Scary grumpy salesmen!

[Petewete]

agreed. back to bitching about dealers and their wicked ways!

[Bigfeet]

agreed. back to bitching about dealers and their wicked ways!

Only if I get to bitch about customers!

[Petewete]

Only if I get to bitch about customers!

work away, start with your worst experience with a customer- i can imagine this might make me laugh!

[WTF]

I think surely most people in a certain job are stereotyped, and some minds may be off on the wrong start before entering a dealership. Sure as hell I slam the phone down each time I get pushy berk from Marketing call me and try and sell me ridiculous advertsing. People in marketing pah . . .

But its not like that, people are who they are and sadly this is will impact your gut feeling when you walked into your dealer.

I know of SO many people that have tried to play dealers off against one another, and even have a mate who got her Step Dad to call whilst she was at another Honda garage saying things like 'oh, you can offer me that deal? Hang on I'm at X dealer I'll ask them'. They got wise to her in the end I know my Dad made up the deal he said he had found online, our dealer said he couldn't beat it, but match it. Which was fine as it was made up

I had been to two other dealers before driving to Lincoln. The first guy knew nothing much about the car so my confidence was knocked from the get go, and he had a cold and was snotty, so I didn't like him. I said I would get back to him (whlist I looked elsewhere)

The second was a bit of a tool, and was really pushey and after my test drive, he said I needed to make my mind up within two days as he was going on holiday and I HAD to decide. I said I would wait until he was back, but he then said they had limited numbers and I still HAD to make my mind up. AND on our test drive he made me go past his house to check something. Christ knows why. He wasn't getting the deal.

Left the DS3 on the backburner as these guys had put me off. Not bothered as I knew I'd get my DS3, and I wouldn't have to deal with these two!!

Of course they called me to pursue the sale, thats their job! And being a bit daft, it was handy to have the pressure on to make my mind up. They want you to buy a car from you. They spend time talking to and taking you out on test drives. I did feel bad when I the first guy called me again to see what 'the situation' was and I told him I had gone else where, think he's allowed to be a bit miffed. So I can kinda understand why the guy fed Big the losing his job story.

In short, Mr Runny Nose and Mr Drive by my house didn't get the deal. The honest guy miles from where I live did, becasue he was a nice guy.

Working in retail sucks, I'm sure more so when you have to work in such a competitive market where everyone thinks they know more than you is even worse

[Petewete]

and he had a cold and was snotty, so I didn't like him. I said I would get back to him (whlist I looked elsewhere)

In short, Mr Runny Nose and Mr Drive by my house didn't the deal.

lol:cool:

[Bigfeet]

You have a good point there Joni, a lot of people enter dealerships with the thought that they are entering enemy territory and the Salesman is a trained pickpocket who is going to steal all your hard earned money!

I have worked this industry for nearly 12 years and I have seen this attitude a hundred times, and all it does is make me less incline to help. Only the once have I ever told a customer to "Piss off" after he tried to call me a crook and that I was ripping him off.

The problem really lies at the fact that the industry uses a commission structure in order to pay the dealers and sales staff, I would swap the commission for a higher salary in a heartbeat. Then I don't have to worry about the money so much and spend more quality time with my customers. If every dealership adopted this approach then I think dealing at the dealership and with your Salesman would be a much better experience on both sides.

[Bigfeet]

work away, start with your worst experience with a customer- i can imagine this might make me laugh!

A story eh?

Here's a good one that makes me laugh! When I was at Rover and was a junior salesman I would have to go through my Sales Manager when it came to dealing with Part Exchanges. I would take my customer over to his desk and allow him to talk about the Part Exchange offer, this way allowed customer to speak to the 'Organ Grinder' rather than the 'Monkey' about values. Anyway there was this one customer who had decided in his mind that his car, which was nothing special, was worth a king's ransom and he wouldn't settle for anything less. Now when I say a King's Ransom we're talking at least 5 grand over book! So I took him over to Andy my Sales Manager in order for him to discuss the value, as you can imagine the customer was not best pleased with the value given. After much explaining about trade values and market conditions and that the customer wouldn't receive any offer that got close and the customer telling Andy that his car was the best example and that he had 'insider knowledge' of it's value they were at an en pass. At this point Andy asked the customer if he would mind he spoke to the 'Part Exchange' manager, the customer looking a little unsure agreed. Andy then reached down and into his draw and rummaged about, then out of nowhere a hand puppet (think sooty here!) appeared! Andy then spoke to the puppet telling it about the customers car, the puppet replied by talking into Andy's ear. The customer just sat there stunned, and I stood looking equally stunned! Andy then turned to the customer and said 'I'm afraid the Part Exchange Manager has confirmed my value as correct for your car'. The customer was left speechless, but after a couple of minutes of silence he then replied with 'Yes, that fine I'll go with that!'. And thus the deal was done!!

[Petewete]

lol, fucking genius!:cool:

[dsyDS3]

I've always enjoyed the whole new car sale scenario. It's all a bit of a game. YOU know the salesman's opening offer is going to make him the most profit and HE knows the chances are you'll challenge it, but there's just a chance you won't, so it's worth a punt.

Key to it, I've found, is NEVER go to talk seriously about figures without having first done your homework. If you're part exing, have a good idea of the value of your present car and be realistic about its condition (what would the garage have to do to it before putting it on the forecourt), and have a fair idea of the discount you might get on the new car (knowledge of the fleet price is handy). If the dealer comes up with the right figures, I've always agreed the deal there and then. If I were a dealer it would p... me off if after all that discussion, the customer decided to see if they could shave a few pounds off the deal elsewhere. Finally you have to be realistic. The dealer is in business to make a profit on the deal - he won't do it for nothing.

I've only once come across a dealer who was pushy - a right bunch of spivs in my area (Essex, of course). Tried all the sales techniques: "If we can agree on the figures, would you sign now?" Er..yes, of course. But then couldn't come up with a p/ex price for my existing car, and didn't bother to phone back. Then had the cheek to call back in a few weeks to see if I'd done a deal and why not with them.

[Bigfeet]

Some good advice there, only one point to note is yes it's a good idea to know roughly what value your car is worth but bear in mind that the trade tends to favor CAP's rather then Glass's, which is also what your Insurance company does. With regards to how dealers value your car most, me included, need to stand your car back from book by at least a grand in order to cover the prep work that very px needs (most cases £500-600 worth). I'm sure I covered how PX works compared to SIV and margin somewhere else. Also remember that fleet don't PX cars which is why they get the discount they do.



At the end of the day it doesn't matter what the new car costs or what your PX is worth its the cost to change, the bit you write the cheque for, that counts.

[telephoneman]

When we swopped out my wife's car we had a one year old Punto to P/Ex which, although it was hideous to drive (1200cc diesel auto), looked the biz. I'd done my research but the salesman made the schoolboy error of not asking me what money I was looking for. He launched straight into his defensive tactics of "I've spoken to my boss and I'm afraid the best we can offer you is £X". Since £X was £1000 more than what I was going to ask for I had difficulty keeping a straight face when I begrudgingly accepted!

[Bigfeet]

I remember doing a deal with a customer where I paid him to KEEP his Part Exchange.....

[Big TC]

The salesperson I spoke to at the first dealer I visited with a view to ordering a new DS3 was not terribly informed about her company's products. I told her I wished to part/ex my 5-year old C1 diesel. She'd never heard of a diesel C1 and originally dismissed it as being diesel. She actually asked me if I was sure it was diesel - my response was that at 98,000 miles old, surely it wouldn't have got so far on diesel fuel had it had a petrol engine....

At the 2nd dealer, the saleslady couldn't been more knowledgeable, helpful of friendly. Apart from the mixup with the spare wheel and non-existant wheelbrace and jack.....

[dsyDS3]

He launched straight into his defensive tactics of "I've spoken to my boss and I'm afraid the best we can offer you is £X". Since £X was £1000 more than what I was going to ask for I had difficulty keeping a straight face when I begrudgingly accepted!

Nice one! If I'm asked I either feign ignorance or come up with a figure that's way too high. Why do the salesman's work for them? (Biggie may not approve!)

[Bigfeet]

Nice one! If I'm asked I either feign ignorance or come up with a figure that's way too high. Why do the salesman's work for them? (Biggie may not approve!)

Lol!! Salespeople use this tactic to work out if you are a dreamer or a gleamer.