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Smart Shopper Is the Auto Sales Profession for Me?
148 messages, Last post on Aug 24, 2009 at 6:44 PM
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Replying to: cole (Aug 17, 2007 7:31 am) Are you self-motivated? Can you handle repeated rejections with a good attitude? Do you have a stable home life? Do you have a problem with long hours? How are you at overcoming objections? If you are a really nice guy, I don't think this is the business for you. I think you can answer those questions above and know what the best answers would be for a salesman. I think if you can be successful in car sales, you can be successful in most any sales. It can be tough to keep your attitude straight. That's why you take your days off and enjoy life outside as much as possible. Joel touched on the boredom factor. Sometimes the dealership is so slow you can watch sweat form. It's mind numbing. Can you deal with that? Being able to get along with your fellow salesmen is almost as important as being a salesman. I think that's a start. How about some other sales shmo helps out a little too. What'd I miss? -Moo
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Replying to: madmanmoo (Aug 17, 2007 8:27 am) Hmmm... maybe I should try it... 
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Replying to: kyfdx (Aug 17, 2007 9:39 am) I'm curious myself. Car nut. While I have little sales experience, I've got tons of sales management experience. I know how the sales career works. Yes, rejection is a big part of it. Good demeanor (at least I think so)! My issue is I want to take a crack at it part time. Do dealerships have part time positions? Or, are they all full time gigs? While money isn't the issue with me (I'm assuming if you sell, you get compensated), I'd be curious to hear what the real earnings are of a good car sales person.
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Replying to: graphicguy (Aug 17, 2007 9:46 am) We have partime sales people. The thing about part time in the car biz is that it works out to about a 40 hour week. The only problem I have with PT sales people is that customer service suffers. Allot of times other sales people have to take care of your customer, and no sales person in the world wants to handle some one elses problems.
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Replying to: joel0622 (Aug 17, 2007 10:16 am)
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Replying to: graphicguy (Aug 17, 2007 10:32 am) |
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At one of my competitors which I worked for briefly, there is a couple of part timers. One is a female school teacher who works full time in the summer and part time during the school year. It supplements her income nicely as she has loads of customers from her parent/teacher conferences and also from her church. The other one works as a clothing distributor and is there only on weekends. It does create a bit of friction between the regulars since the part timers only coming on Saturdays when the cream of the customers come in. The reguars have to endure the boredom of during the week and by the time Saturday rolls along they are tired and the part timers are full of energy. The dealership doesn't car since they only pay the part timers for what they sell. Mack |
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You got to be thick skinned and not run home to mama the first time a customer cusses at you or insults your product. You have to be able to think on your feet or they'll eat you alive. You have to fight the other sales people and mark your territory. You have to fight with the sales managers to get your deals done. You have to fight with the finance managers to get your deals approved. Then you have the long hours, the customers that don't show when they tell you they're coming and then when they are two hours late they get mad at you because you are assisting someone else. Can you handle rejection? Rememer the girl you liked in Jr. High that wouldn't give you the time of day?  Sales are a lot like courting a girl. Once you get to know them and win them over than they will let you take them on a date.  It's not for everyone. Once I even thought it wasn't for me either and some days when there's a lot of down time I start to wonder what I'm doing here. Ah, but that all changes in a minute when the next customer walks in and you're employed again! There's nothing like an adrenaline rush of selling 3 or 4 cars in one day! You feel like you can do no wrong. When I'm on my game there's nobody else like me. I can close anyone, even an Eskimo. If you feel you can handle the pressure of the last day of the month when you are one unit away from a big bonus or that big grand slam deal you just crushed gets blown out of F$I because the business manager pissed off your customers then by all means come and joins us. This is a great place to work at, you'll make a lot of money as long as you keep doing the basics every single time, every single day. Remember Michael Jordan didn't get to be the greatest ball player by sitting on his laurels. He practiced every day. When someone asks "How does this car compare to the Zorch?" I tell them "Sir, when you're number one. You don't compare yourself to anyone." You have to believe. Mackabee  Gets off his soapbox..
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Replying to: mackabee (Aug 17, 2007 2:10 pm) You mean by spraying or urinating? I saw Jack Nicholson do this in the movie "Wolf". 
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Replying to: cole (Aug 17, 2007 7:31 am) Shop for the right dealership: More expensive acrs will pay off the most, so if you can get hired at a highline - I would choose that over an economy brand. Try to go with the brand you like, you will have more credibility while selling. interview the people you are going to be working with, just like they interview you. you have to like them - you will be spending up to 10 hours a day with them. You have to have self-discipline to be successful. Go through the process, find something to do on the towntime, basically you are your own boss. You have to NEED to make money or to be sucessful. We all have seen it: some young hotshot sells 20 cars in a month, makes 10 grand, next month he can barely sell 5, because he is not disciplined, and he doesn't need the money that much. You have to have the strenth to go through the tough times. I start to get depressed by 12th of every month, because it's slow, not enough cars sold. Somehow I make it every month, but it's hard going a week without selling a car.
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