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Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
47921 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 4:41 PM
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Replying to: stickguy (May 21, 2008 7:16 pm) The earlier ones were, indeed, dogs!
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Replying to: joel0622 (May 22, 2008 5:24 am) I can understand that management will take a hit when the sales person doesn’t work for the store but rather himself and as management you have to be able to see through this. Now, what happens at the end of the month when everybody especially upper management and the owners are scurrying to make their numbers and are willing to all but give away a car? Do the little management guys also take the hit then? jmonroe
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Replying to: richard64 (May 21, 2008 12:37 pm) So true. I suggest that the critical posters sample a few other car web sites. You'll get nothing but insults and profanity. Perhaps that is what the OP was looking for as entertainment. On the other hand, if the OP was looking for information on the secret methods to getting a 10K below invoice deal, he has to pay the club dues first. 
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Replying to: mackabee (May 21, 2008 1:35 pm) Gee, I thought Toyotas lasted longer than that. 
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OK, since the professional sales stories have been a bit thin lately I'll tell you about a sale I did a few years ago. After 13 years of northeast winters my Toyota pick-up was looking pretty sad. It had rusted to the point that the lower panels on the bed were flapping in the wind, in fact the only thing holding the bed together was the bed liner. I put it out in front of the house with a whopping $200 price tag on the window. At that point I just wanted it out of my life. Every few days someone would come and look it over and begin the dance. One guy wanted me to replace the bed before he would buy. Another complained about the color (I don't know if he was talking about the original red paint or the acquired rust brown). Every one of them had some BS problem with some feature which was followed by "Will you take less?" I was astounded that people would be so cheap as to try to grind on a $200 vehicle. I mean, I was selling it basicly for scrap value. That didn't seem to matter. I even thought about putting up a sign that said: FOR SALE $400--TODAY ONLY 1/2 PRICE $200. I finally sold it for $175. I figured it would have cost $25 worth of effort to junk it. I feel sorry for you sales guys who have to put up with that nonsense every day.
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For a moment, let's go back to the survey discussion. I ran into the local Chrysler service manager at the grocery store last night. We started a discussion about the importance of surveys. I asked him if his department counted on the perfect surveys. He said that they liked to get them, but that they didn't get beat up if they weren't perfect. He said that the really bad surveys get attention, but that the 8's, 9's, and 10's are ok. He said that the car sales surveys are different. He mentioned that the salesmen get really upset if the survey isn't perfect. He said that it was the dealer who had hard words to say about the salesmen who didn't get perfect scores. He also noted that I had not turned in my last three surveys on service. I promised to do better.  I would have talked longer, but Mrs. Richard was standing there with this look on her face which said, "Why is this discussion important?"
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Replying to: jmonroe (May 21, 2008 6:15 pm) You just better hope that she and I don't ever have a meeting. You'll be screaming more than "uncle". Richard |
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Replying to: oldfarmer50 (May 22, 2008 6:40 am) Richard
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Replying to: richard64 (May 22, 2008 6:59 am) That would be a $200 doc fee, or prep fee, or ADM. The buyer can take care of the TTL on their own.
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Replying to: oldfarmer50 (May 22, 2008 6:40 am) A few years ago, one of our lot guys hung the wrong sale tag in one of our used cars. The marked price was about 3000.00 less than it should have been and if we had sold it at that price we would have lost over 2000.00. A guy who barely spoke english found me and asked me if he could take a closer look. As soon as I saw the sale tag, I knew a MAJOR pricing mistake had been made. The guy looked the car over and nitpicked it to death. At this point, I dopn't remember what kind of car it even was but it was in great shape as is the case with all of the used cars we sell. Still there is always something with any used car. Small scratches, etc. They guy managed to find every one of them. I left him alone with the car and I found our Used Car Manager. I asked him if he had really tagged that car that low. " WHAT is it tagged for" Yep, big mistake. The customer drove the car a short distance. I remember he was such a bad and scary driver that I wouldn't let him on the freeway. He liked it well enough so I sat him down at my desk. I explained to him that we had made a MAJOR pricing error but we would honor it just for him. Nope, wasn't good enough! He made an offer two thousand dollars less than the sale tag! Of course, I didn't want to sell it to him and I told him that. I also told him that if he left, I was going to pull out the sale tag and raise the price by several thousand dollars. " I shop around"...And he left! A VERY happy UCM went out to the car and changed the sign! Happy ending....He came back three hours later! " I take car" He didn't believe me but after seeing the new sign, the look on his face was priceless!
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