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Tell me in 1 minute or less...:):):)
You mean Farragut. I didn't know you knew him personally. That was a long time ago snake. My hat's off to you.
:shades:
Mackabee
Mack
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I had a pretty good day today. The be-backs from Saturday bought and one family from Sunday came and purchased also, and a couple from Friday came in yesterday and back today to finish the deal. Would have had a hat trick but we didn't have the vehicle in stock for the Friday couple. Have to dx and the other store's dx'er did not return our calls today. Anyway here's a short story to ensure my membership in this forum is kept up to date.
The family from Sunday are Vietnamese. Their last name is one of the most common in their country, kind of like Smith, Rodriguez, Patel, etc in ours. :shades: So anyway. Yesterday, one of my fellow salespersons closed a deal with a Vietnamese couple by the same last name as my customers. When they get to F$I they blow out of the box over $0.89 cents. They had agreed to a payment of $300.00 a month for 60 months. The software we use while working a deal is not exact and varies by a few cents. Once the deal is agreed to and loaded into ADP the actual payment was $300.89 per month. The customers go back into the finance office and when Chad starts going over the figures with them they get mad over the 89 cents. They walk out of the office.
Our F$I offices face each other and our GM happened to be in one of the adjoining offices and heard the whole thing. As the business manager tried to get the customers back in the office our GM asked to look at the deal. The customers waited with baited breath while he made a decision. He looked at the gross screen and saw the deal was a $1500.00 loser. He asked if they were financing or buying a warranty. They responded NO. He told them to have a nice day and walked them. :sick: The salesperson was not a happy camper. :mad: Yesterday Mrs. Ngu calls me and tells me she can't pick up her car as she cannot leave work. She asks me if it's ok to pick it up today in the morning. The car is for her sister in law and she also asks me if I can drive the car back because her sister is not familiar with the area and she's afraid she'll get lost. Since her sister is a hottie I agree to drive the car back. With her sister in the car of course!
This morning they are at the store bright and early. I get the rest of their paperwork together and have our delivery coordinator come over and talk to them. As I take the folder to our admin assistance to log it for the next F$I manager she tells me they are all at a meeting. She looks at the name on the folder and asks: "Is this the customer from yesterday that got all pissed off?" "No, this is another customer. They have the same last name." I tell her. "Let me go upstairs and tell them there's a deal." she says.
I wait for her to come back and while I'm waiting I decide to go back to the negotiating table. The ladies ask me if they can choose their license plates. Seems like they are very superstitious and if certain numbers are on their tags they will have bad luck and something terrible may happen to them. I had heard this before but this was the first time I had encountered it. I tell them we'll do our best to get plates without the numbers 1-5.
I go back to the admin girl and since she issues the tags I tell her to be prepared. I also ask who will be doing the deal. "They saw the name on the folder and nobody wanted to do it." she says laughing. "I told them it was your customer and not the same one from yesterday. Someone will be down in a minute."
One of the F$I manglers comes down and takes the folder. I tell him it's a cash deal and he asks if I told them about a warranty. "Yeah, I told them about a warranty. The factory warranty."
15 minutes later, my customers are ready to get their tags. I walk them over to their car, put the tags on, go over the controls and features. I am about to call the lot attendant when the lady tells me her sister will drive the car. "It's ok. She is going to follow me." she says. "Are you sure. It really is no trouble."
I get on the phone and call her husband to tell him his wife and sister are on their way home. An hour later I get a call from Kim telling me they got home ok. She says she will be seeing me soon since her younger sister also needs a car. I am waiting patiently.
:shades:
Mackabee
Actually, the quote was "Damn the torpedos, I am going to the head." :shades:
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Is bobst Vietnamese? That sounds like something he would do, or has done. That's walking over about $55, sounds kinda nutty to me. But, a deals a deal... though in this case it wasn't.
I think you may be the only one, or at least in a distinct minority. If I see "to be continued" at the bottom, I skip it.
Thanks, Mack, for this one. Good luck with the rest of the month & the long weekend.
So it would seem that the common wisdom is true. Buyers should go to the dealer on the last week of the month.
Just curious, could that couple have grinded a $1500 loser deal if they had come on the first week of the month?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
We’re not an unreasonable bunch here and we appreciate what goes on in your biz but you can’t leave the ship unmanned, I’m surprised you would even think of that ! Therefore, why don’t you guys get together and decide who’s going to be in what ‘duty section’. I’m sure you can work this out among yourselves, that way we will have 100% coverage here.
Anything less is just irresponsible, unacceptable and against Edmunds bylaws. Otherwise, you guys are going to see Captain tidester or Captain kirstie; all depends on which one of them has the duty that day.
Please don't make me say this again. :mad:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Mack
He told me he would accept the deal and give me a deposit to get the truck under two conditions: That I "throw in" (I love those two words
We're working on a mini deal and he has been a royal PITA and I've kept my cool to this point. I do the take away. "Well, I'm sorry. But I cannot do that. And if you feel you're not getting a great deal and I haven't treated you with dignity and respect then don't buy the truck." I tell him. "Oh no, no. I do want the truck and you've been great. Like I told you I was impressed with your knowledge of the truck and my wife even said she liked you better than the other two sales folks at the other dealers, but I was thinking last night that those two items would be the icing on the cake." he responds. "I'll see what I can do." I respond. So now he has me by the short hairs so to speak. Do I go ahead and give him the things he wants and risk a bad survey anyway since these type of buyers are never satisfied no matter how good the deal is and how they were treated. "May I ask you something Fred?" I ask. "Sure." he responds. "I bet you had a really bad experience with your last car purchase didn't you?." I remark. "Well, yes. Like I told you the other day. It was horrible. Why do you ask.?" he says. I don't remember him telling me this the other day. Must have been one of the two other sales folks he was dealing with. "It's been my experience that customers expect the same situation as when they bought their last car. If you had a terrible experience and I've broken that pattern you are expecting something to go wrong and it hasn't so you are acting the way you are." I tell him. He looks at me with a
and his wife just smiles and shakes her head. I give her a lot of credit for putting up with this guy for so long. He told me earlier the reason they never had kids is he doesn't have any patience and gets angry easily and they wouldn't have lasted two months with him. I think to myself "self, thank God you didn't give him any kids. He's a bit psycho." So anyway. Today we get the call to get the truck. I'm off but since the store we're getting it from is about 8 miles from my place I'm picking it up later today. I called the customer since he stopped by the store this morning and told one of the SMs he would have to go out of state due to his mom being very sick and might not make it past the weekend. He told me she is doing better and will let me know in the morning whether he'll pick up the truck or not. Stay tuned.
:shades:
Mackabee
Deals typically are better at month's end. However, in my case I tell customers if they are ready to buy any day is the last of the month.
"Just curious, could that couple have grinded a $1500 loser deal if they had come on the first week of the month?"
Maybe. Depends on the sales person, the customer's attitude, and the manager on duty. Some managers will take a loser deals at the beginning of the month.
Mack
Fast forward to last Friday. She calls me and says that she is still interested and wanted to come by on Saturday. Great. We set up an appoinment and she's late again. Eventually, she and her husband show up. She's actually nice. He's a complete d***head. No worries, I'm smiling and dancing.
They test drive the vehicle and then do what I can only describe as an amateur acting debut. She acts like she's not sure about the car. He acts like he doesn't care. I know she wants. She knows she wants it. He knows he wants it. I sincerely hate the poor acting that people do to try and grind you on the price. I know it's coming.
She eventually says that the Xterra will work if the price is right. We sit down and d***head takes over the negotiations. He tells me to give us our best price and he'll tell me if we have a deal or not. I tell him, our best price is the price you'll buy at. Where do we need to be? Him. You tell me! Me. I can't negotiate against myself. How about I take $500 off. Blah blah blah blah. This keeps going. He asks why I'm not running to my manager with his offers. I tell him because I work my own deals. He seems unhappy about that.
At this point.... I should have known that he wanted to see me going back and forth to the manager. But I didn't pick up on that quick enough. Some people just want to play a game I guess. That's my fault. At any rate, no offer is good enough for him. He wants me to throw in all kinds of extras for him to put the deal together. The wife is taking forever to make any decisions. It's a marathon deal.
I'm irritated. The guy is rude. I see tons of people running around the lot who probably want to pay profit and at least be nice to their salesman. Especially one as charming as me. :P
Now here's the kicker. I can be direct to a fault. It's probably my best strength and worst weakness. If I don't like someone...it's pretty obvious. I had had it with this guy and his wife. Buy or don't buy, I really don't care.
After all this, his wife goes to the car AGAIN to make one more test drive in it. I ask him to start signing paperwork. He tells me that he's not signing anything because he doesn't like my attitude and he doesn't think he should have to buy a car from someone he doesn't like. I think to myself, I don't like you're f***ing attitude either, but you don't see me bringing it up. I ask him if he wants another salesman. He doesn't respond. So I just ignore him until the wife gets back. I ask her to sign and she does.
I hand the deal over to the finance manager and as he walks them back, he continues to complain about me. The wife tells him to stop being an a**hole. (This is from my F&I manager.) He still continues. When the options are presented in the F&I office, he tells her not to buy anything. My business manager questions why they wouldn't be buying GAP at least. They were rolling in 5k negative equity. D***head says that she doesn't need it. Wife asks him if he has ever bought it on any of HIS cars. He says, ya, every one of 'em. :confuse: Wife is irritated now. Then WHY shouldn't I buy it for mine!?
Yup, there's a snapshot of those folks life. Good luck on EVER getting any help at the dealership from me. No surveys either....somehow their information was lost so they won't be getting one. Ooops.
-Moo
Mack, just curious, but why would any dealer knowingly do a deal where they lose $1500.?
Or do you mean they expected to make $3,000. profit on the deal but only made $1500.?
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Excellent phrase. Well done!
I hope you at least sent it to your own house. That way you could get a 100 in. Some people just don't get it. :sick:
Mack, just curious, but why would any dealer knowingly do a deal where they lose $1500.?
Or do you mean they expected to make $3,000. profit on the deal but only made $1500.?
It means that the dealership is loosing $1500 in other words not making any money at all. Loosing money. Dealerships don't always make money. They do it because they would rather earn a customer that might do service and refer people. These things do happen.
Ever heard of a gross profit and a net loss? Service, parts and used cars are where the $$ is made.
I can understand a dealership losing money at the end of the month when salesmen/SM’s and the dealership itself is scrambling to make their numbers but I can’t understand the “earn a customer that might do service and refer people” comment. By the admission of you guys in the biz that most people trade every 3/4 years how much out of warranty biz can you get? If you say, “a lot” or anything like this, then I would question the reliability of the car being sold and/or the value of the mfgs.warranty. As for relying on referrals that are any better than what the average customer would provide, this has to be a total crap shoot.
I’m confused but I’m willing to listen. :confuse:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
At least that is what it sounds like to me.
But wait. Even for a car in warranty, these dealers charge back the "costs"
e.g. Replaced steering rack. Get the $$$ from the factory. In reality all that happened behind the closed doors of the service dept is that they tightened the nut that was loose.
Think of it like this. The person who bought a car here is going to talk to people. When people ask where did you buy that or where do you go for service. They will say ABC Motors. Instead of saying XYZ motors. It is really that simple. There is so much competition out there.
I'm prepared to accept that what you say is true, but there are quite a few dealers around here that have very few used cars on their lots. Are they staying afloat on service and parts mostly? If it's relevant, and it may be, I am in Canada.
I am also confused about losing money on a deal. Some say it happens on most deals, others say hardly ever. I would tend to be on the hardly ever side.
Let's be honest here and tell it like it is. Car dealers and salesmen are not all good or bad. They are like most of us. Some are honest and hardworking and some are devious and spiteful. And some are both, depending on how they feel at any particular time.
To me it is very simple. When I am buying a car I will buy from someone that I like and can identify with. If I like the guy I can overlook a lot of other faults. Doesn't just apply to cars either.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Too many people know me and too many of my customers read these forums. I have changed the details of several stories but still, I hesitate.
The customers that amuse me the most are the ones that outsmart themselves by trying to outsmart me. It's like they think I can't smell what they are up to. If they are going to spring a trade in on me after the deal has been stuck, I know that. " Oh, I'm going to probably sell it to a family member" " Probably" means they are going to coyly spring it on me. I can tell every time.
" I have bought cars here in the past"
Oh, really? Ah...not in the past 12 years you haven't.
" I won't shop your number"
" I hate going back and forth"
This time of the year during Clearance time always brings out the WORST in customers. They play every angle as they pit dealer against dealer. They spend DAYS on the phone or driving from store to store. They get lowballed by other stores and sometimes I really can't blame to other stores for doing this to them. I had a customer recently drive 200 miles to buy a car when I had told them it wasn't possible. I promised I wouldn't say " I told you so" when they returned. They did return and I honored my promise.
They richly deserved the long, worthless drive they made for nothing in their zeal to save a lousy buck!
I won’t argue with that, otherwise I’d be arguing with myself. Unless you played with a customer and after he bought he realized it. In that case all bets are off. That's why I think all your customers would tell people, that were in the market for a car you sold, “go see my guy, he’ll take care of you”, right? But to lose money with the thought of getting more than the normal number of referrals is what I can’t understand.
It is really that simple.
That’s what I just said.
There is so much competition out there.
That’s why everyone at the dealership has to work together so you are the dealer of choice. Easier said than done but that’s the hard part, isn’t it?
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
100% agreed :shades:
It is really not that hard to get everyone to work together. A lot of it depends on what type of people are managing the store. I have good managers so i consider myself lucky.
In fact next time you talk to someone with Honda tell them to please GOD STOP THOSE COMMERCIALS.
At least you remember those ads, right? Crazy clean cut white guy hawking wares to everyone.
-Moo
When things go wrong it’s always managements fault. It took me a while to really understand that. Management has to know what’s going on at all times. How else can they correct things that aren’t right?
Well before I was pushed into management I learned that. So the guys that were once my co-workers knew I was going to be a hands-on-guy not just an administrator. They knew I wasn’t going to meddle in everything they did in their day to day work but they knew very well if there was a problem I wanted to know about it from them, not from the outside.
Once the ground rules are established and you have good people, you will win most battles regardless of the business.
End of rant.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Mack
Deadbeat Customers
It was last Thursday around 8:30 pm. I was sitting inside a convertible Solara listening to a motivational cd a friend of mine gave me. I was into the first five minutes when Ryan knocks on the passenger side window. Ryan is the son of my first GM at the Toyota store and he's following on his dad's footsteps. I unlock the door and he gets into the passenger side.
"What you listening too?" he asks. "Some motivational stuff a friend gave me." I respond. "Is it working?" he asks. "Don't know yet. I have to finish listening to it." I respond and he laughs.
The car is facing towards the showroom and we see an F-150 pull into a customer space. A couple in their late 20's early 30's gets out and start walking towards the inventory. "Let me see what they want." I say to Ryan. It's getting late so he really doesn't make an effort to get out so I do. The couple keeps walking pretending not to see me and ignoring me. I finally catch up to them and she acts surprised as if I had sneaked up on them. I introduce myself and offer my assistance. "I want to look at a 4runner." she says. "Well, you're in the right place. We sell 4runners here." I respond trying to break the ice. She laughs and her boyfriend is not amused. There's a row of 4runners and I ask which trim level she wants to look at. She sees a Sport model and points at it. "Let me look at that one. That's the color I was looking for right there." The runner is a 4wd in Shadow mica which is a dark black/gray/green very unusual color. I open it up and drive it away from the other runners. I began showing her the features and she asks what her payments will be on it. "That depends on your down payment, credit rating, and number of months. I'd be happy to go inside and show you." I tell her. "I have a trade in" she says. "What kind and what year?" I ask. "It's a 99 Rodeo with 154k miles on it. I'll probably sell it myself for 2 thousand." she continues. "Oh, you have a buyer for it already?" I ask. "Sort of. I have a friend in Vermont that said he would give me 2 thousand for it." she remarks. "Well, do you want to test drive it?" I ask. "Not tonight. Will you be working Saturday?" she asks. "Is the Pope Catholic?" I respond looking at her boyfriend who has not said a word up to now. He's wearing a San Diego Padres ball cap and I ask him if he's from there. "No, I'm from LA." he responds. "LA? and you're not a Dodgers fan?" I ask. "Yeah, I like them too. We moved to San Diego so I became a fan." he responds. "So what brought you to Virginia?" I continue.
"My job." he says.
We start walking back to their truck and I ask Jenna what time she'll be in on Saturday. "I don't know if I have to work yet. So after I find out I'll give you a call." she says. "Where do you work?" I ask. "I'm a realtor." she says and gives me a card. It doesn't have her name on it so I give her a puzzled look. :confuse: "I just started working there so I don't have cards yet." she says. "Ok. I'll see you on Saturday. If you can't make it please give me a call." I tell her.
Saturday comes around and Jenna is a no-show. Well DUH? Who didn't know that right? I've come to expect this type of behaviour from some people.
On Sunday I'm at the store and I get a phone call. "Hi, this is Jenna. I spoke to you about a 4runner a few nights ago. Do you still have it?" she asks. "Hi Jenna! What happened to you yesterday?" I ask. "I had to work and couldn't get out there." she responds. "Let me take a look. I'm close to the 4runners right now." I tell her as I'm walking by the vehicles. "Yep, it's still here." I tell her. "I want to make you an offer. If I can get that vehicle for 28k out the door after the rebate I'll be right over to sign the papers today!." she exclaims. Heck anybody would! MSRP on the vehicle is close to $34K! "Let me run some figures and I'll call you back. Are you going to finance with us?" I ask. "Maybe, depending on what rate I get. What's the going rate?" she asks. "It's based on your credit score." I tell her. "I just had my credit checked. My score is 607. I know it's not that great." she responds. "We'll see what we can do. First let me see if I can get price down."..............
TO BE CONTINUED
"
"
I ask about the man in the car with her. He looks about 50 and is kinda wild looking (think Jerry Garcia) Deputy tells me the guy is her son but doesn't say anything else. He asks "can you help them?" I say yes and he is gone like a shot. (I should have known.) We close at noon on sat and it is 11:50. She scoots across the lot at half the speed of a 400 year old turtle and states in a northern accent, "I'd like to buy a cuuur." I say ok what would you like to look at? She asks "what type of Cuuur is that?" pointing to the closest car. I say "that's a 2006 Ford crown victoria, it only has 11,000 miles." She says,"how much does it cost?". I don't have my price list in my pocket and I guess, "about $19,000" (turned out we were asking 16995) To my amazement she says "ok we'll take that one if you'll take a check for part of it. I only have $8000 in cash." "NO PROBLEM!" I nearly scream.
TO BE CONTINUED (It gets better).
Sing it with me: "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!!"
Because these deals don't start as loser deals. After a salesperson has spent two hours with a customer and another on negotiations he's not going to be very happy if he doesn't sell the car. Now he's working the managers to get down to the payment the customers want. This wouldn't have happened had they been on the right car to begin with. But since they weren't now the managers are hoping the customers will finance, get a warranty, and buy after market products thereby recouping some of the lost money on the sale of the car. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Mackabee
P.S. I've seen lots of times where customers grind down to the penny and then buy everything in F$I and after market.
Mackabee
Mackabee