"You went for a test drive, the dealer had a look at your p/x, consulted some mysterious guide in his top drawer, named a cost-to-change, a quick bit of bartering to get the price down by a few hundred and then sign on the dotted line."
Good to see my Audi salesmen are still living in the last century! This is exactly how my last deal was done (and the one before and the one before that) - my opening gambit is I want this car, I've got this car and I want to do a deal today probably helps. I've never had to wait a few days for a part ex price. My current A3 deal was done in about 20 minutes.
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and I want to do a deal today probably helps.
I think that's probably key - British people are generally reticent and like to pretend that they're 'just browsing' even if they're dead keen - so guess what? The salesman thinks you're a timewaster.
I helped my daughter buy a Mitsubishi Colt recently - we walked into the showroom to be met within moments by a salesman and I asked him to sell me a Colt. Had immediate test drive (accompanied at first, then he was happy to let us go off so daughter could drive) and a very good price, with no GAP, paint treatment etc hassle. If I hadn?t been happy I would have walked away with no hesitation, but I really couldn't do anything other than to buy the car.
When I bought my Mercedes, I put a deposit on it before travelling 80 miles to see it, so I guess that marks you out as keen. They were still willing to have a 2nd round of negotiation after the first one on the phone and I did what I believe was a very good deal.
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It has never failed to amaze me just how such a large proportion of car salesmen, especially at the large dealerships, justify their existence....:-)
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About 15 years ago i walked into a well known Ford dealership in Dagenham and approached a salesman who was busily engaged in scanning the sports pages of The sun. I introduced myself and told him I was interested in a couple of Fiestas as driving school cars. Barely taking the trouble to glance over the top of the paper he pointed me to the direction of a nearby table where he told me I would find some brochures that would tell me what I needed to know.
That day saw the beginning of a long relationship with a very professional Peugeot dealer, from who we bought eight cars in the ensuing years, along with supplying them with an extremely profitable number of customers who wanted to buy a car the same as they had learned in.
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they are obviously not 'hungry enough' then are they.......
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I've never bought a car in a show room, I'll go along to test drive and get a part exchange price and then move along to another car that I'm interested in and take a look. After visiting all the cars I've got an interest in I'll pick one and search the Internet for those dealers with keenest prices.
After working out the price I'm going to pay I'll start phoning around. Works every time; you come across some useless dealers, but just move on to the next.
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>>and then move along to another car that I'm interested in and take a look. After visiting all the cars I've got an interest in I'll pick one and search the Internet for those dealers with keenest prices.>>
That could explain why so many dealership's car salesmen couldn't give a damn - time wasters...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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That could explain why so many dealership's car salesmen couldn't give a damn - time wasters...:-)
>
I wonder what % of people who venture into a car showroom:
a) Have serious interest in buying a car from that showroom?
b) Actually do buy a car from that showroom?
As someone, who is basically a salesman, I'd like to think everyone that comes in is an opportunity - however I wouldn't be surprised if the conversion rate is so low that the dealer sales people assume everyone is a time-waster, unless proven to be otherwise.
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the salesmen dont seem to be rushed off their feet. so surely every one that comes in should be treated like royalty because even if they dont buy now they might go back later after remmembering about that nice salesman
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the salesmen dont seem to be rushed off their feet. so surely every one that comes in should be treated like royalty because even if they dont buy now they might go back later after remmembering about that nice salesman
Suspect the problem is with the manufacturers' policies. Real salesmen are on low basic pay with high commission.
This pay structure will make salesman sell cars. Perhaps the manufacturers have replaced their salesmen with salaried sales assistants.
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I wonder what % of people who venture into a car showroom: a) Have serious interest in buying a car from that showroom? b) Actually do buy a car from that showroom?
I spent a little bit of time working in the "back office" of a used car outlet last year. The numbers below are approximate and were typical for them but may not be typical for other dealerships.
They had an enquiry to gate count ratio of 15%. i.e. 85% of people visiting the site were either "just browsing" or found the cars were outside of their budget or were visiting the site for another reason (a delivery etc) or were left the site without speaking to a salesman.
Of the 15% that were genuine enquiries about 75% were taken on a test drive.
About 60% of test drives resulted in a sale.
Overall the gate count to sales ratio was about 6-7%.
I imagine that a main dealer would have a lower ratio as some of the visits will be for service and parts enquiries and probably a higher level of people simply browsing.
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>>and then move along to another car that I'm interested in and take a look. After visiting all the cars I've got an interest in I'll pick one and search the Internet for those dealers with keenest prices.>> That could explain why so many dealership's car salesmen couldn't give a damn - time wasters...:-)
Actually not the case at all, one of the three cars I've bought using this methods was from the local dealer after I'd talked talked about the deal on the phone. If car sales people can't give a damn then they should give up their job, I personally think cars should be sold like any item in the supermarket or white goods, garages are a backwards way of selling to labour requirements and prices high.
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When we were looking to buy our Grand Scenic, we called the nearest Renault dealer, and quite honestly the guy went above and beyond the call of duty. We told him our budget, that we wanted to try car seats, prams and other paraphernalia, and that we'd want to drive a 1.6 petrol and both 1.5 and 1.9dCi diesels. All of this was accommodated with no pressure, and he even brought one model to our house on a Sunday for us to try. Gave us a P/X price on the Mondeo while we were out on our first test drive.
We settled on a 1.9dCi and were unfussy about colour, but SWMBO really wanted the panoramic sunrooft. He couldn't find one for what we wanted to pay, so we ended up buying elsewhere. Such was the service he'd provided, I actually felt guilty about it, but we needed the car sooner rather than later, and he wasn't able to find one. What I did do for him though was take the car there for a service, and explained on the feedback form that the only reason I'd done so was because of the positive impression this salesman had given of the dealership. Hopefully it got him some brownie points at least.
Best bit was there was no sucking up or nauseating patter. Just a chatty, friendly bloke who did exactly what he said he'd do, and did everything possible to make our lives easier.
Cheers
DP
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>>Best bit was there was no sucking up or nauseating patter. Just a chatty, friendly bloke who did exactly what he said he'd do, and did everything possible to make our lives easier.>>
No wonder you felt guilty...:-)
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Goodness - a "customer" from Hell!
After all that effort -
He did loads of work (+ Sunday) all for NOTHING!
Why am I not surprised that salesmen are cynical about tyre kickers?
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
Edited by Webmaster on 02/05/2008 at 21:02
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surely the whole point of this is for the customer to go out an buy what they want.......not what the salesman tries to sell them......if a salesman gives good service, but doesn't get the sale, that will be remembered for next time, won't it?.......or do garages not care about next time?
the first time someone treats me like a piece of something on the bottom of their shoe.....means i walk out and buy elsewhere
and the place that gives me decent service, i stick with, even if it's a long journey to get there
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Spot on. My old man buys from a local dealer (secondhand all makes) even though his prices are a little higher than elsewhere because: he looks around for what my dad wants, he gives full details of manufacturers warranties and offers a decent one if it's out of m'frs which he will honour, he always points out the bad as well as the good and won't flog him something that doesn't suit him. Also, there's only him and his son, no army of Brylcreemed spivs.
He has had probs with one car he bought, and it was all sorted out without any fuss. Can't ask for more can you?
Proof of the pudding is massive repeat custom for him, and he's just bought a much nicer new showroom area, deservedly so I think.
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Two recent "dealings" with car salesmen
1. Saw a CR-V near me which I liked the price of etc. Visited another dealer 40 miles away and his price wasn't as keen but due to changing jobs, I wasn't fully committed in buying. The dealer 40 miles away subsequently phoned me and said there was still room for negotiating, I asked him what it would be and he said to come down and discuss it and we could hammer out a deal. He just could not understand that i was not prepared to travel 40 miles again unless he could tell me something over the phone to persuade me to go down!
2. Went and saw another CRV today. However, I pointed out so many things that were wrong with it, both internally and externally that the salesman said that they would need to take it "off sale" till they decided what they were going to do with it as he reckoned it was looking at about £800 worth of repairs. For now, I trust him and his integrity. If it is still there in a couple of days time I won't!
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Recent 'pleasent' dealing with a salesman.
my wife and i went to our local honda dealer to look at the new civic cdti. Now seen as we had a C-max tdci to p/x i did a little digging on the net beforehand to see what kind of trade in price i should be looking for. With that price in mind off we went to the dealership. They gave us a car for the afternoon with a full tank and said, just return it in 1 piece. 5 and 1/2 hours later we came back, walked into the showroom and he was sat there waiting for us. Now at this point i need point out that at no time had we felt pressured into making a decision. We sat down and he showed my wife and i the figures. Their Trade-in price was bang on what i'd found on a few good websites. All in all we found the whole experience nice, simple and very easy. On the other hand there are some slimy sods out there so just be wary, and remember its your money!
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it's not just car salesmen.......but to a lot of sales folk, the buying public are a pain in the wotsit, because they don't conform to what they (the salesman) want them to.....and why would we want to
i want the sales staff to fit around me, not the other way around.........it's me with the money in my pocket and i've got the choice........look after me, provide me what i want (within reason)and i'll spend it there.... if not i'm on my toes
it doesn't matter if you think i'm talking out of my 'arris or i have an offensive wife...keep me sweet.........surely you want to sell me something, don't you?
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it doesn't matter if you think i'm talking out of my 'arris or i have an offensive wife...keep me sweet.........surely you want to sell me something don't you?
Can't speak for new car sales, but for used car sales there is only a certain amount I would ever take. If someone is being very picky and difficult then its probably better not to pursue the sale. If they buy then they'll only be back a few days later complaining about the sound quality from the cassette player. Also when it comes to test drives, any messing about and they can walk back. If you have a good car to sell then it will find a buyer (a bum for every seat, as they say) - better to wait another week than have to deal with a jerk. If you've a 'monument' to get rid of then you might take a different approach I guess.... ;-)
In terms of new car sales, a couple of things you need to bear in mind..
Staff retention in the retail motor industry is very poor - turnover in many dealers is 60%+. The salesman you buy from this year is unlikely to be there next year. For this reason product knowledge is often poor and training is also minimal. Most customers know very little about cars anyway, so product knowledge is seldom really tested (salesman will blag his way out of difficult question). Retail motor industry has, by and large, abysmal management and poor use of IT. They have gone the way of the restaurant industry in that there are procedures for everything - salesman is not usually allowed to think for himself.
Sales manager will be concerned not just about shifting units, but about finance penetration, paint protection, GAP targets etc etc. Profit on car sale will be quite modest - but a paint protection costing £40 can be charged at £299 with £50 to salesman etc. Every month (in the larger dealer groups) there will be a composite report to study and staff will be pulled in if they are coming up short in one area or another.
Also salesman will be working to target for the month and quarter - if he's hit target then he's not going to be so hungry.
Remember also that manufacturers get registration data from DVLA and some don't take kindly to out-of-area pump-ins (i.e. dealer selling significant number of cars to customers in another dealer's territory) - so dealers can get knuckles rapped. Also don't like dealers discounting too much - but to shift units some dealers will sell a load of cars at low price to a broker who then undercuts.
Basically, remember that a salesman will do what he has to do to keep his job and earn a living. They are not there to tug at forelocks and generally fawn after you. If you start talking out of your 'arris or have an offensive wife then he may just decide that you're more trouble than you're worth.
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">They are not there to tug at forelocks and generally fawn after you.<"
Nonsense, a good salesman will do whatever is required to sell whilst staying within the law. The art is to judge the buyer.
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Goodness - a "customer" from Hell! After all that effort - He did loads of work (+ Sunday) all for NOTHING! Why am I not surprised that salesmen are cynical about tyre kickers? Roger. (Costa del Sol España)
We were hardly tyre kickers. There's 10 and a bit grands worth of car (at main dealer retail) sitting on the drive right now that we would have happily bought from him if he had found it for us. Before we took any of his time, we had a half hour discussion where we told him exactly what we were looking for, how much we wanted to spend, and when we needed to do it by. He reckoned he could come up with something, but when it came to it, he couldn't. The cars he offered were a grand over budget, or had the wrong engine in!
There's obligation, and buying the wrong car for the wrong price just to give someone business. If failing to do the latter makes me a tyre kicker, then frankly I reckon that goes for most car buyers out there.
And anyway, he got a referral out of it, and will get more if anyone I know is looking to buy a Renault.
Cheers
DP
Edited by Webmaster on 02/05/2008 at 21:02
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