Selling Porsche's

[Instrument 41]

I got a call from a local Porsche dealer sales manager that heard I was looking to make a move out of Industrial sales (not sure where he heard that??). So he calls and wants me to come over and talk on Monday. I have never sold cars, not sure I want to. But is there anyone here that has sold high end cars? Any advice, encouragement, warnings are greatly appreciated.

[HardDrive]

I've purchased 2 vehicles from Barrier Porsche here in Seattle. I felt comfortable dealing with the sales staff because they didn't try and sell me anything. They listened. They knew their product. Big time. The guy I bought my 911 from has an near encyclopedic knowledge of the water cooled cars, and decent knowledge of air coolers. The guy loved the brand and it showed. I told him what I was looking for, and he waited until the perfect car came in and gave me a call.

All of the staff I dealt with at Barrier were professional people, with careers in sales or management prior to joining Barrier.

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

I've purchased 2 vehicles from Barrier Porsche here in Seattle. I felt comfortable dealing with the sales staff because they didn't try and sell me anything. They listened. They knew their product. Big time. The guy I bought my 911 from has an near encyclopedic knowledge of the water cooled cars, and decent knowledge of air coolers. The guy loved the brand and it showed. I told him what I was looking for, and he waited until the perfect car came in and gave me a call.

All of the staff I dealt with at Barrier were professional people, with careers in sales or management prior to joining Barrier.

Certainly refreshing to hear and great advice. Must have been a wonderful experience. I would just love to have that kind of experience at a new car dealer.

I am planning to look for a MB in the spring and envision meeting some slick backed dude ready to blow smoke up my arse and wondering if I can afford the product. You know, one that would say " Well, if you have to ask, you probably can't afford one".

Good luck, could be fun.

[RANDY P]

Seems like fun, but I'll bet it's a brutal client base. Imagine having to deal with wealthy and arrogant types all day long that don't "need" your product, just want to beat you to death....and only then will they buy.

The rest of it is the car biz, a revolving door and it will shake your faith in humanity.

rjp

EDIT: People who can afford a new 911 aren't idiots to begin with, and are probably tight as a bull's a$$ with cash.

[Christien]

I don't think it would be much different than any other marque. When I was partnered in a dealership, we sold a lot of high-end stuff (Porsches, Corvettes, MB, BMW) and the clientele was probably worse for those cars. Very rarely did you get someone who was passionate about cars or driving - most were older men looking to move up from their current Infiniti/Lexus/BMW. A few were arrogant SOBs, but not too many. But most had completely unrealistic expectations with regard to price and reliability. Everyone wants a brand new car for a used car price, and anything more than a few hundred $$ dealer markup is considered screwing the customer.

Selling cars sucks.

[speeder]

I sold Porsches at the dealership but it was many years ago. (1980s). Still, the retail car business is the retail car business. I was offered the chance to do it again in the early 2000s but declined.

I was lucky to work at the dealer with the best working environment in town and a great clientele. Strangely enough, most of the buyers were nice, reasonable people compared to other car sales gigs I'd had. A big part of it had to with the way we treated them. It takes 2 to play old car sales games; the douchebag salesman and a customer who puts up with it.

Our client base was basically the creme of Hollywood plus other successful and/or rich people in west L.A. With a couple of notable exceptions, most were nice. Let's face it, when you're picking-up your new 911 at the dealership, things are probably going ok in your life. Most of these people were not on a losing streak. It's basically the same crowd you'd run into in a chairlift line @ Vail or Park City.

My big complaint about that business is that the money is not great and the hours suck. You will work every weekend, basically. It's not a great job, otherwise people would be doing it instead of editing magazines or going to medical school. Think about it.

[RANDY P]

Probably safer for your health to sell Subaru or a Toyota.

PS-if ya gotta do it, try to get FI desk.

rjp