Stories from the Sales Frontlines

isellhondas · July 2007

Well, the stuff we hear and read either brings us up or it drags us down.

This is why I've been staying away. Over the years, these forums have lost a lot of real contributors....too bad.

tidester · July 2007

And NOTHING motivational.

You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!

Oh, you don't care for Stuart Smalley? How about a little Lombardi?

Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing!

Now go forth and multiply those profits! :P

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

grandtotal · July 2007

That's life, things change. I think these forums have also gained a few real contributors too, joel0622, british_rover and lrguy44 spring to mind. There are others too.

madmanmoo · July 2007

Lol,

That's awesome. So much creativity on one forum. This is almost scary!

-Moo

isellhondas · July 2007

I agree with your choices. Things do change, people move on.

benderofbows · July 2007

I'll start... the first car I ever sold was was in 2003 at the 200 unit/month Ford store. This was only minutes after I had completed the minimal training and been allowed onto the lot. I met a middle-aged woman whom I'll call "Mrs. Luca" who was a traveling nurse. She had arrived at our lot in a Taxi and told me the car she had been driving had been totaled (everyone was OK).

Her company was allowing her $400 per month to help pay for her transportation expenses, on top of what was probably a generous salary. Anyway, the challenges started right away. Not only did she want her $400 stipend to cover the entire payment... but also her insurance and fuel. A dependable, reliable car to put lots of miles on, including the gasoline to burn, and full coverage, for no more than $400 per month.

She didn't want an "older" car, either. It had to be "newer," so no 6 or 7 year old imports. She really wanted a used Corolla, but that was why she was at the Ford store. She had been everywhere else and nobody would sell her a newer import for what she was asking, and she was tired of shopping.

Well, I thought, about the only thing we had which could possibly work for her was this used Taurus, a four year old Vulcan model with 75k miles which we had listed for something like $9,999. So we demo'd it, and she liked it OK.

We had to go to her house, a pretty decent place in an older neighborhood by the river, so that she could pick up this beast she wanted to trade in and follow me back to the dealer. One of her relatives had left it to her. This was a real rust-bucket: a huge, ancient, pontiac or chevrolet sedan from the early 80's. Very old, in pretty bad shape. Dull, faded paint. Cracked, bald tires. Hanging headliner. Smelly, dusty interior. Just bad.

It took her forever to get it halfway running, and you should have seen this thing motoring down the road back to the dealer- smoke coming out of the exhaust, headliner flapping wildly because she had all the windows down (I assume because of the smell), the whole car leaning to one side the entire time. But she was absolutely flying in it as the old V8 came back to life (well, at least the Vulcan had it's hands full to keep up).

To be continued....

jescue · July 2007

Mine was in 1998. I had just started at a Chrysler-Jeep dealership. A middle aged gentleman pulled up in an 80s model Plymouth Voyager. I had no idea what I was doing but managed to find out he had some real credit challenges. We decided on a lovely GMC Safari van in polyester blue, circa 1993 or so. We took it to show his wife, who could have cared less. We get back to the dealership and need to appraise his van, so I go wait for him to bring it to me. It was January and about 15 degrees and I wondered what was taking him so long. Turns out the transmission in the Voyager needed a few minutes to warm up before it would move. ACV was $500 or less,he buys and I deliver the GMC with a promise to order a side mirror to replace the one being held on with duct tape. I remember getting my commission for $150 or so and thinking I needed to find a new career....

mark156 · July 2007

I'm curious too about finding left-over new cars. I was at a Nissan dealer in Southern California a couple of years ago and they had a 2 yr old Pathfinder on the lot. I don't understand it, how did it get passed over by two model years???

If someone comes in to buy a used car, why not take a crack at the a new 2 yr old car?? You think the price would be too high? And, I'm assuming the warranty would start once it's delivered, right?

How does this happen? :confuse:

Mark156

benderofbows · July 2007

...continued:

So, we get her inheritance back to the store, and the used car manager showed her $500 for it. He told me that it would make a wonderful artificial reef. We were able to keep a little front-end profit and get the payments where she wanted them. Being that it was a Taurus with 75k, the F&I guy really tried hard to sell her a warranty but she wouldn't buy it; the increased payment (still would only have been around $200-250) wouldn't fit into her estimated $400 budget for all the costs associated with driving all over the state.

After working the deal literaly all day, I got it delivered before quitting time, and everyone congratulated me. Not only had I found a car that she liked which she could keep in her budget, but we had made some money in the process.

And that is when the real trouble started.

That Taurus... :lemon: ...

She called me the next day, right after they cut off my favorite tie in the morning meeting

. First a warning light had come on in the dash, and then later the dash went out completely (these ended up being two separate issues). Over the next month, we had that car back in our shop no less than 3 times. They replaced the washer fluid holder, which had dry-rotted. They re-wired the entire dash. They replaced this, that, and the other. After all of that, she never ended up being happy with the car. And the profit in the deal? All gone...

If only she had been willing to spend just a little more, or look at an older import, she would have gotten a much more dependable car. After our 30 day warranty ran out I never saw her again, but I shudder to imagine the next few years with that Taurus and wishing she had sprung for the extended warranty.

However, the story does have one happy ending.

That "artificial reef"? One of the young cleanup guys bought it from the dealership for very cheap and had his friends in the shop do some light work on it (battery, struts, a few misc. items) and cleaned up the interior, and that car served him well. I think eventually he gave it a nice paint job and some chrome rims

fezo · July 2007

Out local Chrysler dealer had a new 06 PT Cruiser convertible in May. I still see them around. I've gone into autotrader and punched in new 06 PT Cruiser convertible and I alway get hits.

greanpea68 · July 2007

If you saw a 2 year old pathfinder in Southern California it might have been a 4X4. Maybe, that is all I can think of. Maybe nobody wanted to pay the extra money for a 4X4 when they could save $2000 for a regular one. Sometimes up here in the north east 2X4 will sit for al ong time because nobody is looking for them.

chetj · July 2007

i was wondering how big dealers pay for all the new cars they have on their lots...do they buy them beforehand or do the auto companies charge them when they sell the car or truck?

lrguy44 · July 2007

Actually, the dealers buy them when they are invoiced, which in our case can be a week to 10 days before they arrive. Some manufacturers will have a grace period before floor plan interest is charged.

dino001 · July 2007

Who actually provides financing to the dealer (I mean for their floorplan)? Is it your local friendly commerce bank, or the manufacturer's financing company?

lrguy44 · July 2007

A dealer can get floor plan from a variety of sources. Factory finance arms (Ford Credit, VW Credit, etc.) are probably the most used sources. In addition, the banks that do indirect financing (Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.) also can provide this. I think it would be rare that a local or branch bank would be involved.

mackabee · July 2007

Tonight's episode: "Happy 'cause I'm going home."

The UCM takes the keys and goes out to appraise the car. He comes back and gives me $3000.00 for it. That should be enough to make the deal. I get a printout of the figures and go back to the Shue's. I sit down and start going over the figures with Elisabeth.
"Ok, I got great news for you." I tell them as I sit down and put the paper in front of them. "The selling price of the car is $17,295.00, less $500.00 rebate, plus taxes and fees and I got you a WHOPPING $3000.00 for your trade.

This puts you around $14,595.00 out the door. Just sign here and I'll get your car ready." She grabs my pen and signs the worksheet. I get my paperwork together and tell them the rust and dust, mop and glo girl will be coming over to sell them more stuff. "We don't want any of that stuff." says Mr. Shue. "Just listen to her, it takes 15 minutes at the most and all you have to do is shake your head no." I tell them.
"Ok, who do I make the check out to?" asks Beth. "Make it out to me." I tell her, "No I'm just kidding."

I tell her before she begins to write on the check. "Hold off on the check, you will write that out in the business office after your final paperwork is completed." I tell them and I get up to take the car to detail to get it ready. Susy the mop and glo girl comes over and leaves after a few mintues.
The Shue's go into finance and begin their paperwork. In the meantime the action out in the parking lot is getting hot and heavy. Lots of cars are pulling up and getting off their cars with the sales flyer in their hand. I sit back and look at the spectacle and just shake my head.

My cell phone rings and it's Mack Jr. He and my daughter in-law and Mackabee III are home for the weekend. "Hey Dad! How's it going?" he asks. "Pretty good Champ! What's up with you? Where's my grandson?" I ask. "He's taking a nap. Hey Dad, is it ok for us to come by to test drive a Camry SE and maybe a 4runner?" he asks. "Sure. Just be careful when you get here. The place is a mad house. There's lots of cars all over the place and I don't want anything to happen to you guys or your car." I respond. "Ok, I'll call you when we are a few blocks away. Love you Dad."

"Love you too!" ......................
......................TO BE CONTINUED....... :shades:

In our next episode Mack gets blindsided by an old customer while test driving a 4runner. The finance guy sells the Shue's the protection package, and the GSM gets mad! :mad: All this and more in "If the Shue fits, wear it!"

mackabee · July 2007

We don't have that problem with Toyota. Usually by the time the new model year comes in the old ones are on their way out. This was just an unusual case.

houdini1 · July 2007

Mack, I hope you are saving all this stuff so you can really write a book someday!! You are good man!!

oldfarmer50 · July 2007

"... either brings us up or it drags us down..."

You sound really depressed. I hope it's just the slow month you've been having.

geffen · July 2007

We'll i'm going out for a couple of test drives tommorow morning if that helps

obyone · July 2007

LOL!! You mean you haven't bought anything yet?

How many agreements to purchase have you made since the last one?

jmonroe · July 2007

We'll i'm going out for a couple of test drives tommorow morning if that helps

While it may help you, it doesn't do a thing for 'isell', that is, unless you guys have a profit sharing plan.

Edit: oops, I thought you were a guy in the biz. I agree with 'obyone', keep us posted as to how many times you agree to a price then change your mind and continue shopping. This serial could rival 'Mack' for the number of episodes to conclusion. :surprise:

jmonroe

geffen · July 2007

No i haven't bought anything yet, maybe tommorow will be my saturday to purchase or will i continue shopping

To be continued LOL

jimbres · July 2007

Great story! Thanks for telling it so well.

scottinky · July 2007

as a potential buyer, I love reading these stories.

mackabee · July 2007

It's kinda slow around here today. If it wasn't for a referral and a repeat I would be sitting on a goose egg. I still have and hour and a half to do a hat trick!

Mack

british_rover · July 2007

I had one guy who is going to come back and buy the car monday morning or so he says.

I won't believe it till I see him monday morning though.

metro123 · July 2007

Do repeat customers get a better deal the second time around? Does buying again from you give them more leverage in negotiations?

Curious as to how the sales guys approach repeat customers.

lrguy44 · July 2007

Repeats are a large percentage of my biz and always get a discount - even if it is small on a MSRP car. Negotiations are always pretty easy here, but even easier the 2nd time around.

british_rover · July 2007

Depends on the repeat.

I have one customer who buys three to four cars a year from me. He gets deals no one else could ever get. I am in the middle of doing his second car this year and he is the only person I would give 4,000 dollars off to on a 2008 Supercharged Range Rover.

But yes in general repeat customers are much easier to faster deals then new customers.

But if you remember my previous story about the woman who screwed us over she was also a repeat customer.

I guess I need to finish that story too maybe I will work on that later. I am having a Margarita right now.

jmonroe · July 2007

I had one guy who is going to come back and buy the car monday morning or so he says.

I'm sure you've heard this more times than you want to recall. Unless you received a non-refundable deposit, which I hear, is probably illegal in most states, I'm sure you don't get too excited with so called buyers like this.

If he were truly a buyer why is Monday better than today?

Don't tell me you ran into the poster from this site, that although he gets the price he wants, he continues to shop. :surprise:

jmonroe

british_rover · July 2007

Well sort of...

His father was with him and the whole time they were talking back in forth in Polish I think. The son made an offer which I thought which seemed basically doable. I got up to talk it over with our UCM and we bumped him a couple of hundred bucks just to keep it from being a mini.

I sat down presented my counter offer and he doesn't say anything at first then the father started talking. They talk back in forth in Polish for a couple of minutes then the father signals that he wants my pen. I hand him the pen and he turns the nine in my 19,288 to an eight. :sick:

I guess this is some kind of Polish negotiating technique. They go from making a reasonable offer to making one that I never would have even considered. I just shake my head over and over and so NO, Never going to happen.

The father just looks at me with a shrug.

They talk back and forth in Polish for about five minutes then the son asks a couple of questions. We try out some different financing terms and the son seems ok with the numbers as we have them. The father even seems ok.

Then the father says, "Ok we go now."

I am just like huh? :confuse:

I just ask them bluntly guys do all these numbers seem ok to you.

Two more minutes of rapid fire polish.

Yeah they are ok with the numbers but the son wants to come back with his wife on monday to make sure everything is ok with her.

I ask if they want to leave a deposit to secure the car and the son wants to but the father talks him out of it even thought it is completely refundable.

No, no, no deposit the son will be back on Monday with the wife at 10:00 AM

I guess we will see what happens then. Maybe I will meet the whole family and they will offer 17,288. :confuse:

geffen · July 2007

Dealership adventures continued

No purchase today at all either, the actual car i wanted they had someone test driving it, I didnt even give an offer today i'll try back next week. To be continued ...

jmonroe · July 2007

I didnt even give an offer today i'll try back next week. To be continued ...

I take back what I said about your tale rivalling Mack's. You never seem to have anything to say.

Anyone else lost interest? :shades:

jmonroe

isellhondas · July 2007

Yeah, a long time ago.

I was swamped yesterday. Literally ran all day and I haveto go back in this morning (my day off) to do a couple of deals.

isellhondas · July 2007

I think it is downright rude when people who speak perfect english talk to each other in their foreign tongue in front of me. I'll be happy to excuse myself when people want a private discussion.

Same applies to cell phones. I will NEVER answer my cell phone when I'm with a customer.

epiney · July 2007

Anyone else lost interest?

On the other forum long ago actually. Amazed one has so much time to shop and so little respect for a salesperson's time.

epiney · July 2007

I think it is downright rude when people who speak perfect english talk to each other in their foreign tongue in front of me. I'll be happy to excuse myself when people want a private discussion.

Agreed. I have no problem asking for a minute. On the other, translation is perfectly fine.

jmonroe · July 2007

I was swamped yesterday. Literally ran all day and I haveto go back in this morning (my day off) to do a couple of deals.

Well at least you'll make a couple bucks, but as is so common in your biz, you're paying the price by not being with the family on weekends. I don't envy that because I know I wouldn't like it.

Unless it's a holiday weekend no dealers in my area (Pittsburgh) are open on the weekend and I think this is a good thing. Six days a week is plenty enough time to buy a car!!!!

Seems like almost everyone here had a slow first two weeks of July is this typical of your biz?

jmonroe

isellhondas · July 2007

Working weekends is a part of being in retail and I don't
mind. Beats sitting in a cubicle working 9-5 in some windowless office, at least to me. We all pay our own price in our own way I suppose.

Are Pittsburgh dealers really closed on Saturdays? Sunday, I can see but Saturdays are our busiest day.

Years ago, as a young manager for Sears, we were always closed on Sundays. Then, some competitors started opening on Sundays and we were more or less forced into doing the same thing. First the hours were 12-5, then they expanded to 11-6. I have no idea what they are now.

We were a little softer than normal the first two weeks of July but things have busted wide open now!

mackabee · July 2007

I'm with you on this one buddy! I guess you and I are from a different generation. I always turn my phone off when I'm with a customer or put it in vibrate mode. And once in a while I will answer it but I ask persmission from the customer first.

Mackabee

jmonroe · July 2007

Are Pittsburgh dealers really closed on Saturdays? Sunday, I can see but Saturdays are our busiest day.

I said that wrong.

I know I said "weekends" but what I meant was dealers here are only open on Sundays during holiday weekend sales events. For sure they are open for their busiest sales day, "SATURDAY".

Sorry if any of you guys in the biz have already sold your homes and decided to move to this area. Unpack the trucks and stay put. :surprise:

jmonroe

jmonroe · July 2007

And once in a while I will answer it but I ask persmission from the customer first.

I agree that this cell phone thing has gotten waaay out of hand and I don't think it can be fixed now other than to outlaw its use while driving. This really irritates me no end especially considering how unsafe it is.

As for asking your customers permission before answering your phone; have any of them ever said "NO, lets continue to deal or I'm walking" !!!

jmonroe

isellhondas · July 2007

I've been to Pittsburgh. Not quite my cup of tea although the heavy RAIN we've been getting here tha pst few days in JULY is getting old!

jmonroe · July 2007

...although the heavy RAIN we've been getting here tha pst few days in JULY is getting old!

When doesn't it rain in your area? Selling windshield wipers and umbrellas (not beach umbrellas) has to be a thriving biz in your area.

Right now we could use a little rain, this sun shine is getting boring.

jmonroe

grandtotal · July 2007

I have denied permission to a salesman to answer his cellphone. That was on the third call and it was obvious that the first two were not business and not short either. My time is more valuable than that. If he had taken the call (as he was about to, until my answer to his cursory question registered) I would have asked for a different sales person. Failing that I would have walked after making sure his manager knew why I was walking.

mackabee · July 2007

No. On the rare ocassion that the phone rings or vibrates when I'm with a customer I'll look at the caller ID and if it's my wife or kids I just let the voice mail answer. If it's another customer (which I can tell when I don't recognize the number or there's no ID) I tell the customer: "I have a customer on the line would you mind very much if I take the call?" and they all say "Go ahead." I make it quick by telling the customer on the phone that I'm with a customer on the lot or on the table and I will call back ASAP. Phone back on vibrate or off. I also don't answer the phone while driving unless it's the missus or the kids and then I make it plain and clear I'm driving and hang up.

Mackabee

mackabee · July 2007

We are currently having a tent sale at one of our Navy bases and it's being sponsored by a major credit union. I was at home so I decided to come into the dealership as I figured they would be short handed. I got her about 40 minutes ago. Right away a "prospect" or "suspect" drives up in a late model Tacoma. I ask him if he's here to see anyone in particular and he says "No, I want to buy a vehicle. You want to sell me one?" he asks. "Sure, that's what I came in for. pause.."what type of vehicle do you want?" I ask. "A 4wd 4Runner." he responds. "Before we go any further, can I get it for around $30K?" he asks. "Probably. Let's see what I got." I respond. "There's four on the lot and I didn't like the color." he states. "I have more in the back." I tell him as we start walking back there. He picks out a white one and we go on a test drive. "I don't like the way it rides." he says. "It's pretty much lke your Tacoma.....to be continued.

mackabee · July 2007

"The a/c controls are different and I don't like the way the seat adjusts." he says. By this time I know I got a time waster on my hands. We drive back to the lot and he backs the vehicle onto an empty spot. He gives me the keys and says. "Thank you for your time." and walks away.. Just another Sunday in paradise :confuse:

isellhondas · July 2007

I don't care who is calling. I won't answer my cell phone if I'm with a customer and rarely if I'm driving. If it's customer they can leave me a message on my voice mail and I'll call them back.

It's just rude and it's rude when a customer gets on their cell phone when they are in my office. I've even had them take calls from other dealerships!

That is when I lose interest quickly.

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