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Comments
-Moo
I'm with you on that one. I can't think well under pressure so I have learned to not make decisions on the spot. I get the information I need and then make a decision in the comfort of our home.
By the time I go to buy a car, we know exactly what we want and exactly how much we are willing to pay.
-Moo
If that is the case I suspect you will never find any salespeople you like and none will ever like you.
Who cares what a sales person likes. Just send "someone" over that can retrieve keys and write numbers on a paper for the decision maker to approve or disapprove.
People just want a new car...not a "sales relationship"
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
On most of my deals I am the DECIDER
I feel it is time to open topic for our dear friends like bobst, tbaxxon and Co.
Subject:
"How to be a stroke"
Subtopics:
Holdback - write your congressman to make it illegal
Invoice - what not to believe
Being in control of not buying a car
Stroke and mooch, how can I be both?
Anyone has other suggestions?
That high? I think 2 is optimal. One to look at the car to see if it's right, second time to buy...
Speak for yourself - not the world. A. I am the decision maker in my deals and B. I have developed a relationship with many of my customers. However, there have been a few (just a few) that I would choose not to develop a relationship with.
I still haven't spot delivered any though. I think I have only ever done one spot delivery and that was on a Used Discovery.
Now - about strokes. From what I see sales people would obviously appreciate if we all came and bought a car on our first visit without a test drive, questions, pay asking price, buy all the mop&glo. They also know it's not happening and everybody needs more than one visit to make decision.
Moreover, considering more than one brand is normal, thus somebody will be disapointed - actually we will produce more disapointment than joy, as if we just checked only three brands just one dealer each, two will not get the sale. That's just fact of life - if one can't live with that, they should not be in car sales.
The real question is - can we, as customers make limit our urge to abuse salesperson's time by making some research before the visit (so irrelevant brands are excluded), coming with some sort of real sale in some sort of near future in mind, unless expressly invited by dealer as part of their general marketing effort (like new model intro event isting customers), etc.
I must confess I also sinned by being a stroke couple of times. Just had to check some car way before it would be in my interest. Was always very candid about it - never pretended to be a real customer - I was never mistreated, although I can't imagine I made them really happy, either.
There were also couple of instances of me responding to mfrs. mailings regarding their loyalty offers that required some dealer checking. No sale resulted, as final numbers were always coming to conclusion staying with current car was better. What can I say - I know I wasted their time, but how else can I really make sure how good that offer really was if I did not go to the dealer and asked?
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Again my apologies to the high end folks.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
I have often said that people should be issued a true "Credit Card" What this card does it it represents your entire credit profile and it updates each month as does your bureau.
When you go into any store to finance anything you simply swipe the persons "Credit Card" and there beacon score and high credit show up on the screen. Customers and Vendors would both know in a matter of 15 seconds if you qualify for financing.
Think of the time and aggravation it would save you and the retail vendor.
Would be great if each swipe did not lower your score, as each inquiry does now.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Exactly. This is not what you would use to buy the vehicle, if you decide to buy then the traditional credit app and all that crap is taken and the loan is submitted, then you get the inquiry because now you are taking on the debt.
All the "Credit Card" does is give you and I enough general info to give you accurate answers to your questions. Will I qualify for 0%, can you match or beat x% interest, Can I even buy a car.
The possibility of uses are endless. As a dealer I would be willing to pay the "Credit" company $1 every time I swiped one of there cards. The money it would save the company in man hours alone would be staggering, and at $1 a pop the company would get fat quick.
Who's in? Lets get this thing off the ground
My problem is because of current system I do not let them run my credit before I'd be ready to buy. I tell them they should be expecting sevenhundreds, but God knows they probably don't believe me. With such swipe I see them all over me and really trying to sell me something, as they know I can pay.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
A "stroke" is a non-serious shopper.
Going home to "sleep" on a deal doesn't make a person a stroke.
You may be one as you say. I don't know but if the shoe fits...
I pretty much like what you wrote (especially the one about the Holdback and getting my congressman involved) so why would I want to add anything?
Sounds to me like you're one of the old-school guys that can't comprehend the fact that people today have a wealth of information at their finger tips and are somewhat prepared when they car shop. Get used to it, its here to stay and we like it.
This might be a good time to change fields.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Credit should be used only for buying your first home, starting a business, etc.
NOT car buying.
color coded tag giving you limits
See...Limits. Buying power limits. NOT credit limits.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
If your new dealership is not going to allow people to finance you have cut you target market down significantly, and I just called my broker and told him to cancel my plans of bank rolling this place for you
* Average customer wants to spend no more than 2 hours buying a car, says Toyota executive VP Jim Lentz
* He adds that 1/4 of prospective buyers leave showroom w/o making a purchase
* Cites 1 consumer who said she'd rather attend a funeral than do business at a dealership
That was from automotive news. Big guys making big decisions. I'm just trying to suggest new ideas for a customer friendly operation. It has to change. We have 300 million people in the USA and 400 million cars. They're not a scarce commodity.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
While I would never wish you to miss out on a selling opportunity because of another customer wasting your time, you must keep in mind everyone at the dealership is a present or potential customer, expecting the customers who will buy to just roll over for you is an unrealistic expectation. If it were this easy, why would the dealer need a sales force? I think the dealership is counting on you to entice these customers, not thumb your nose at them. You never know who they know who may be looking for a car.
The wasting time part works both ways. I as a customer do my research up front, narrow down to three or fewer choices, test drive and rank them. Then I decide the exact configuration and price I'm willing to pay (it will be a doable not a price. not unrealistic) and negotiate. Since I've made up my mind and won't budge, the salesmna's efforts to get my to buy alarms, extended warranties, etc are a waste of MY time. Since I won't be bumped, the salesman wasting my time also wastes his opportunity for other customers. I recently bought a Toyota out of state as no one locally would compete on the price. I would not waste my time on the inconvienience, but it did save me $900. If the local dealers would have been reeasonable, they could have earned my business and still made a profit. It may not have been as much as they'd like, but there would have been almost no effort. Instead they got nothing.
I don't doubt encountering those with no chance or intention of buying is frustrating, but the commisions paid are for the total effort of selling to as many customers as possible. If you focus on making a crazy comission on a few suckers, the future long term will not be bright. Best of luck.
Quite the contrary. I am relatively young, I do Internet sales, and my ideal customer is one that can do his research and come prepared.
No one needs to test-drive 7 different models, and go to 4 different dealers of the same brand.
You do your research, figure out what type of vehicle you need, and narrow it to 3 models, test-drive them, choose one, and get quotes. If you respect other people time and effort - you will give a chance to the guy that test-drove with you. Most likely he will be able to come within $100 to the lowest quote.
It sure didn’t sound like you were in touch with the times when I read your post 15862. FWIW I’ve done business with your type. The last two times I bought I started with the internet.
No one needs to test-drive 7 different models, and go to 4 different dealers of the same brand. You do your research, figure out what type of vehicle you need, and narrow it to 3 models, test-drive them, choose one, and get quotes.
This isn’t the way I do it but I’ve known people who have done this and I’ve asked them why they do it since it seems like the hard way to go about it to me and they usually respond with something like, “ I’m spending a good chunk of money on this so I want to be sure before I buy”. All I’ve been able to say to that is, “have a ball but I wouldn’t want to be your salesman”!
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Whats so ridiculous?
I think you've also said in the past you work as a computer programmer for the government.
Well, gov'mint IT must be much different from the private industry I worked in. Hasn't your system ever gone boom during the day. And you then have two users and your manager 'lurking' in your office, reminding you there are 300 people scattered across the nation that can't input data, while you are digging thru a dump or code? And the user manager calls and asks "How's it going? When do you expect the system to be back up?" And the only response can be "When I find the problem, maybe I will have an idea how long it will take to fix." And the 3:00am phone call when the batch job goes boom and you crawl out of bed with a sleep deprived mind, connect via dialup to work, and try to diagnoise the problem without any documentation or most of your automated tools?
No time there for a brain freeze and 'can't think well under pressure'.
I don't do this work (or any work) any longer, and I don't miss any of it.
I'll let you know what happened after I GET HOME!
Mackabee
If you take a month and walk in our shoes, you'd understand that. Many people come through the doors and after awhile, you get used to the same situations. Ever watched COPS? Ever wonder why some cops can see right through people immediately when they are lying? You guessed it, they've been at it for awhile.
All professionals can read buying signals. I would think that overall you would have about a 95% chance of being right if you're good at it. Will you miss deals sometimes by brushing off some folks? Yes, but the odds in your favor to sell more by moving away from the folks who want you to help them drive every car on the lot.
Here's where this discussion might get a little dicey. There are certain groups of people that I NEVER talk to. Why? Because they negotiate a deal and walk on you. They make ridiculous offers and shop you all over town. If you, as a salesman, knew that you had 1 in 100 chance of closing a customer, would you proceed with those people? And even if you DO, you would only make a mini and you would get a bad CSI score. Therefore, because I know that my odds are VERY low with certain folks, I steer clear. My time is extremely valuable.
I remember having a lady demand to drive 3 different vehicles on a busy Saturday and she said she wanted them completely loaded. When I asked her what she meant by loaded, she replied with an attitude and repeated "LOADED". Ok..... I again tried to determine what she meant, but was again returned attitude. I told her that she would need to find another salesman and walked away. Was she going to buy something soon? Maybe. Was it going to be me selling it? No. Not worth the hassle or headache.
Ok, to recap, Mackabee is a professional. He's been at this gig for awhile. If you got into the sales business with the attitude you have. Mack and I would love you. Why? Because you'd be the guy taking every up that came through the door because they all might be buying something. Great! That means Mack and I can cherry pick the best ups and actually sell something. I love greenpeas sometimes. They take all the trash that noone wants.
-Moo
-Moo
We are all strokes until we by.....Yet salesmen on this very board "dislike" strokes and even have a cute name for us...
People with no credit. People with no money. People with no sense. People wasting time on a Sunday afternoon looking at a vehicle that their cousin just bought. Strokes.
Strokes.
Strokes.
Not buyers.
Strokes.
-Moo
You can never know what a person means unless you ask. If they are offended? Take a walk.
-Moo
Awesome! Good for you.
Gee, I wonder if her attitude used to work with her Daddy! Personally, I'm sick & tired of people with attitudes, acting like some other people are inferior, or certain people owe them something. By the way, she didn't drive a Benz, did she?
My wife works retail, and I hear a good story from her every once in a while. Her "favorite" store customers are the ones who walk around continuously talking on the cell phone. When they get up to the sales counter, they can't get off the phone for a couple seconds to acknowledge anyone, nor answer a couple simple questions.
I think its good to have someone on the phone with Internet access when looking at used cars especially.
No, but apparently you know about those folks. Typically, BAD ups. Chips on shoulders and holier than thou attitudes. It's the spice of life I guess. I just don't like my life seasoned with some folks.
-Moo
Back to our regularly scheduled discussion. :shades: