my wife stumped car salesman last night...

[vash]

i bought a new car on Sunday. i went in Tuesday to pick it up. i figure pick up the wife, take the BART train to the dealership, take her out to dinner with the new ride..make a date of it. okay, she was very hungry, and that makes her (me too) kinda grumpy. we walked into the dealership and the very same salesman that sold us the rig asks, "hello! can i help you?"

i said, "hi Steve, i came to pick up the car!"

blank stare...he obviously forgot who the hell we were..HE HAD NOTHING! he asked which car?, and my wife mumbled something about the - most expensive car in here...well the sales manager saved the day, hands me the keys, paperwork, and takes us to the car. the regular guy says, "hey, don't forget my evaluation!" my wife looks at him, and says" you get a 100% outstanding review, if you can tell us our names...."

he said, "bye folks".

i cracked up, and got some food into the little lady quick! i think she is scheming to get a free oil change out of it...hahahah.

[legion]

Nice.

[oldE]

You go Girl!
I would expect the salesguy who just helped you out of whatever buys a new car these days to have a clue about who is coming in to pick up the unit.

Les

[tcar]

More and more dealers are turning over salespeople every 90 days or so. Pay virtually nothing. They know nothing about the buyer. Know even less about what they're selling.

[cantdrv55]

What a doofus. Guys like that give my chosen profession a bad reputation. I'm hoping his type is in the minority in car sales but probably not.

[HardDrive]

LOL. Tell the wife that was a zinger.

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by tcar

More and more dealers are turning over salespeople every 90 days or so. Pay virtually nothing. They know nothing about the buyer. Know even less about what they're selling.

Howtrue

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by tcar

More and more dealers are turning over salespeople every 90 days or so. Pay virtually nothing.

They know nothing about the buyer. Know even less about what they're selling.

How

True

[livi]

Outstanding!

What kind of car?

[Joe Ricard]

That seems like the way people in general are these days.

every once in awhile you get a guy that remembers you. We bought an RX-8 about years ago went to the dealer for something to be done on the car. While it was in back I walked out to the lot. Same salesman came out shook my hand asked how my son was, how was the Blue RX-8. Not trying to sell me anything. I asked about the CX-9 and we went for a drive.

I would buy another car from him in a minute.

I would go back to the doofus in the orignal thread and make his life miserable just for sport.

Like mail him a Christmas card and omit your names. crap like that.

[FastCarFan]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

What a doofus. Guys like that give my chosen profession a bad reputation. I'm hoping his type is in the minority in car sales but probably not.

I completely disagree. Salespeople like that set the bar very, very low. That makes it easier for the truly good ones to shine. If most car salespeople were exceptional, it would make it harder to stand out from the crowd.

Consider it an opportunity to show potential customers that you are not like them. Demonstrate that you treat people right & you will get the sale, & their next purchase...& they will send their friends.

[cantdrv55]

When I meet people, say at a social event, and the topic moves on to what we do for a living and I say that I am in sales, I swear I can sense them flinch. It's because those dip****s in the example give us sales people a bad name. It's bad but, as FastCarFan says, it's good because it does make it so much easier to stand above the mediocre.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

When I meet people, say at a social event, and the topic moves on to what we do for a living and I say that I am in sales, I swear I can sense them flinch. It's because those dip****s in the example give us sales people a bad name. It's bad but, as FastCarFan says, it's good because it does make it so much easier to stand above the mediocre.

I try extra hard not to mention anything about my work after hours. I don't even carry business cards typically. The bad ones are the ones who aren't smart enough to understand that the heavy pitch routine needs to be turned off. If someone wants to talk about whatever, I may offer a bit of info- or advice, then offer to contact them during business hours - when it's appropiate and acceptable to talk about this.

Not everyone is a client - the ones who demonstrate a use for services are a client. Part of that is determined by when the topic is brought up. During work hours, it's acceptable. After hours, it's just a question unless the person really invites or insists on conversation right there, right now. To blindly pitch anyone when you are out and about AWAY from a place where it's appropiate is a good way of getting shunned an not invited back.

It may have been acceptable practice 30 years ago to be always "on"- but society has changed- people have the ways to do research without the use of salespeople, they have ways of accessing more sources of services thanks to media and more and more sophisticated forms of marketing, not to mention the sheer volume of marketing and ads that are everywhere. There is enough readily available information without the use of human intervention where the concept can be introduced, then the customer can seek out the guidance of a salesperon. Most these days prefer to do their research in this manner, before being approached. It will continue to evolve that way as more and more people become computer literate. You can find information about anything if you have access to the internet and have even minor computer skills.

Advertising is overwhelming - even being in sales I see it as excessive and if you pitch at the wrong time before the client gives you the go-ahead you wind up with that "pushy" label that is so despised today. That is a major hurdle to overcome these days - so to do so the customer must feel comfortable approaching you- they have to feel they are requesting the information, not having it thrown at them since they are cornered in conversation.

A good salesperson understands that there are different methods of initiating and communicating with different clients -different methods of approach, like tools in a toolbox. The day of the pushy, overly - hyper salesperon has come and gone - it's a bad cliche these days to be that way and in sales.

The most successful people I've ever met- defined as those who excel in income are the ones you would NEVER guess are in sales. They all are low key, respectful, well spoken - non threatening individuals. They get typically mistaken. In other words, they are approachable.

People never buy from anyone they dislike, with the access to different vendors available so easily these days we have to be aware of it, and be welcome first before we "pitch"

rjp

[cgarr]

This reminds me of when the Republican Party calls me asking for donations, all I tell them is "I will be happy to donate, as soon as you cut my taxes I will contribute the total amount that you lower them by to the party" They usually hang up so I guess they are not going to cut my taxes?

[legion]

Big Dan Staggs.

I spoke to the man briefly about buying a Chevy pickup truck 2.5 years ago and I still remember his name. I would have bought my current truck from him had my previous one not died in Florida.

Why do I still remember his name?

I remember that he was courteous and polite. He was not pushy. He answered questions. Sometimes he didn't have answers, but he found them. This man was in his 50's and appeared to be a career car salesman. With his knowledge and demeanor, that's not surprising.

I get a postcard from him every year at Christmas. I got another postcard when he changed dealerships a year ago. I talked to this man once, two and a half years ago and I remember his name and know where to find him.

If there were more car salesmen like Big Dan Staggs, he wouldn't have stood out in my mind so much. In fact, he is the only car salesman I've ever dealt with who wasn't pushy and had been on the job longer than a year.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

In 99% of the cases, the car sells itself. Either the customer wants it (the car meets their expectations) or they don't (the car falls short of their expectations). Based on this, I honestly wonder why we have salespeople at all. If I were opening a car dealership, I'd simply allow people to try them out and then if they wanted to buy, they could just go up to a counter and buy it off a menu with a known price - take it or leave it.

It would cut out so much of the crap, B.S., unpleasantness, uncertainty and haggling nonsense that is just all-too-often accepted as "normal". The closest things I've seen to this model (and I've always heard them discussed in a positive context) are Saturn's "no haggle" pricing and Carmax's fixed pricing. Although both still use sales personnel.

I honestly think there's an opportunity here for some smart and savvy business person to redefine the car shopping experience and get rid of the "sales guy" once and for all. I really think they just get in the way 99% of the time. Nobody ever "sold" me a car - the car impressed me and I decided to buy it. What exactly do I need a sales guy for anyway? Just to support a stupid convention?

Cut out the middleman and commissioned pushy sales guy and it allows you to set your pricing competitively and still turn a tidy profit. Very surprised nobody has tried this yet.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

In 99% of the cases, the car sells itself. Cut out the middleman and commissioned pushy sales guy and it allows you to set your pricing competitively and still turn a tidy profit. Very surprised nobody has tried this yet.

That's because it doesn't work. The liability and support costs are too high. A franchised dealership is like a partnership in that way.

On fixed pricing, you all will still want "special" deals, you still will grind, you still will lie cheat and steal to save off tag, if they were to do that consumers will never believe it. So, lets end that fallacy now. If it was that simple they would eliminate salespeople and force consumers to look at the tag price and then pay it.

To grind and haggle, that's just human nature.

rjp

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Maybe some will. I won't.

The last car I bought (my M.B.) I bought at Carmax. I actually liked the experience. Very straight, up-front, etc. No boosheet. I had my financing set up with my credit union and paid the price that was right there in 128-point type on the windshield, same as everyone else. The price was very good/competitive too.

I'd go there again, just to not go through all the B.S. negotiation and head games and other crap at a "conventional" dealership.

I guess in some respects an auction format (like fleabay) is good in this sense too.

I've never been "sold" anything. I've been in lots of situations where I realized I wanted something and as a result, bought it. There's a difference. As such I find "salespeople" in the conventional sense to be largely superfluous.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

...I've never been "sold" anything. I've been in lots of situations where I realized I wanted something and as a result, bought it. There's a difference. As such I find "salespeople" in the conventional sense to be largely superfluous.

Same here although I will admit that "marketing" certainly comes into play. I can't recall a "salesperson" ever influencing me to buy something, but I sure have walked away from them when "I did intend" to buy if I feel pressured at ALL.

[Tobra]

so is this the reality version of "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?"

I always carry business cards. When people find out what I do for a living, they take off their shoes, sorta makes me glad I am not a proctologist.