8 replies to this topic

[CJDsalespro]

I have said numerous times on this board how important it is for you to find your personal "Car Guy". This is your sales professional that you have over time learned to trust. You found him to be knowledgeable and trustworthy and you have no problem recommending him to your family and friends.

He is not the guy that just started selling cars last month(or even 4months ago) and hasn't got a clue of what he is doing or selling. And worst doesn’t care to learn. He doesn’t understand that the consumer of today is more educated than ever before and the odds are they have studied the vehicle that they are interested in, quite in depth. Every dealership has one or two of these guys. I am embarrassed to say I have at least 3 on my stores floor.. my skin crawls when I see them approach a customer because I know they are ill prepared. I have heard the nonsense that comes out of their mouths and feel sorry for the customer that has to endure their presentations or lack of presentation.

Unfortunately....Automobile sales is a high turnover industry. Most cant do it and after several months they quit or decide to try another dealership in search of greener pastures. The necessity to have "coverage " means that the ratio of seasoned professionals with proper training and untrained Joe's that are simply out to make a paycheck is dang near 50/50 . As hard as any manufacture tries, a newbie salesperson IMHO is NOT prepared to deal with the customers without a minimum of 3months of in depth training. and even then again IMHO are not the guys you want to meet as your first experience at a new dealership.

There are constant continuing education that is needed to be at the top of your game in this industry. I just recently looked at my training records. I was surprised to see that I have completed 236 courses. Including annual brand product reviews that cover each and every car in a brand for that model year(they count as one credit..lol), annual Spring Training events, Fall Launch events(all day ride and drives with training and testing). For 2011 I completed 38 different training classes, Some may take an hr to complete some take 3or more. Unfortunately many newbie salespeople haven’t been exposed to any of this.

This type of continued training happens with every brand and make out there. To think that all “salespeople” are created equal is just plain silly. We interview and CHOOSE any professional we decide we want to do business with. Would you hire a lawyer, builder/contractor, plumber, engineer without some background knowledge or at a minimum a reference. A huge part of my continued success is from referral and repeat business. Those that try to live off of the “ups” people that walk in the door have a hard time in this industry. They make 30-40k per year and quit because their buddy makes 10k more in a 9-5 job driving for UPS.

　

Its all about building relationships. This is true with your service writers as well. Find YOUR Carguy….build a relationship of trust with him. Be fair, and honest and expect the same to be reciprocated. You’ll find that buying a car can be fun. It does not have to be stressful or scary like going to the dentist. Do a little research…GOD bless the internet all the info you need is out there. You don’t have to be concerned with finance rates. If you have excellent credit get your own financing. Unless the car that you are trying to buy is a limited edition, the dealer most of the time will sell it to you for a couple dollars over invoice…(that’s fair isn’t it?) Rebates are published on line. There are guidelines available to you to research your trade too. If you don’t like the numbers you are hearing and think you can sell it on you own…go for it!!! Its not that hard…. Your Carguy should make it easy for you…..

　

Gotta go…I have 3 deliveries today….(one of which is purchasing from me for the 4^th time)

[robatdamicos]

Could not agree more!!!!!!!

[bumonbox]

Glad to see you start this thread.  While I have never been silent about my complaints about many Chrysler Dealerships, it is naive to blanket that assessment accross every single one.  (As was being done in another thread). You frequently post pictures of smiling customers next to their new car, It'd be fair to say you know what you are doing.

[Jeepnut]

I will give credit where it is due Salespro seems to be a very knowledgeable and professional salesman I only wish more dealers had people like him!

[CJDsalespro]

Jeepnut, on January 31, 2012 at 02:36 pm, said:

I will give credit where it is due Salespro seems to be a very knowledgeable and professional salesman I only wish more dealers had people like him!

There are a few of us at  just about every dealership. You just have to find us. .....


When I went shopping for a new plasma TV. I seeked out the their best and most knowledgeable salesperson. I simply went to the floor manager and asked him who was his best and most knowledgeable salesperson. That was like 10 years ago, 6TVs, several BlueRay players, a complete surround sound system for  my theatre, a Kindle Fire,  a couple IPOD's and an IPAD later ....Josh is My "Electronics Guy"  and supplies all of my electronic needs

oh yea....... and a washer and dryer and I am sure alot of other stuff I cant think of right now...But I think u get the point.

[DaveAdmin]

I have to remember that trick. That's a good idea.

I'm a pretty loyal customer. if I find a good place, I keep it. But I don't go where I'm not wanted or treated well.  I also try to follow that old rule from TARP, if you're treated badly, tell ten people...

(But I try to violate the rule that if you're treated well, you keep it mostly to yourself.)

[Doug D]

CJDsalespro, on January 31, 2012 at 05:19 pm, said:

There are a few of us at  just about every dealership. You just have to find us. .....

Yeah, that's the "fun" part.  As I related in another thread the turnover at the dealership I patronize (Safford) is high.  It seems everytime I am there for service there's at least one new salesperson.  We've bought 3 vehicles there (Ram and two Journey's) and each time we had a different salesperson - I tried to find the previous ones but they had moved on.  The salesperson I dealt with when we bought our first Journey was very good, but he was no longer there when we traded it in for the second one.

[tazdevil]

Our best local dealer fits the description of "Good sales people". The support of their sales people is excellent. If "Joe" is looking for a diesel pichup, the first thing he sees at a desk when entering the front door is three piston/rod assemblies. Cummins, Duramax and Powerstroke. Decision made.

[99Subaru93]

No offence but I think the main reason no one in my family has bought a new Chrysler product since 2001 is because of the salespeople.  After buying a 2001 minivan, we decided to get a truck, it had to be Dodge because they are the cheapest.  Our local dealership had nothing so my dad went to further dealerships that were at least 30min to and hour and a half away.  Every single place would say they had the truck but we got there and "they got the numbers mixed up" or "we don't have that but this one will be good" we even got kicked out of one dealership my dad was so furious.

We finally got a truck out of state, and when the Journey came out my family wanted to check one out.  They only had fully loaded ones but decided to test one out, the salesperson would keep pointing out every single option after we told him we couldn't afford one like this.  He turned the GPS on at the beginning and set on Taco Bell of all places and didn't know how to turn it off. So the entire test drive went on with the GPS continually telling us to turn around.

The only dealer we have a good relation ship is Toyota Who my Grandma bought a Camry in 2005, but I think it is because the whole dealership gets a kick out of seeing that the car has just rolled past 20,000 miles.