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Stories from the Sales Frontlines
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What can you do to prevent this from happening again? Click on Membership Agreement a the bottom of the page and review the Member Conduct portion. If you see a post that you believe is in violation, don't respond to it! Send an email to Tom, Kirstie, or myself. Talking about it in the topic only further escalates the situation. A quick email to one, or all of us, would be most appreciated.
If for any reason your post needs to be removed (attacking or defending), you will automatically lose your posting privileges for at least a month. Off topic posts will be moved to the Off Topic Chatter forum.
So with that said, welcome back!
FYI - A couple of new discussions:
Got a Quick Question for a Car Dealer? - A place for consumers to seek advice/input from dealers and salespeople.
Tales From the Workplace - Salespeople aren't the only ones with good stories. No matter what your profession, post your job stories here.
Good ideal. I already posted a response to a question that greenpea posted to me in one of them.
Nice to see the discussion open again.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
The guy selling Mazdas: It is nice to see someone so enthusiastic about the brand they sell. Best of luck to you.
I too would put the RX8 on my short list, but something that weighs so little (by today's standards) & pumps out so little torque (I know it is balanced and the rotary loves to be revved to the redline...) has got to get better gas mileage.
From what I read, if I drive an RX8 like I drive my '01 Prelude SH (currently with 101K miles) I'd barely get 20mpg.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Moi!
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
BACK ON TOPIC........
During the hiatus, I was able to communicate with a couple of people who post here quite a bit. I saw a definite difference between those who sell high line cars, as opposed to those who sell the volume brands.
A couple of observations.....
-high line sales is less of a "grinders" experience
-high line sales focuses more on other more esoteric reasons for someone wanting to buy a particular brand (fun factor, performance, "want" of a particular brand's "cachet")
I think I've only heard from exactly one person who says they are selling GM products. Kind of odd, given the fact that GM is still "top dog" in all of automotive-dom (at least for now). A question for the GM sales people......how does employee pricing for everyone affect your paycheck? How do you get paid on those deals?
Again, thanks to the Edmunds staff.
Now I am walking on egg shells. I feel like I have been written up twice and if it happens again I am fired. Or not allowed to ost for a month
I don't think I am any trouble... I just am aware that I have had a post deleted once or twice :shades:
well I guess if that happens than I will get learn a lot of other things in life as I have had to do the last couple of days
Welcome back everyone. And also thank you to the Almighty edmunds and to our hosts for doing a great job.
GP
GP
Thanks for bringing this topic back.
GP - at one point or another, almost everyone who posts to Edmunds has one deleted. It's really not a big deal, so long as you understand why the post was deleted and learn from the experience.
I suspect that we'll all behave better after having the topic taken away from us for a time.
Anyway, back to the stories!
I've seen guys selling the "lesser" brands but they have a high volume operation and good management, (Toyota/Scion) so they're pretty happy; and I've seen guys selling the top brands (BMW) but the pressure is relentless for packing deals, and the dealership is chaotic and back-stabbing. People might actually steal from you, you never know.
One friend owns, of all things, a Mitsubishi dealership, which is hardly the place to get rich, but his staff has been there forever. He runs a great store and has a sizzling good service and used car operation to keep things afloat.
While I can say that I've known sales and sales management at high line stores that have been around for years. I'm trying to think of one person who's been with the same (aside from upper management) Chevy, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc volume store more than a year, maybe two. Can't remember any.
Obviously, it's tougher to walk away from a store where you're making good money. Very easy to walk away from a store where you'd make more at Wall Mart.
There was (is?) a Honda dealer. My folks bought several Accord iterations from the same salesman from the mid '70s into the mid '80s (the "order taking" days!). My father always seemed amazed that this gentleman was still at the Honda shop and referred to him as probably the most "professional" of any car salesman he's ever dealt with. Nice.
At the Lexus Plantation in my current burg, many of the salesfolks have been there many a day... Our salesman from '01/'02 is still there. Of course, he told me in confidence that most all of the sales folks there make 6 figures...
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
Well, someone must be making money with Mitsu or they wouldn't be there forever. If the company ever puts together all their technology in the right package they could have some winners.
Maybe that's what those folks at your friend's store are holding on for.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
San Francisco Toyota is a pretty amazing place. I never had a sales manager BOW to me before as I left with my new car, handing me his cell phone #--LOL! I about fainted.
Mostly young kids there, shirt and ties, shoes shined, and they jump up when you come in. Ah, young blood!
I am glad to see "Stories from the Sales Frontline" back. Hope no one is too intimidated, over the one month lock down time, to offer an appropriate rebuttal to any post of their choosing.
See you guys around.
Shifty
VISITING HOST
What about me
I have been with Nissan for 6 years and have only been at two stores the entire time. Only reason I moved is because I had moved and wanted to work closer to home. Otherwise I would still be at the other store.
GP
Shifty
VISITING HOST
I don't know... with a name like "Shifty"... you sure you're practicing what you preach?
Totally agree with the slogan though, which is why I wrote members should only offer "appropriate rebuttals". Just trying to help you guys out.
Let's make Sales Frontlines #1 for today - a big comeback!!!
Start posting all those pent-up remarks
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
More on topic, went and looked at new cars this weekend (gotta have those safety features for the upcoming baby, after all), and found some very nice sales staff at the local Mazda dealer. No pressure, understood we were just there to look, and very informative about their product as well. We will definitely go there when the time comes (just would like to pay down the other car a bit more first).
Welcome back, everyone!
BTW.....what's up with the headlights of the new Maxima :confuse:
Saw one up close and personal over the weekend. I'm sure the more I see of them, they'll grow on me. But, some designer deep in the bowels of Nissan seems to have snuck some Flash Gordon design cues. Made me wonder how difficult it was to design the stamping equipment for those, as well as the dies for the sheetmetal surrounding them.
I am sure they will the car is very hot right now. I think the whole car looks sweet :shades:
GP
My folks had several Gallants/Diamantes in the late '80s, early '90s that were quite lovely. I almost bought a Starion (the salesman wouldn't let me go! He kept dropping the price $1000 every five minutes, but I just wasn't a buyer at that moment. Told him I was just a Lookie Lou. IIRC, the ~$25k Starion was down to $15k as I finally left. So tempting, though...).
And who didn't want the 1G Turbo/AWD Eclipse!
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
Again, not a knock. Just my personal observation.
If I may interject in here, since I had that question asked while at Nissan. Diiferent strokes for different folks. I'd say go ahead , get a G35, but they're two distinct vehicles with different qualities. Typically loyal Maxima customers won't cross shop, as far as I've seen. Snd Maxima buyers tend to be a very very loyal bunch. I had a few Maxima customers, typically in their late 50s, who owned multiple generations of the car, and wouldn't even care to look at a G35. To them the Maxima was the best car they ever owned. And many of them had Maximas way back from the Datsun days.
Overall I think the Maximas are roomier than the G35s, and for any location that gets snow, some folks just prefer to have the ease of FWD.
And I may be wrong as I never sold a Maxima during the 6 months there. Acutally our store I think sold one Maxima during my time there.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Ciao.
Iwant12
GG
Sure if you are looking for a G series... But the G series is equivalent to a Altima where as a Maxima is equivelant to the M series.... The Maxima has more room than the G series also. Let's just take it for a test drive and see how feel afterwards about it. If the figures are not agreeable and affordable I wouldn't expect you to do business here... fair enough? That is how I would handle it :shades:
Laurasdada,
I was really hoping Brady was going to pull a Paul Pierce :sick:
Maybe... just maybe.... This year will be like when Bledsoe got hurt. And I am sure you remember what happened that year
Good to see everyone coming back.
GP
All very good points Boom... Some g35's are AWD :sick:
But it does come down to a personal prefence.... Just drive the car and away we go. I have just had too much starbaucks.
GP
Well yeah that wouldn't be a problem if he had $15,000 in the trunk :P
GP
If they did they'd have to call it an Infiniti.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Plus another $2,000 in the glove box...
I had a guy back in March on a Volvo XC90 who was trying to trade in an '07 Isuzu Ascender (yes, the gigantic one) with like 25,000 miles on it. I didn't get into the deal till late in the game cause the guy who was working it went to another dealer, but by the time I got there, we had given him all the dealer cash and we were like $250 over invoice and he was still sitting there frowning at us and telling us we were trying to rob him, etc... Apparently, he thought his trade was worth like $20,000, and we weren't even close... I just can't stand the people who will sit there, look you in the face after you've given them some huge discount knowing you won't make more than a minimum flat on a car, and act like we've got some magic supply of money hidden somewhere that we're not telling them about.
Case in point: I had a lady tell me once that she wanted a $1,000 discount off of our discount price. I had already showed her the TMV, etc of the car she wanted, and we were under it by about $1500 already. When I asked her why she thought it was worth $1,000 less, she responded, "Oh, it has nothing to do with what it's worth, it's just my experience that dealers can always come down $1,000 if they have to, so I want $1,000 off your price." Nice.
I absolutely knew you (the you-you) were helping out BTW.
I had one a few months ago on a used car. He saw it on the internet and he called me. I can't remember the nature of the questions he asked but he asked questions I have NEVER in 13 years been asked. Then he said it sounded EXACTLY like what he had been looking for and he said he would be out in ah hour to see it.
Five hours later, he shows up and asks for me.
I showed him the car. It was a six year old Accord in excellent condition. This guy checks EVERYTHING! He opens every door and runs his fingers over the weatherstrips, he opens anc closes every window. He pokes his head under the dash. He spends a good ten minutes inspecting the interior of the trunk!
Under the hood he touches everything, wiggles wires thumps on the battery and checks the oil level. He gets on the gorund and looks under the car from every angle. I'm losing interest now...FINALLY, he wants to drive it and what a drive it was!
He is a cruise control nutcase! He tests the cruise control at every speed. He twitches the steering wheel back and forth (we hate this!) for at least a five minute session. I thought I would get seasick!
It was a hot day, so what does he do? He gets on the freeway and puts all of the windows down! There was no controlling this guy either. So much for my normal route. This was a 45 minute test drive!
He found a parking lot had spun tight circles! The whole time, he constantly fiddled with the cruise control. He tuned the radio to every station! I knew he was a stroke
five minutes after meeting him and I was dead on.
He left to think about it and the car sold the next morning to a person who looked at it for five minutes, drove it around the block and the deal was done.
This is called "getting ambushed" and I was, big time!
i was pretty beat up for the day, but cleaned myself up a bit and put on a collared shirt,
anyways, we check out the seats, but i noticed the people that came into the showroom were not the buyer types. father and son, kid wearing a yellow ferarri shirt, they didn't know a carrera4s was 4wheel drive. next some 'boys' in white tshirts came in and took pictures while leaning on one of the cars. at least it was a turbo.
the salesmen were very accommodating, but it seems pretty darn annoying to me.
With that many antics I was starting to think the same thing. :sick:
GP
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I am proud of you all Frontlines Buds! Keep up the good work, and the discussion is going great.....off to a terrific start.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I can't imagine doing that to anyone. Takes all kinds I guess.
Called the ECOnetic, what can you say, they have not kissed the blarney stone, it achieves an amazing 65 mpg . Though it is the personal opinion of this humble servant that gas prices will go into the $2 range post hurricane season and short term memory reigning supreme we will quickly revert to our old evil ways, you may not purchase this vehicle. Because costs are too high in this country to make it economical. Drat! A "clean" diesel it would be an instant top seller. Currently in vogue is to punish the lowest level in the distillite process.My apologies should I ever offend anyone past, current or future.
Ps. I think I may have to retch soon.
" If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs.
Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel. " The lowest level of the distillate process, we price it quite poorly so as to offend the trucking industry. link title
Eggshells, schmegshells, Rock & Roll.
I would think you'd have to make some very astute sales compare and contrast statements if you sell one over the other. But, as you say, there are plenty of people out there who are Nissan loyalists.
Heck, the Caddy DI motor is going to be used in the upcoming Camaro (two very different applications, however). Personally, I'm going to be taking a very close look at the Camaro SS with the 'vette engine when it hits the streets, however.
Off topic....that was painful to see Brady's injury. Then again, it was painful for me to watch my Bengals play, too. And, they didn't have anyone physically injured. I had to take some aspirin just to watch the last qtr of that game.
Carlson Palmer is a great quarter back. I actually had him last year in my fantasy football. The Bengals will do fair this year. Ya never know who will get injured :sick:
GP
five minutes after meeting him and I was dead on.
I don't know... maybe he was just "off the wall" like you wrote at the beginning of the post. Why look under the hood and all the other "inspectatory" stuff the guy did if he was only going out for a joy ride?
Only possible reason would be he is trying to throw you off the trail, or he is a legitimate "off the wall" buyer.
Nice story isell... I'm proud of you.
shifty: that's what I thought... thanks.
I'd pay extra to delete the moonroof. My salesperson had to fight tooth and nail to get BMW AG to build my Club Sport without a hole in the roof, even though it was listed as an option. That's one of the things that swayed toward the Mazdaspeed3, although some idiots have paid $1000 or more to have a moonroof installed on their MS3. Bleah.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive