He turns the meeting over to the used car manager who tells us about all the nice trade ins we got from Fridays business and then we adjourn the meeting. I head back to the service department grab another cup of coffee and say hi to the service advisors, the parts counter guys, and the cashiers. This has been my morning routine since I started selling cars and it has netted me some extra business every month. My sinuses have been acting up lately and I feel a little run down. :sick: I go back to the showroom find an empty station and sit down. I decide to call the Johnsons and see what their plans for today are. I dial their number and I get some buzzing on the line. I hang up and redial. This time a busy signal comes on. I decide to call later as I remember Mrs. Johnson complaining about the house phone. Seems they had just bought it and it was not working properly. Time goes by slowly and we have a few customers trickle in. Most seem to be "be-backs" or service customers just killing time until their vehicles are ready. Around 12 noon I get a phone call on my cell. "Mack, are you busy?" says Rich one of our business development team members. They handle incoming phone calls and I-leads. "Not right now. What's up?" I ask. "I just got off the phone with this woman. Seems like you been helping her mom and dad with a vehicle." he responds. "Yeah, the Johnsons." I reply. "Yeah, them. Well I didn't find out until I'd been on the phone with her for what seemed like three hours. She is a real %$#Y&$!" he says........to be continued...
Shoot, I believe we cook hot dogs on Arbor day. We are not the extreme either. Some will cater Barbecue in (That is southern for shredded or minced pork)one of our competitors has a soft serve ice cream machine and a pop corn machine, a local Kia deal has a damn Ferris Wheel on there lot, one of the local Honda Dealers cranks up with donut every Saturday morning.
I kid you not, on any given Holiday, or Saturday for the most part you could load up the van with you, the wife, and 6 rug rats and spend the day eating and playing games at all the dealerships in town and never spend a quarter except for your gas.
Three stories come to mind, i will tell them one at a time.
Years ago we did a promotion with a local radio station, the catch was that the first 50 people who took a test drive got tickets to a concert. When they came up with the idea in its infant stages they said it will be for the big yearly festival in down town Nashville every year.
Well the owner assumed it was going to be Fan Fair. A huge C&W show that goes on in Nashville and was the exact Demographic we cater to.
So the spots start running on the radio at the beggining of summer. The owner asks, what is an Oz Fest?
The damn promo was for Ozz Fest tickets, (or something similar, I can't remember all the details now. its been 13 years) anybody who knows what an Ozz Fest type event is knows what that brought in the door.
If you don't know what Ozz fest is here is a pic to give you an idea. thats right, this may be the first Sales Story with pics to support it
Well needless to say we did not get the clientele we were expecting. The radio station was owned by a Broadcasting Corporation and there was obvious confusion in the contract
That's hysterical!! I would have loved to see the folks spilling through the door on that promotion.
We were open yesterday, but I opted out of working. We did sell 1 new and 3 used, but I'm just not interested in twiddling my thumbs and munching on hot dogs with a couple of folks who walked up from the street. National holidays? Close the damn stores down for Pete's sake. You can always sell them the next day.
Anyone ever hear of Chick-fil-A? Ya, good old Truett Cathy is a Christian man and decided that he would close on Sundays so that his employees could attend church or whatever. His sales? Through the freaking roof. Granted, he's selling chicken and I'm selling cars, but I hope there is some correlation there.
BTW, has anyone watched the "How to get the Best Deal" forum lately. It blew up over a guy who said he would buy the car at a specific price. When the dealer accepted, he backed out and decided to keep looking.
Some folks on the forum think this is completely acceptable. Isellhondas, you posted a story recently about how you offered folks a mistaken price and then decided you would still honor it because it was your word! The customer can do whatever he wants, but it's pretty [non-permissible content removed] to back out of a deal like that.
Hold yourself accountable for your own actions! One of the guys said that some people only use others as their moral barometer. It's sad isn't it? Have your own ethics and live by them.
......a guy who said he would buy the car at a specific price. When the dealer accepted, he backed out and decided to keep looking.
I haven't looked at the forum in question to see the exact wording, but doesn't this sound like the reverse of the situation where the salesman says "How about if we could put you in this car today for $XX,000?". When the customer says "Great" he gets told "Oh, I didn't actually say we would sell it to you for that price!".
I'm not saying the customer was right, but the above is certainly a common ploy. However as moo implied, just because some people do it, that doesn't make it right for you or I to do it too.
I haven't looked at the forum in question to see the exact wording, but doesn't this sound like the reverse of the situation where the salesman says "How about if we could put you in this car today for $XX,000?". When the customer says "Great" he gets told "Oh, I didn't actually say we would sell it to you for that price!".
Happens all the time, used to happen to me but now I listen more closely. In my experience after a line like that it doesn't usually end in a sale.
Usual reason for that is that when they say or advertise $XX,000 in their minds usually means $XX,000 plus doc fee ($599 or more) plus window etching that is "standard", etc. But here it is different - the final price is agreed and there are no more "misunderstandings" - yet the guy figures "hey, if they agreed os $XX,000, maybe the'll agree on $XX,000 minus $500 - if not them, perhaps somebody else.
No, that's not the reason. I think it's usually an attempt at a low ball. Maybe I give off better vibes these days as a real buyer because it doesn't happen as much as it used to, or else I visit better dealerships.
You hit the nail on the head! I have generally considered new cars to be a necessary evil. But what you do get with a new car franchise is the ability to get lending sources that are unavailable to independent car lots.... that's why you see a lot of new car dealers who sell more used than new.
Go look up "Major World" in Long Island City, (Queens) NY. They are technically Major Chevrolet, but they sell hundreds and hundreds of used cars monthly..I've heard on a good day they can move 50+ used units! one of the biggest in the NYC area.
In my experience after a line like that it doesn't usually end in a sale.
It was a little different in the other forum. The buyer made an offer to the salesperson and it was accepted. Then the buyer thought if the salesperson said yes that quickly, he must be leaving money on the table so he reneged to go shopping more.
That's how you lawball here in Florida - standard procedure, I might say for many volume dealers.
You say (or write) "price is XXXXXX", but put $699 dealer fee and other pizzaz in fine print, or don't mention it until the paperwork is to be signed.
Then with a straight face you say something like "It's preprinted on the contract - everybody pays that", "It's to cover our prep costs", or even better "It's DMV".
Our DOC is $375, it is pre printed on all the proposal's so you see it from the first time you go on paper and the disclaimer next to it says, in big black bold letters "Fee represents Dealer's recovery of administrative overhead expense plus Dealers profit"
I delivered 100 or so units last month and not one person questioned it. I would say that it is an issue maybe 5 times a year.
Its all in the presentation
Now to be fair out of those 100 30 of them were plan customers and we don't charge it to them.
So your doc is "reasonable" by standards of Southeast (for those from North - our dealer fees are not capped by any laws; at best they are required to be the same for everyboy, unless waived due to "program" sales). Most of "good guy" dealers charge here between $250 and $350. Large domestic stores go to $495, large Japanese imports are $599 to $799. Of course they sell "at", "below", or "$100 over" invoice.
It got so bad that some smaller stores acually advertise "you pay no dealer fees with us"
In the 3 recorded years at the Nissan dealership I have 463 sold cars. Of those 463 cars, 6 were Quests. ROFL!!!!!
WHen the Quest first came out back in 2003 for the new 2004 year model. I was selling quit a bit of them. But after a year and half they went flat because of the intial quality, the shakes nad the rattles even a master tech would have a hard time finding out what the noise was. But Nissan spent a lot of money trying to correct the problem( in the millions) The 2007 quest is a nice van. all the problems solved. But the quest is plauged by the 2004 year. We hardly ever have anyone come in to look at them. We only have two in stock, The base ones. When ever I up someone that wants to look at them I think to myself... Well at least I'll get a refresher course on what is in the Quest. When you don't show a vehicle you forget about them. But looking back to this year I have sold 3 of them in 2007 so far but I'm not paying my mortgage with that.
Every Saturday we grill burgers, steak, chicken, sausage. But it is for the sales department. When someone states they are hungry and need to go to lunch we'll bring them out back where the grill is and feed them. We ussually get pizzas and subs in the winter. But we have a grill and we would rather have a cook out than some pizza. It's is nice any day of the week we can just go to the food store pick up food and grill it. I mean we are here more than home. Sometimes you just have to have fun at work. Pass the ketchup. It's right next to the potato salad.
Comments
You can always do better if you shop around.
Maybe not always $1300 better.
But, people will bolt for $500.
They probably have a loyal base of customers who appreciate how they do business and will buy from them even if they aren't the cheapest guy in town.
Do they just not sell? I can't remember ever having a customer tell me they were comparing Quests to Odysseys. Siennas a lot but never Quests.
Got a deal I have been trying to get approved for 3 or 4 days, gone to the top of the food chain at our local Ford Credit branch to try to get the deal done. It has no merit except the customer has 4000 bones down a 9 year job, and 6 year residents, so he has 3 of the big 4, what he does not have POP probability of pay. But I keep busting away at it because he has the $4000.
So after going as far to have the owner of the dealership call FMC to get the deal done I tell the customer I need more help. He ask if a co-signer would help.
Now usually a co signer is for some one with no credit, not for a guy with bad credit, but I got 3 days vested in the chuckle head and I don't want to let the deal die.
So he has his pop go to our web site and send me a credit app.
DADS CREDIT SCORE IS 12 POINTS LOWER THEN HIS KIDS!!!!!!!!! NO HELP!!!!!
God I hate this business some times
Pretty much on the back of the MKX. I think it's one of the fastest selling vehicles, isn't it?
We are open but as luck may have it my scheduled day off is tomorrow. I won't be within 10 miles of this place tomorrow. i can see my self grilling ribs, sitting by the pool, and drinking one beer to many
Seriously, everyone deserves the day off. There are plenty of days to buy/sell cars.
Happy 4th!!!!
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Is it possible to drink one beer to many?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I think there are a couple of reasons.
1. That entire market segment is off just look at the entire Lexus SUV line. The only two SUVs in that segment that had increases were the Cayenne and X5. Both of those have recently been redesigned.
2. Highly competitive segment. Compared to the segment the Sport and Range Rover are in the LR3s segment is the most competitive. There are just a lot more choices then in the other two rover segments. The Range Rover doesn't even really have any direct competition. There is nothing quite like it in the marketplace.
The LR3 gets pressure from below with the Expedition, Tahoe, Suburban, Explorer etc. and from above with the G500, GL-Class, Q7, LX470/Land Cruiser etc.
3. Styling is polarizing and the LR3 is entering its third model year with no exterior re-fresh. For 2008 a minor interior refresh is being done which should help but the rear end of the LR3 needs to be tweaked.
4. No incentives at all until recently and even those are very tiny. There is a little bit of lease support and a couple grand of marketing support for retail/cash customers but not enough to make much difference. On July 10th the programs are changing so hopefully things will get competitive for the third quarter.
5. slow gas guzzler. great looking vehicle. i want to love it. but getting worse mileage than many other mid-sized SUVs while being quite a bit slower is NOT a strong selling point for me.
yeah, yeah, i know. its much heavier, a much more capable off-roader, etc. But I don't need to ford streams or traverse the desert. I need to go to the grocery store and home depot with junior in the back ... like 95% of suv buyers.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
About the only thing that is going to help that is the diesel engines from europe and that is not happening anytime soon.
You know what is sad though...
The R-class with the same hp, less weight, 7 speed tranny and better aerodynamics gets the exact same mileage as the LR3.
british - 1
lrguy - 1
Ok, completed stories between beers and hot dogs please....
Yeah, but you add the two scores together, right?
My local dealers never have any free eats. Is this a southern thing? Seems like a good deal though. Visit different dealers for breakfast, lunch and dinner, bring your six kids, grandma and uncle Bob. Drive some cars, wipe mustard on the seats. They probably don't serve beer though, right?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
The GM tells him he can't leave without buying a new car cause they are one sale away from an objective. The wholesaler looks at him like he has three heads.
I don't buy knew cars I just pick up cars at wholesale for a song you know that.
GM says, "Yeah but I can lease you a R500 for 400 bucks a month nothing down just sign and drive."
That is a 60,000 dollar plus car.
He signed all the paperwork and picked up the car a couple days later.
Do they just not sell? I can't remember ever having a customer tell me they were comparing Quests to Odysseys. Siennas a lot but never Quests.
I think it's the same deal with the MPVs. Even though the Quest is sportier and "more fun" than your typical minivan, people by vans for their utility. They want the space and functionality of van and will go for a Sienna or Odyssey. If they were going give up the space they go for a SUV or CUV. People buy and don't buy minivans for the same reason...Because it's a minivan.
While rare I have come across this here in the Chicagoland area. Its usually the imports that do that and as I said its rare.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I never knew that and I'm currently shopping the segment. Is that R500 or R350. The R320 CDI is a good option for high mileage. Unfortunately the LR3 doesn't quite cut it since this is a 100% family mover and will never see anymore than a gravel parking lot. The size and mileage does hurt it for a pavement cruiser. My neighbor seems to love his RR Sport and friends love their Discovery so much that they wanted to buy another one when they heard they were discontinued.
Those R Class do have some amazing incentives. Too bad I wasn't shopping last year, with those $12K below invoice deals. A $400 lease on a R500 and I'm all over it, even though I don't usually lease. The GL450 looks interesting, but the thing that drives me nuts about MB is charging extra for leather seats and HID lights on a $60K vehicle. They should just include them and bump up the base. A friend on mine is looking at a E550, S550, LS460 and those things bug him as well.
The 320CDI is 19/26 using the new ratings.
Yeah Mercedes and BMW have a tendency to do that with options but neither one of them is as bad as porsche.
Isell, you're correct. When I sold Hondas, I rarely had someone talking to me about Quests when they were shopping minivans. Siennas mostly and Town and Countries. Whatever, it cracked me up when I saw that.
With all respect for my brand, the Quest has done much better lately. I just am not selling them.
-Moo
I dunno...I like Nissan products,I just think they go over the fence sometimes with their styling.
-Moo
:shades:
Mackabee
:shades:
Mackabee
Mackabee
"Treat them like they are your folks"
Tonights episode: "The Take Away"
Last time on Treat them like they are your folks our Hero Mackabee had just tried his best to close the sale with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson even offering them the vehicle to drive overnight which they vehemently denied. God forbid they fall in love with it and decide to buy it!
It's Friday morning and I call the Johnsons to see if they have made a decision. Mrs. Johnson picks up the phone and tells me Mr. Johnson is working out so she will wait until he gets back to talk to him about the van. She tells me they were busy the day before so they didn't have a chance to sit down and hash things out. I thank her and tell her I will touch base with her later.
I get a call from Mrs. J. later that afternoon. "Can you hear me." she asks. "I can hear you fine." I reply. "My son-in-law is here and we are going to sit down this evening and decide what we are going to do. This stupid phone is not working right. Can you hear me?" she asks again. "Yeah, I hear you fine." I tell her. "I can barely hear you. Ok, I'll talk to you later."
On Saturday morning it's a beautiful day and I'm ready to go to work. I went to the movies Friday night with two of my sons and my grandson who was spending the weekend with us. It was a movie about a rat that has always dreamed of being a famous chef. The animation was by Pixar and it was excellent. :shades:
So anyway, I get ready and have my morning cup of coffee and say my morning prayer before leaving the house.
I put Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees in the cd player and begin singing along with one of my favorites "Ohh, look out for that lowdown. That dirty, dirty, dirty, lowdown."
I get off the expressway and within minutes I'm at the dealership. I go to the receptionist say good morning and go for another cup of coffee at the service department while inconspicuosly checking out the customers to see if anyone I know might be getting their car serviced and stop and say hello. I head back to the showroom and climb the stairs to the training room for our weekly Saturday morning meeting.
The usual suspects begin arriving with their untucked shirts and undone ties and some looking like they just climbed out of bed. "What a motley looking crew." :mad: I think to myself and wait for the sales managers to come in.
It's the last day of the month so the GSM is pumping us up to sell a bunch of cars. We ask for "spiffs" which are bonuses for this day but he knows we won't have a shortage of customers so says: "I'll have one for tomorrow." and a collective groan permeates the room
"We had a killer day yesterday. We sold 25 cars! and it was a Friday!." he exclaims. Fridays are usually not a big sale day. He turns the meeting over to the used car manager who tells us about all the nice trade ins we got from Fridays business and then we adjourn the meeting.
I head back to the service department grab another cup of coffee and say hi to the service advisors, the parts counter guys, and the cashiers. This has been my morning routine since I started selling cars and it has netted me some extra business every month.
My sinuses have been acting up lately and I feel a little run down. :sick: I go back to the showroom find an empty station and sit down. I decide to call the Johnsons and see what their plans for today are. I dial their number and I get some buzzing on the line. I hang up and redial. This time a busy signal comes on. I decide to call later as I remember Mrs. Johnson complaining about the house phone. Seems they had just bought it and it was not working properly.
Time goes by slowly and we have a few customers trickle in. Most seem to be "be-backs" or service customers just killing time until their vehicles are ready.
Around 12 noon I get a phone call on my cell. "Mack, are you busy?" says Rich one of our business development team members. They handle incoming phone calls and I-leads. "Not right now. What's up?" I ask. "I
just got off the phone with this woman. Seems like you been helping her mom and dad with a vehicle." he responds. "Yeah, the Johnsons." I reply. "Yeah, them. Well I didn't find out until I'd been on the phone with her for what seemed like three hours. She is a real %$#Y&$!" he says........to be continued...
Mackabee
That would be the oak tree, right? :P
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
-Moo
I kid you not, on any given Holiday, or Saturday for the most part you could load up the van with you, the wife, and 6 rug rats and spend the day eating and playing games at all the dealerships in town and never spend a quarter except for your gas.
Three stories come to mind, i will tell them one at a time.
Years ago we did a promotion with a local radio station, the catch was that the first 50 people who took a test drive got tickets to a concert. When they came up with the idea in its infant stages they said it will be for the big yearly festival in down town Nashville every year.
Well the owner assumed it was going to be Fan Fair. A huge C&W show that goes on in Nashville and was the exact Demographic we cater to.
So the spots start running on the radio at the beggining of summer. The owner asks, what is an Oz Fest?
The damn promo was for Ozz Fest tickets, (or something similar, I can't remember all the details now. its been 13 years) anybody who knows what an Ozz Fest type event is knows what that brought in the door.
If you don't know what Ozz fest is here is a pic to give you an idea. thats right, this may be the first Sales Story with pics to support it
Well needless to say we did not get the clientele we were expecting. The radio station was owned by a Broadcasting Corporation and there was obvious confusion in the contract
We were open yesterday, but I opted out of working. We did sell 1 new and 3 used, but I'm just not interested in twiddling my thumbs and munching on hot dogs with a couple of folks who walked up from the street. National holidays? Close the damn stores down for Pete's sake. You can always sell them the next day.
Anyone ever hear of Chick-fil-A? Ya, good old Truett Cathy is a Christian man and decided that he would close on Sundays so that his employees could attend church or whatever. His sales? Through the freaking roof. Granted, he's selling chicken and I'm selling cars, but I hope there is some correlation there.
BTW, has anyone watched the "How to get the Best Deal" forum lately. It blew up over a guy who said he would buy the car at a specific price. When the dealer accepted, he backed out and decided to keep looking.
Some folks on the forum think this is completely acceptable. Isellhondas, you posted a story recently about how you offered folks a mistaken price and then decided you would still honor it because it was your word! The customer can do whatever he wants, but it's pretty [non-permissible content removed] to back out of a deal like that.
Hold yourself accountable for your own actions! One of the guys said that some people only use others as their moral barometer. It's sad isn't it? Have your own ethics and live by them.
I'm rambling. Am I making any sense?
-Moo
Yes you're making sense, but who wants to hold themselves accountable for their own actions?
That's no fun! :shades:
I haven't looked at the forum in question to see the exact wording, but doesn't this sound like the reverse of the situation where the salesman says "How about if we could put you in this car today for $XX,000?". When the customer says "Great" he gets told "Oh, I didn't actually say we would sell it to you for that price!".
I'm not saying the customer was right, but the above is certainly a common ploy. However as moo implied, just because some people do it, that doesn't make it right for you or I to do it too.
Happens all the time, used to happen to me but now I listen more closely. In my experience after a line like that it doesn't usually end in a sale.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
How ya doing man? Missed you guys too!
You hit the nail on the head! I have generally considered new cars to be a necessary evil. But what you do get with a new car franchise is the ability to get lending sources that are unavailable to independent car lots.... that's why you see a lot of new car dealers who sell more used than new.
Go look up "Major World" in Long Island City, (Queens) NY. They are technically Major Chevrolet, but they sell hundreds and hundreds of used cars monthly..I've heard on a good day they can move 50+ used units! one of the biggest in the NYC area.
It was a little different in the other forum. The buyer made an offer to the salesperson and it was accepted. Then the buyer thought if the salesperson said yes that quickly, he must be leaving money on the table so he reneged to go shopping more.
Ah, Major World...
You say (or write) "price is XXXXXX", but put $699 dealer fee and other pizzaz in fine print, or don't mention it until the paperwork is to be signed.
Then with a straight face you say something like "It's preprinted on the contract - everybody pays that", "It's to cover our prep costs", or even better "It's DMV".
2018 430i Gran Coupe
I delivered 100 or so units last month and not one person questioned it. I would say that it is an issue maybe 5 times a year.
Its all in the presentation
Now to be fair out of those 100 30 of them were plan customers and we don't charge it to them.
It got so bad that some smaller stores acually advertise "you pay no dealer fees with us"
2018 430i Gran Coupe
WHen the Quest first came out back in 2003 for the new 2004 year model. I was selling quit a bit of them. But after a year and half they went flat because of the intial quality, the shakes nad the rattles even a master tech would have a hard time finding out what the noise was. But Nissan spent a lot of money trying to correct the problem( in the millions) The 2007 quest is a nice van. all the problems solved. But the quest is plauged by the 2004 year. We hardly ever have anyone come in to look at them. We only have two in stock, The base ones. When ever I up someone that wants to look at them I think to myself... Well at least I'll get a refresher course on what is in the Quest. When you don't show a vehicle you forget about them. But looking back to this year I have sold 3 of them in 2007 so far but I'm not paying my mortgage with that.