Rejoining workforce and Car Sales

[PorscheGAL]

Those are great.

One of my favorite car salesman videos:

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

To expand on Shawn's point, all you need in KS to become a dealer is a dedicated location, dedicated phone number, a bond, insurance, and pay a few hundred in fees. I could probably break even selling one car every two months, not because I make so much money but because I am very low overhead. If you buy late model cars with excellent condition reports they will need very little to be top notch. Auction access also allows you to do vehicle locating for a fee, saving customers money and getting them exactly what they want. You could provide a very personal and professional experience, with the added difference of being a woman in a man's game.

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

I'm assuming you're in the Columbia area because I can't think of too many other cities in the area with a wide selection of dealerships to choose from?

Honestly Shaun and Matt's ideas and methods sound like they make the most sense to me. What they describe sounds like a great sort of small market that you won't run into a lot of competition from regular dealers with, and something that would work if you happen to be in a larger city or somewhere in between with decent access to I-20/26/95 since regional buyers would be better able to visit.

I question the safety here. I'm not speaking about the OP, but in general the safety of a woman and dealing with strangers in the above environment vs. a large dealership with activity and with fellow employees monitoring or aware of who you might be with, out on a test drive, etc..

I'll add, not only as potential personal safety but robbery. We were one of the largest selling volume dealers in the country and in a small affluent town. We had some robberies, daytime, stolen cars right under from the salesman, many characters whom you try best not to judge but things happen.

Then there's the other type of prospect who think they know how to drive and race the crap out of your / dealers car..... even while your in the pass. seat telling them to shut it down! BTW, I'm speaking about asshat surgeons to lawyers! Yes, it happens folks. Joe Racer might be qualified to buy but has no right to race and wreck your 930 in a quiet neighborhood with kiddies on bicycles around. I think to have made my point.

edit: My intention was not to discourage and regardless of the stigma, there's many great people in automotive sales. The only way to know if it suits one self is to give it a try. Good luck-

[PorscheGAL]

The safety issue does come up. An example is the couple last week in Georgia. That is a problem that could come up.

[rcooled]

Good luck in your new career, Stephanie...

[monteolsen1]

I wish you luck, too. I think most Porsche dealers are pretty honest. I bought my 911 at a Mercedes Benz dealership in California and was treated real well. After a couple weeks of negotiating (and the car was very good but lacked a maintenance history), I drove back down from my Home in Eugene to buy the car. When I arrived, I met the young salesman, who had done absolutely everything he could to make buying the car a great experience. He even made a special presentation of the car, parking it in a special spot, presented me with the owner's manuals and pamphlets. The car had been completely detailed, far beyond my expectations. It was probably the best experience buying a car I have ever experienced. And they did not make much money. I knew it and apologized to him. His response was that he felt he had made a friend and had enjoyed meeting me; that the money on this sale wasn't that important to him.

Pretty amazing experience. The dealership was in Pleasanton, Ca.


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[jcommin]

Porschegal, just because you like cars won't make you successful in car sales. It is quite the opposite.

I sold cars for a 12 month period at my uncle's Chevy dealership in the late 80's. I was between things and I asked him if I could try this. I like cars allot - I thought with my passion I would be good at this. I learned the product and kinda watched how the process works. I learned you that car knowledge isn't a requirement. It was about trying to close a deal because the odds of a customer returning aren't very good. The is a rule of sales "ABC" always be closing. If you can master that, you can do this.


With the Internet, one can find invoice prices, rebate information, etc on new cars. The profit margin on new is very low unless is the car has a short supply, highly sought where the demand is higher than the supply. The money (profit) is made on the back end - finance and aftermarket items. It is easy to shop price on a new car - the salesperson gets typically a flat fee for a bottom price determined by the dealer and there is a percent of additional profit above that bottom price the sales person gets. Back when I did this, my commission on a base deal was $35 anything profit above the base price I received 25%. It's allot of work for that amount of money. I didn't get anything at the back end of the deal . I couldn't make money on the educated consumer but you could on others. Most are payment buyers "what can you afford per month". You should always negotiate the price of the car, not monthly payments.

Used cars are different - it is very difficult to "shop price" because of the condition of the car, millage and equipment. There aren't two that are alike. The biggest factor is you don't know the wholesale price of the car that the dealer paid. The retail price is established by the condition of the car and current market. there is more mark-up for a negotiation. I would get 25% of the profit from a used car sale. Most sales persons would rather sell used than new.

It was a real eye opening experience for me - I probably became a better educated consumer.

Car sales is tuff. I consider real estate agents in the same pool as car sales persons.


It doesn't hurt to look into this - you might like it.
good luck.

[wildthing]

This thread is two years old. I wonder what happened.

[asphaltgambler]

Hopefully she read the responses and thought the better of it.........
























..

[Vintage914Racer]

I run across threads like this here and elsewhere occasionally and don't always chime in. While this thread is a couple years old I figured I'd still add in my two cents. While it's not always the norm, I've had great experiences working in the industry.

First, a quick recap of my 15 years of experience in the industry and other time outside of the industry. Apologies for the length, but I think it helps create a little context.

My father instilled a good, honest work ethic in me and I began working at a Porsche/Audi dealership when I was 15. The dealership was privately owned (more on the bigger ownership trends to follow), fair to customers and treated it's employees well. I began as a runner/carwasher/lot guy. It was a dream job for a teenager and taught me a lot about how to treat a customer well. We all know that there are a lot of dealerships that don't focus on a great customer experience and this was one of the reasons I stuck around the dealership for 10 years. I continued in my role through high-school and through college. In college I moved up to a service advisor position part-time during the school year and full-time in summer and school breaks.

Come graduation I moved into sales. Admittedly I did not aspire to sell cars, but the product was great and as mentioned previously it was a great employer. I didn't fit a sales profile, however my knowledge of cars, passion for cars and understanding of the innerworkings of a dealership made my job fun. I spent four years in sales and eventually got bored. To quell the boredom I pursued my MBA, both as a way to stimulate my mind and solidify a strong exit strategy. I did not see myself selling cars my whole life nor did I want to move into management.

Eventually I left to pursue a marketing role with a local Fortune 100 company. MBA in hand I spent four years there seeing how well organized, strategic thinking companies operate. It was a great experience and a company I could've worked at all my life. I simply wasn't passionate about it.

I serendipitously met the CEO of one of the large local automotive groups. It was one that I recognized as being innovative, maintaining high-levels of integrity and treating the customer well. After much back and forth I eventually joined the corporate team and built an internal marketing organization that supports our ~13 business units. While I don't work direclty in sales, I'm constantly interacting with salespeople, all tiers of management and the customer side. I'm highly involved in the strategic direction of the company and follow industry trends closely.

All this being said, this is what I see in the marketplace...

As we all know the industry has a bad reputation. There are still dealerships, in fact more than I like to admit, that will lie, cheat and do anything to make a dime. There are, however, a lot of good dealerships --- ones that treat their customers well, their employees well and will continue to reap the associated benefits for years to come. These are the types of dealerships that look to hire, train and retain the right people. I'm proud to work for one of these.

The internet has forced the industry to change. Salespeople no longer hold all the information, rather the internet does. Whereas the dealer used to be the repository for info (factual and slanted), now the dealer serves simply as the place to test drive and consummate the deal. Edmunds, KBB, TrueCar, Yelp, Google, manufacturer sites, payment tools, etc., allow consumers to do their research where they're comfortable--at home. 95% of shopper do research online. They consult over 18 sources and spend north of 20 hours doing so. When the time comes to futher the purchase process they simply need to determine where they want to do so. This is confirmed by the stat that today's auto shopper only visits 1.3 dealerships. Reviews, selection, location and price (the biggest determining factor for most), make it easy for consumers to decide where to go.

The next big movement is towards streamlining the most hated part of buying a car --- the finance/lease/purchase process. New innovative startups like Beepi, CarVana and others now provide a way to purchase a car online and have it delivered to your door. We're not at a point where the majority public wants to shop this way, but adoption will increase. People simply aren't used to doing it this way yet nor do they trust it. Dealerships and industry vendors are working to streamline this process online, however, believing that it's one of the big shifts.

The industry is undergoing a lot of consolidation and owner changes right now. Smaller, independent dealers are getting older. Many don't have succession plans in place or future generations that want to get involved. Some have a hard time adjusting to the ways the industry has changed. Some continue to trudge along while the more attractive ones are getting absorbed by larger groups and increasingly by outsiders. Warren Buffet is now in the game and owns one of the largest dealer groups in the US. Private equity firms and family offices are investing in the industry. Top perfoming dealer groups are absorbing smaller stores. What all the changes? Long story short, the retail automotive industry has the capability to deliver healthy returns. One contributing factor is that there is significant opportnity to make things more efficient, customer centric and simply improve what's currently getting done.

So, back to the original quesiton. One can make a good career in car sales. Much like buying a car you'll want to do your research and fine a fair, honest dealer that treats people right. If you do so you can avoid a lot of the negatives listed above. Find a few local dealerships with glowing reviews. Talk to their salespeople and get their input. The industry has an annual salesperson turnover rate of ~70% --- this means that the bad stores turn-over 100% of the sales staff every year. Even the best dealers are in the 25-35% range. In talking to dealers ask them what their number is. It's a good indicator of employee sentiment and culture.

You'll have to embrace the internet and understand how people are shopping. You'll have to acknowledge that the shopping experience has changed. With the transfer of information (power?) from salesperson to internet there's less a salesperson does. The internet requires more transparency on the dealership front. Dealers that embrace this will succeed.

Expense has shifted to online tools and services and as a result the comp structure for sales has shifted. Fifteen years ago you could make a lot of money selling cars. Today you can make a reasonable living if you work at it. $50k to $75k as a salesperson is very doable. Stick around, build a base and deliver a great customer experience and you can shoot higher.

Find a brand that you like and moreover the public likes. Doing so makes the job so much easier. It always bugs me seeing salespeople who don't know/care about the product.

[speeder]

I had a couple car sales jobs back in the '80s where a dead person could make $10k a month. Those days are gone.

[PorscheGAL]

I did try to get into car sales. I lasted 2 weeks. There were quite a few red flags that this was not going to be a good situation. The first week the sales manager spent a good chunk of one of the sales meeting to make fun of handicapped children. The second week meeting the sales people were told to not be afraid to get down on their knees in the parking lot. I can only take that to mean one thing. I quit that day.

[DanielDudley]

If I had to choose, I am more passionate about cars, but I think it would be easier to have a nice life as a realtor.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

If I had to choose, I am more passionate about cars, but I think it would be easier to have a nice life as a realtor.

I agree that it would be a good life as a realtor for a man. However for a woman it could be more of a challenge in terms of safety.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

I did try to get into car sales. I lasted 2 weeks. There were quite a few red flags that this was not going to be a good situation. The first week the sales manager spent a good chunk of one of the sales meeting to make fun of handicapped children. The second week meeting the sales people were told to not be afraid to get down on their knees in the parking lot. I can only take that to mean one thing. I quit that day.

I am happy for you that you made the right decision. However I am sure there are good dealerships that are more respectful of you.

Having said that it takes a certain kind of person to accompany prospective buyers trying out cars. Driving too fast, dangerous driving etc etc....