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snip (following a complaint !)
Edited by Pugugly on 25/06/2008 at 19:27
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A former colleague was a Production Manager where I work. He left to become a salesman at a Ford main dealer. A few months later he moved to a Mercedes dealer.
He said the hours are long and the money can be a bit unpredictable. Seemed to enjoy it though, and a lot easier than working in manufacturing! His daughter has also now joined the motor trade.
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Are any dealers actually taking on salespeople right now? I'd have thought the reverse is true.
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I reckon being a car salesman must be a doddle. I mean, if it was hard work, surely they would return your phone call when you make an enquiry. I'm sure I'm not the only one to suffer 'service' like that.
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Nothing to do with cars. It's all about selling financial products.
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Nothing to do with cars. It's all about selling financial products.
...but presumably you need to be able to sell the car in the first place to get a chance to to sell the financial products that go with it?
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I think car salesman, like estate agents, don't really sell you anything.
If you want a car or a house you'll buy it. If you don't, you won't. The salesman just adds a bit of extra knowledge (hopefully) about the product. But essentially I think they have most of their skill in negotiation, ie getting the best deal for the garage, rather than selling.
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If you want a car or a house you'll buy it. If you don't you won't.
...but you might go somewhere else to get it if you aren't happy with a salesman.
The salesman just adds a bit of extra knowledge (hopefully) about the product.
When looking for a Mitsubishi Colt we had pretty much decided to buy, the local salesman didn't have a clue about Colts (he might have been a 4x4 specialist, don't know). If he had, he might have been able to put together an attractive deal. But he didn't/couldn't, so we bought used from Tradesales where the salesman actually knew more about the model than the Mitsubishi guy.
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>> I think car salesman, like estate agents, don't really sell you anything. When looking for a Mitsubishi Colt we had pretty much decided to buy the local salesman didn't have a clue about Colts
That's interesting - I was just about to post that I probably had the best sales experience ever when I went with daughter to buy her Colt. In the end, there was really nothing we could do but buy the car.
Pity the post sales experience with the dealer, and with Mitsubishi, has been awful.
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essentially I think they have most of their skill in negotiation ie getting the best deal for the garage rather than selling.
This certainly applies in my case. I've decided on exactly what I want to buy (subject to a satisfactory test drive) before I even enter the showroom.
Edited by L'escargot on 25/06/2008 at 10:19
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I've bought several cars from the same dealer;the sales staff are always different and also the sales managers-must be a terrific turnover of them.
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Most buy the brand, rather than returning due to loyalty/relationship with a salesperson - I would guess. So a good relationship-builder is better off being valued for that skill in financial services, or a shirt shop even.
Also, we tend to buy only every 3 or 4 years [I'm guessing].
Certainly, I've never bought a car from anyone that knew more about my purchase than me, which is not the case even with financial advisers, and that's saying something.
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With a house, you'll buy it no matter how ghastly are: the agent, the vendor, the vendor's solicitor.
With a car the products are so similar that you can easily change makes - or dealer.
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This certainly applies in my case. I've decided on exactly what I want to buy (subject to a satisfactory test drive) before I even enter the showroom.
Thats a great skill. I need to pore endlessly over brochures, tech specs, sit in and drive comparable cars. Measure them up. Get subjective and factual about it all.
What's your secret? Is it just a hunch or do you by the same model year after year?
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"What's your secret?"
Don't know, but every time I buy a car I know the make and model I want before going anywhere near a showroom.
I'd never think "I'd like an estate car" and work from that. I can't be bothered visiting numerous garages and drawing up endless comparison charts! Deciding between a C1, 107 and Aygo was enough of a headache and they are virtually the same car! Deciding across numerous manufacturers must be a nightmare.
Irrational reasons for not wanting various marques also helps in reducing the choice!
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"What's your secret?" Don't know but every time I buy a car I know the make and model I want before going anywhere near a showroom.
That didn't stop us from buying a used Accord from a non-local Honda dealer because their salesman was good at his job, unlike the local one.
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Don't know but every time I buy a car I know the make and model I want before going anywhere near a showroom. I'd never think "I'd like an estate car" and work from that. I can't be bothered visiting numerous garages and drawing up endless comparison charts! Deciding between a C1 107 and Aygo was enough of a headache and they are virtually the same car! Deciding across numerous manufacturers must be a nightmare. Irrational reasons for not wanting various marques also helps in reducing the choice!
I agree entirely as I have just put myself through pain! because as a petrol head I have bought so many cars irrationally thinking "yeah I want one of those" only for it to turn out to be not what I thought it would be. Before I know it I have become bored and I'm enviously eyeing up every alternative car that I too couldnt be bothered driving because I though my impulse knew best.
I seem to have an evil twin that eggs me on and gives me a bee in my bonnet about a certain car. Its always doomed to un-satisfaction.
I am about to buy a car very soon. This time around, it has taken me 16 weeks to choose out of a list of about six possibilities. I have done it the hard way. Test driven poked around, kicked annoyed a few salesmen (but hey, its my hard earned) and I have finally plumped on one. I sincerely hope I havent made a bad choice as I want to keep it 4 years not 12 months!
No the salesman I will end up buying from wont have "sold" me the car and yes I will know what it is I want when I go there, but I have very much been hanging round showrooms and driving cars - this time it wont be the case that its been picked from gut reaction, brochure or seeing one on the road and just "fancying" it only for it to turn out to be not what I thought it would be.
The amount I have learnt about cars this way has made my head explode. I feel a little bit dissapointed that there is no such thing as my ideal car and every one is a compromise in one area or another (i.e like the fit and finish of one car yet prefer the engine of another). I just have to choose the least compomised.
Its a hard road to travel and I've become sick of car showrooms and the whole car buying experience all in the name of making the right choice and not being in wrong car groundhog day.
If only I could just pick one dead easy and settle with it just like that:-)
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"I am about to buy a car very soon. This time around, it has taken me 16 weeks to choose out of a list of about six possibilities."
Well for the sake of all that is holy don't tell us what it is, otherwise you'll have fifteen thousand replies from people saying you shouldn't have picked that one, dooming you to another sixteen weeks of indecision.
Edited by Dipstick on 26/06/2008 at 09:51
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Well for the sake of all that is holy don't tell us what it is otherwise you'll have fifteen thousand replies from people saying you shouldn't have picked that one dooming you to another sixteen weeks of indecision.
LOL!
That was bang on :-))
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no such thing as my ideal car and every one is a compromise in one area or another (i.e like the fit and finish of one car yet prefer the engine of another). I just have to choose the least compomised.
We (or at least I, Mrs BP couldn't care less) had that trouble buying her last supermini. Basically they're all OK, but it was little things that bugged me. We ended up with Jazz, but that had crosses on the spreadsheet :-) because of stupid things like lack of intermittant operation for the rear wiper.
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I've often wondered what it would be like myself, being a fairly senior sales person in the telecomms industry. My job is very complex and involves many types of skill including product and technology knowledge, relationship building, contract negotiation and strategising aroung the sometimes complex internal politics of my clients. I see selling desirable cars such as BMW/Audi etc as a relative doddle, and they aren't that badly paid either, I think a salesman in a BMW dealer for example may do £55-60K OTE.
I appreciate in other areas of car sales such as the less desirable margues or used cars may be very tough though.
Looking at my own job, the money is very good, but the product is very boring, and there is no room for anyone who is more than 1% lazy. Sadly so many car sales guys are 80-90% lazy in my eyes.
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I think a salesman in a BMW dealer for example may do £55-60K OTE.
It's three years old, but see this article:
www.carkeys.co.uk/features/industry/2005/5762.asp
BMW (and most other) dealer staff are not salespeople - they're order writers.
Allegedly there's more money in used car sales (as the customer can't look the buy price up on the web!).
I was going to say that lesser marques have higher volume but of course 3 Series has outsold Mondeo for some time.
Edited by Bill Payer on 25/06/2008 at 17:55
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It's three years old but see this article: www.carkeys.co.uk/features/industry/2005/5762.asp
Interesting article, I got my numbers from that TV programme 'spendaholics' where one guy was a BMW salesman and £55-60K was what they had quoted.
Also, by lesser marques I meant Fiat, Citroen etc - the really hard stuff to shift !
Edited by Roly93 on 25/06/2008 at 18:10
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Of course we have all met nice car salesmen and we know that some have the highest levels of integrity because they post here.
But I still can't help wondering why people want to put this label on themselves. It appears remarkably often as the profession of individuals convicted of crimes of violence, arson, fraud and gangsterism. This may be because those accused of such crimes have to pretend to have some source of legal income and car salesman is all they can think of. On the other hand, it may be because they are car salesmen. I would worry about my colleagues in a profession with that sort of image.
:o}
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Interesting view.
I suppose second-hand car salesman is even worse as in the old anti Nixon campaign, and worse again double-glazing salesman.
I digress. I wouldn't mind trying selling cars to see what it was like but I wouldn't want to go into it just now.
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Like much of retail, margins are increasingly squeezed by increasing competition, more demand for economy and increasing costs. Couple that with consumers who do their own research with better tools than were available before about 8 years ago and it must be a joyless job. Probably more about learning to jusdge character & exploiting people's ignorance than being knowledgable per se
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