New job

[Steelharp]

Sounds like a Land Rover might be necessary!

[E4 No More]

42 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

Sounds like a Land Rover might be necessary!

I tried getting into one of them as well a few years ago. Same problem as the CTS 2-door: I couldn't get my head in without banging it into the roof. I'm 6'4" but my body is proportional in that I don't have long legs with a short torso nor short legs with a long torso. I am also broad shouldered with a barrel chest. Nowadays I have a barrel belly too.

[Garufa]

30 minutes ago, SWJewellTN said:

I tried getting into one of them as well a few years ago. Same problem as the CTS 2-door: I couldn't get my head in without banging it into the roof. I'm 6'4" but my body is proportional in that I don't have long legs with a short torso nor short legs with a long torso. I am also broad shouldered with a barrel chest. Nowadays I have a barrel belly too.

Ever heard of Kane the wrestler?  He is running for Knox County mayor and his giant 7 foot self drives a Smartcar.

[E4 No More]

15 hours ago, Garufa said:

Ever heard of Kane the wrestler?  He is running for Knox County mayor and his giant 7 foot self drives a Smartcar.

No, never heard of him. Smartcars aren't exactly smart either. They don't get the mileage that you'd expect from a car that small, they get blown around by trucks, and they don't have near the protection.

[Steelharp]

First time I saw a Smart Car was in Switzerland in the 90's. It was a Mercedes product, $5,000 USD. I wanted to get one. The dealer told me by the time they did all the modifications required for the US, it would cost over 20k, and wouldn't be nearly as economical.

[E4 No More]

26 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

First time I saw a Smart Car was in Switzerland in the 90's. It was a Mercedes product, $5,000 USD. I wanted to get one. The dealer told me by the time they did all the modifications required for the US, it would cost over 20k, and wouldn't be nearly as economical.

Ever driven/ridden in a Mini Cooper? Annoyingly, my wife wanted one until she found out that they discontinued a true yellow, (her favorite), to an infectious green-yellow color that very model year. We test drove one and I literally felt like I was riding a skateboard down I-65 it rocked so much.

[MacGyver]

36 minutes ago, SWJewellTN said:

Ever driven/ridden in a Mini Cooper? Annoyingly, my wife wanted one until she found out that they discontinued a true yellow, (her favorite), to an infectious green-yellow color that very model year. We test drove one and I literally felt like I was riding a skateboard down I-65 it rocked so much.

Those things take quarters, but I’ve ridden go karts that were more comfortable.  

[TripleGGG]

Ever driven/ridden in a Mini Cooper? Annoyingly, my wife wanted one until she found out that they discontinued a true yellow, (her favorite), to an infectious green-yellow color that very model year. We test drove one and I literally felt like I was riding a skateboard down I-65 it rocked so much.

I can only get one leg in a mini Cooper. Ha

[Steelharp]

This job sux. That's all.

[Garufa]

23 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

This job sux. That's all.

All jobs do.

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, Steelharp said:

This job sux. That's all.

I have sold lots of stuff in my life...even Kirby vacuum cleaners... all sales jobs are their own special kind of torture

[Steelharp]

8 hours ago, Garufa said:

All jobs do.

None of my music business jobs did. Neither does gun sales. This one's making up for those in spades.

[A.J. Holst]

My livelihood has revolved around auto sales and lending since 1988.

I have left, but always come back.

Steel is right, the fun factor is all but gone from auto retail.

Old timers say it's the internet making it hard.I say the internet reduces the price conversation...the dealer has to put his most competitive price on line to get folks to the lot. Web based technology, along with mobile device messaging is how people like to communicate and research. It's not the internet.

Unless the math has changed, you talk to 7-8 to sell 1.

Is there a common point of suckiness? Customers? Agressive salesmen? (it's not really a team environment) Car business drama?

[Steelharp]

The hardest part is dealing with the people that believe the ads, no money, no credit, bad credit, you can buy a car.

[A.J. Holst]

Ah, the Get-me-Dones.

If you detect this profile during the meet and greet, does your dealership process allow you to take a credit app and see where you are?

That way your sales / finance manager could guide you to the right priced / mileage unit. 

Meaning they may qualify for an Optima, have fallen in love with leather and sunroof and now you get to re-sell them a base model. Another possibility would be a Soul fits their needs, but land on a Sorrento because of desire.

After you educate them, they get offended, and go to the next dealership prepared to buy the right vehicle.

Good luck!

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, Steelharp said:

The hardest part is dealing with the people that believe the ads, no money, no credit, bad credit, you can buy a car.

LOL! Why shouldn't a person believe the ads. Are you saying they are deceptive?

[MacGyver]

Is it actually worth your time? Are you actually making any money?

We see a lot of Kia dealers starting below invoice and trying to make it up in incentives and in the F&I office.  They're trying to work their way out of a hole every single month...month after month.

That's a hard way to try to make a living. 

[bersaguy]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 9:12 AM, SWJewellTN said:

I've been a salesman for more than 14 years, and a few months of that was as a car salesman. Car sales is very tough, but my advice to you is to not judge a book by its cover. I had a guy come into the dealership in a beat-up old pickup truck and dressed in dirty clothes. He walked right past two "experienced" salesmen who had looked at him and ignored him. I greeted him at the door as I would anybody. Long story short, he was buying a turbocharged Monte Carlo SS for his wife. It was the most profitable individual sale that dealership had seen in more years that the sales manager could remember. I learned this from my wife who had a similar situation when she worked at Zales many years ago.

Sam Walton got that same treatment back when he was alive. My father and Sam were close friends right up till he passed away and he would tell my father about how people judge other people by their appearences. Sam always wore work clothes. Dickie brand Shirt and pants and a ball cap and when he went to one of his stores to pick up something he would walk up to the cashier and pay for what he was getting just like any other customer. There was a few times he would go speak with the manager of the store to do one of 2 things. Get someone a raise or get someone fired. 99% of the employees had no clue what Sam Walton looked like. He always based his decisions on how he was treated by who ever he was deaing with based of his appearence. Old pick up truck and work clothes would have told me the guy had a job and was there to buy something..............JMHO

[bersaguy]

13 hours ago, Garufa said:

All jobs do.

Maybe most do but back when I was working back before going disabled I had a job I dearly loved. I was an ASE Certified Master Automotive Mechanic and I  loved working on cars with a passion. Every day was a new challenge which always required something different to do each day. Not the same old thing day in day out. I worked on cars for 35 years and loved it..........JMHO

[Steelharp]

6 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Is it actually worth your time? Are you actually making any money?

We see a lot of Kia dealers starting below invoice and trying to make it up in incentives and in the F&I office.  They're trying to work their way out of a hole every single month...month after month.

That's a hard way to try to make a living. 

I'm making more than if I was sitting at home, but the days of 10K a month seem to be long gone. I hear these guys talk about what they made before the internet. Unreal. You figure, make $190/unit, 9.5 units. It ain't much after taxes.

[MacGyver]

21 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

I'm making more than if I was sitting at home, but the days of 10K a month seem to be long gone. I hear these guys talk about what they made before the internet. Unreal. You figure, make $190/unit, 9.5 units. It ain't much after taxes.

I don’t know a car salesman alive still making $10k/month. 

The internet has flattened out the front end of car sales. There are still some F&I guys making that kind of money, but even those guys are making less than they used to. 

Are you still looking?

[walthermitty]

Remember: All sales are emotional.  We come up with all sorts of logic and justification, but the decision is emotional.  Personal vehicles may be more indicative of this truth than most examples.  If someone WANTS to buy something that they can't afford, I'm not going to talk them out of it, as long as they qualify.  I don't know if it will be the motivation for them to work harder, get a better paying job, etc..  

Know the buying signals.  Once a customer gives the buying signal, SHUT UP, they will sell themselves.  That is the time to try an assumptive close (like sliding the contract over to them) or get the finance guy involved.  And, remember that buyer's regret is a very real thing.  You must keep in touch with customers.  I know it can be time consuming, boring and you'll have to help with some product complaints.  But, past customers, along with family and friends, are your very best source for referrals and new sales.

Good Luck.

Edited September 3, 2018 by walthermitty

[walthermitty]

2 minutes ago, walthermitty said:

Remember: All sales are emotional.  We come up with all sorts of logic and justification, but the decision is emotional.  Personal vehicles may be more indicative of this truth than most examples.  If someone WANTS to buy something that they can't afford, I'm not going to talk them out of it.  I don't know if it will be the motivation for them to work harder, get a better paying job, etc..  

Know the buying signals.  Once a customer gives the buying signal, SHUT UP, they will sell themselves.  And, remember that buyer's regret is a very real thing.  You must keep in touch with customers.  I know it can be time consuming, boring and you'll have to help with some product complaints.  But, past customers are your very best source for referrals and new sales.

Good Luck.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by walthermitty
dup

[Steelharp]

10 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Are you still looking?

Mostly for a way out. I don't know what I can do, though. A life playing music doesn't give one something to fall back on. No college, limited computer skills; working 80 hrs/week wears a man down. But, we need the income that there is.

[bersaguy]

Not trying to highjack your thread Mikie..

My Grandson called me 1 day about a year ago and said he was sending me a picture of a car he was getting ready to buy. I asked him if he signed any papers yet and he said no and I said let me send you a picture of that same car and I sent him this and he did not buy the car bought a pickup truck instead. This is a Smart Car involved in an accident. 

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by bersaguy