Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Stories from the Sales Frontlines
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First of all... I understand the stigmatism associated with selling cars better then you think.
You start off by asking him about what he's trading. Really? That's how you greet your customers? You then immediately assume that because of what he's currently driving that he'd be upside down? Wow.
Ahh no that is not how I greet them. I don't have enough time to write every word I say with a customer.
The customer tells you he's got time constraints, so you conclude you're "being stroked" and intentionally take him on a route that's going to make him late. You then admit that it makes you feel better to have done this. Incredible.
Apperantly so... what I left out is how the kid was beating on the car during the test drive. When I say beating I mean driving a little more aggressive than a normal one
Does it ever occur to you that CUSTOMERS read these forums too? And when the customer goes into a Dealership, they're fully prepared to be greeted & treated precisely the way you're explaining?
Yes it does occur to me that customers read these posts also. Some people want to hear the real stories. So I tell them and you want to jump on me. I am OK with that. But keep in mind... I give customers what they give me. It is sales 101... mirror match your customer.
And to think - as salespeople, we wonder why customers walk into a Dealership with their fists up.
Are you a sales person? Do you sell cars? If you stated it before forgive I may have missed or simply forgotten. Either way you just met me and are judging me on one experience.
One thing I will tell you is that I am always straight up with my customers. Was he lying when he said he only had 10 minutes.... YES... did I tell him the test drive was going to take longer than his planed time... yes. Did I take him a little out of his way... yes but only 5 minutes, did I feel justified for getting stroked. Yes
Have a great day,
GP
Yes Mack that is right. They hold $25 from each deal. If you make CSI you get $25 back for each deal. Who ever doesn't make CSI... their money goes into a pool and split between the people who make it. It can be fun.
Our plan was changed recently too. same kind of idea as yours. We do have 4 toyota stores :surprise:
So we will have a spot for you
GP
With 6 years experience I know. Here's how I know... the kid paid 430 a month on his current vehicle. He is not trading because the vehicle is in Florida, registered in Florida...
You have to give me more credit than that.
GP
My wife and her family are coming. My wife has a digital camera and takes pic of everything to put on her myspace.... :confuse:
I'll have her put some pics on my carspace.
And you absolutley correct on what I am going to do Mack. I am definatley looking forward to it because I know it is back to work straight for 2 weeks with the end of the month!
Hopefully not a lot of people will hit CSI
GP
I have to say with all respect that I am taking what you say personaly because you are saying the business hasn't changed by the way I wrote about how dealt with customers. The fact is I did try and sit him down qualify him. You know who was sitting down. Me... He was standing up whinning about how he just wanted to see the car. Show him the car now he wants to drive the car but has to go at the same time...
GP
" Reply from an educator:
"That's the first time "I've ever heard that request used in the past, pluperfect subjunctive "
Requesting first row for the no holds barred, tag team death match between you and richard64,It was the subjunctive that made me switch my gambling dollars . Educate on, Doug.
Didn't know about the dinner plans till we were on the test drive...
"I didn't boot the guy.... BECAUSE there is still that small window of opportunity where he ciuld still buy, that is why I went on a test drive"
I was busy because I had a customer in the box... it was 8:30pm and I really wanted to concentrate on getting ready to go home. They guy left at 8:55pm.
GP
And any customer who has bought anything more expensive than a tricycle will expect the questions and take no offence,
When I last bought, one of the first questions the salesman asked was "what will you be trading?". I pointed to my 11 year old Chrysler with the rust spot on the hood and said "I can give you this beauty but I'll need about 8 grand".
He look at the car and then looked at me. We both smiled and went on with the purchase. If he had tried to continue on that tact I would have known it was time to shop elsewhere.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
It's bad when they try that line over $6000 but I get it often over 50cents.
I'll have a customer tell me that Joe Blow at the next table is charging 50 cents less for tomatoes than I am. I will respond "Well you better get back there before Joe sobers up and stops selling at a loss".
That usually shuts them up and they end up buying from me. :confuse:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
So it's YOU they were talking about in "Confessions of a F&I Manager". I knew it was one of you guys.
Now which one of you guys is the bank robber?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
LOL....
Where is this confessions of a F&I guy?
On the home page of edmunds?? I looked there the other day but didn't see anything. I guess I will look again. :confuse:
GP
Never mind I found it.
GP
" And tee off many potential sales
Now that is funny... you play golf and you used the word "tee"
For some reason that cracked me up and it is the first post where I didn't think you were saying anything derogative.
Wow that felt nice.
can we be friends now? " You can, but you are feeling defensive with no need to. You had a stroker prospect that you identified correctly and that's that. Now when you assume , yada yada ..you and me. Correct as well, we don't know but since our business time is finite we make intelligent choices. I want to take a test drive but I only have 10 minutes? In the end, if he was the illegitimate son of Don Trump and you blew it, all in all he's just another brick. You are a great salesman as is reflected in your numbers, I'm feeling perhaps that you are a little insecure in not being college educated . But education does not equate with intelligence. Sheesh, look at Wall St., are they smarter than a 5th grader? Years ago I heard a comparison that makes alot of sense. The difference between ignorance and nescience. Ignorance is not knowing something you would typically be expected to know, such as red means stop. Nescience is not knowing something which is specialized and and the average person or host wouldn't be expected to know, such as the third law of thermodynamics
Nescience
Main Entry: ne·science
Pronunciation: \ˈne-sh(ē-)ən(t)s, ˈnē-, -sē-ən(t)s\
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin nescientia, from Latin nescient-, nesciens, present participle of nescire not to know, from ne- not + scire to know — more at no, science
Date: 1612
: lack of knowledge or awareness : ignorance
Umm, what was the difference again?
That one's an instant classic, fezo.
Thanks.
-ss4
"Our pay plan was "changed" last week. I have a copy and the only "change" I see is more money for the mgmt team and owners. Looks like they played their smoke and mirrors game again. They lowered the percentages on the commissions, upped the unit counts to make bonuses and and everything looks the same or worse to me. Oh, they did increase the commission on Yaris to $150.00 Whoo Hooo! "
I call it the annual Christmas paycut except yours came in August. Do more to get same. It's sadly a tactic utilized by middle
management to keep their numbers looking good. Now your store happens to be a Japanese manufacturer that makes fuel efficient vehicles but any consideration given to that it is a slow economy?
No, domo arrigato mr. roboto . Alas it a continuing trend.
All our times have come, here but now they're gone. **************************************************
Nor do the sun, the wind or the rain.
Ps .another 40,000 come everyday
Thanks Duke...
I agree I think I was being a little too defensive also.
I think I can let sleeping dogs lie...
GP
Yeah, I read that. I had never heard the word before, so I checked 3 online dictionaries and they all used ignorance as a definition for nescience. I was just poking fun because I though you were a bit pretentious.
And one should never make absolute generalizations like: "They are ignorant in Oregon or just don't read too completely" (That's a joke, son)
james
And miss out on the opportunity for the cheapest funeral in town? Walmart can customize a Charmin box to be your coffin, and bury you in one of their yet to be paved parking lots. All for the low low price of $99.99. Your loved ones will remember you every time they go to the can.
"Rebuttals might stop for a minute and consider the intent..... or not...
Thanks Duke...
I agree I think I was being a little too defensive also.
I think I can let sleeping dogs lie... "
I know you will as will I. You continually post sales stories which are the meat of this forum. Here's hoping you've been scrod and that it was satisfactory. Past pluperfect subjunctive intended.
Bad example. Some hosts happen to know a bit about thermodynamics. :P
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Did you have to coach her on the survey? Just wondering since you called her bluff, knowing women poker players as being somewhat vindictive (Annie Duke comes to mind) that she may not have given you straight A's on the survey without a couple of oil changes.
Duke,
I think you, along with many other posters here may be smarter than a fith grader
LOL
I am reading your posts and rereading them trying to figure out what the words mean. I do appreciate the little defnitions you give. With out them I would be totaly lost.
GP
You need to read the posts quickly and not stop and try to read word for word. It's like music. Combined it's like a symphony. Individually makes no sense at all.
Thought I'd help.
I thought you had to have a least a PhD to even get an interview to be a host here? Be careful what you say, they know when you are sleeping, they know when you're awake...
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I'm very proud of you.
I'm on vacation this week and probably next too. I'm going to be looking at other venues while I'm at it. Staying here to fix some things around the house. I'm thinking of selling it and moving to less crowded spaces. This town has gotten to big for me. When we moved here my house was considered to be in the boonies. One lane roads, country markets, picture post card. Now there's traffic jams on the once one lane roads which are now four lane and still can't hold all the traffic. I guess that's what you pay for progress. I'm glad I bought my house here. You know, location, location, location. Well my equity has more than doubled in the last couple of years and thanks to the area I'm in there is no shortage of buyers for the price range I'm in.
Hmmm, let's see..Texas, nah too hot said the wife. Cali, .... I'd love to but it's even worse now then in the 80's...NC...good possibility..Ga,,,another good possibility...where ever it is the weather has to be nice. No harsh winters,,...cool summers...etc..one or two Toyota dealers or Honda and Nissan...any suggestions?
:shades:
Instead my wife, three kids and I moved back to her hometown to be close to family and I began working at a Ford dealership.
I took a day off yesterday so I’m catching up on some posts or I would have responded sooner.
Thanks for answering my question about who you are. Now we’ll know how to deal with you.
There is nothing like being around the family. I know. I lived in S.C. for 5 years in the mid 90’s and now I’m back in the Burgh with family again.
I began working at a Ford dealership. Currently I am in sales but will be moving to the F&I office soon.
We used to have a Ford guy here who was in F&I. He went a way when they built him a new store. Now he’s too good for us; no big loss :surprise: . It’ll be nice getting a replacement.
By the way, I had more credit rejects in the first month I was here with Ford than I did my entire time with BMW. Not really a shocker, though, huh?
C’mon, don’t put us on like that. You’re starting off on the wrong foot already. :shades:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
So she drives 4 hours to get here. When she arrives, she won't let me look at the trade immediately. She wanted to drive the Cayman first. So we took the vehicle out and she literally drove around the block. She likes the car. We just need to confirm numbers on the trade.
As my U/C manager and I start walking around the vehicle, we start to laughing. The vehicle has hit everything except lotto. Only 2 panels weren't painted. Oddly enough, the CarFax was clean. Trash litters the interior and the trunk lid won't shut without a lot of muscle. (This is a Mercedes Benz, 2003 SLK 230.)
I go and try to talk to her about what happened. Apparently she had backed into and pulled into a number of different objects. Several of these objects were immovable and ended up scraping the sides of her vehicle as well. I tell her that this does not constitute a perfect vehicle and her car is worth $12k. She also switched vehicles to a more expensive model that we had because of color. Her new price? $36k.
I show her the numbers and she immediately says no. Can't do it. I really need to be at $25k. I ask her, "I thought you said you would come up a little bit?" She says, "Yes, I might be able to do another $1k."
:sick:
So I come in on my day off and she drives an 8 hour round trip for nothing. I'm convinced that she was just bored. I had told her best case scenario and she basically refused to hear it. In her mind, she's thinking that her vehicle is in perfect shape and we would give her around $18k for it.
Good times.
Good luck, Mack. It sounds like at the very least you need a new store to work at.
How's sales, Jescue? Our store isn't doing too poorly, but I'm missing the boat a little bit. As evidenced by my inability to overcome $10k difference.
I tried to switch her to a 2007 CLK with 8k miles on it, but she seized up quickly. It was like I threatened her with shock therapy or something. "I came here to buy a Porsche, I don't want a Mercedes." I told her to take her trade to CarMax which was just down the road. There is one less than a mile away. She said no. I can't understand the mentality. If I had driven 4 hours to buy a new car, then I would most certainly exhaust all options while I was here. Not this one....
$40k.... LOL. I can't believe he even got in the door. Was it a Land Rover trade that killed you?
That's an understatement. I hope you guys didn't give him a test drive. It sounds like a classic stroke.
I know the G.M at the Toyota of Parts Unknown (Louisville) store. There are 3 Toyota dealerships, 2-3 Honda dealerships, and 4 Hooters resturants in this area. Summers not to hot, winters not to cold, city not to big or small, great location... just right for the ole jipster. House for sale right next to me as a matter of fact. :shades:
Come to Raleigh....we could use some good Toyota salesmen down here.
We have some big parking lots, and can bring in some sand from the Outer Banks to give you plenty of demo space.
And if you shift brands to Honda, you'll definitely be at the top of the salesmen class, from those that I've seen over the years.
.
How to deal with me? What, am I unclean or something???
Just kidding around.
Anyway, I have to admit it's been a huge adjustment going from BMW to Ford. Every swinging "you know what" comes in and has some sort of "come apart" over a Shelby GT500. It's a cool car and all, but it's hard to get excited over it when you're used to dealing with a vehicle on another level. Plus, we get 10K over list on all our Shelby's (ridiculous, I know) so a coupe goes for upper $50's and convertible in the $60's. Give me an M3 or even a loaded 335.
The thing I have realized the most though is that F&I is where I want to be. I assisted the F& I department with BMW, but their was great money in sales. With Ford, it appears to be the opposite. I can make okay money in sales, but the F&I guys are knockin down good money here. One of them is about to move up to General Sales Manager so I should be filling that spot.
Sounds like a great place. Maybe I'll take a look at it.
How do you feel about tractor noise at 5AM?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
The book then goes on to point out something that I'm sure you all face time and again-- how offended people get when you tell them what their trade-in is worth, like you were personally insulting them or something.
Of course it works the other way too. When I bought my old Boxster S one winter, I offered Edmunds TMV which included dealer cash to move the leftover '03s off the lot. After having my sales guy tell me that Porsche doesn't negotiate, the sales manager himself said it was hagglers like me who were driving down the value of the brand, and that they would never sell the car for what I offered. Again, if they didn't want to sell me the car at that price, then whatever, that's their business and I'm not bothered. I totally didn't get why they felt the need to get offended about it, and then in turn, insult me.
A month later, in the midst of a run of terrible winter weather, I spotted the car on their website for even less that I initially proposed. Despite the fact that I thought these guys were total jerks, I headed right down and bought it on the spot. The kicker-- two weeks later, my wife found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Now I have an awesome 4-year old, but no more Boxster.
That vehicle is worth $5k. On a good day.
Nice post. It is pretty strange to see the reactions out of people regarding value.
I was recently in the market for a new TV and had an older flat screen that I paid around $1,800 for 3 years ago. I was thinking about selling it and quickly realized that it was virtually worthless. I could buy a brand new TV with better features and resolution for slightly more than what I was thinking about selling it for. Technology is the worst for resale. (Unless it is an Apple product.) I was quickly schooled on the real value of my older TV. Other people refuse to accept that schooling. They believe that an object is worth what they think it is worth. Not what someone is willing to give them for it.
-moo
Living in Jersey, I can guarantee that the Cadillac name, 24" chrome wheels, and throbbing subwoofer in the bed make it a distinct possibility.
I was pleasantly impressed when they came back with $7500, along with compliments of how clean the car is given the mileage (a payoff for being anal about my vehichles). Combine the trade with the fact they offered me $12K off MSRP without even a negotiation, I'm beginning to think this may be the easiest transaction in history. They're actually being so up-front and low-key that I don't feel the need to negotiate to see if I can I do any better. I'm going to spend the weekend seeing if I get any bites on the ad, and if not, I'll probably head back in next week to put in a deposit (they actually have to get the one I want from another dealer). 90 percent of me is wishing all dealership experiences were this easy-- but I still have that little nag (that I won't act on) that's saying this must mean I'm not getting a good deal.