A Car Salesman

Toyoda Testimony Tomorrow

It is being reported by Autoweek.com that Akio Toyoda is going to admit that they let quality suffer in order to attain sales growth. 


I am sure that  he is going to tell them that this is going to change, but can it change.  What about the cars that are on the road that are still dangerous?

What about the customers faith in the product? 

What about the future, can you guarantee the safety of the cars that are on the road?

All very interesting topics for discussion tomorrow!

When It's Cold Outside

You know it is cold when you can't get a salesman to help a customer.  We don't make any money unless we sell a car, and by default we are all fairly greedy.  Everyone ususally wants the next up, unless it is 5 minutes before close or it is really cold!

Chilly is one thing, cold is okay, but when it is freezing it is hard to motivate yourself.  Yesterday, I had  customer drop in, a referral and a very nice young lady.   She is not sure what she wants, but she needs a car and she is going to buy one this week.  So first she wanted to drive a new 2010 Ford Focus. 

So I bundle up get the key and walk to the far end of the lot.  By the time I get there, I am cold, and then of course the car will not start. So now I have to walk all the way back to the building, get the jump box and make my way back.  Now I am freezing, but I am smarter this time, I brought an extra set of keys, in case I cannot get the car started.  But I do get the car started, pull it back to the building, and let the customer take it for a spin. While she is driving, I put the jump box back and get the keys to a...

2010 Ford Fusion.  Remember I said I was smarter from my first walk out on the lot, well not so much.  I walk out to the other end of the lot and of course it will not start either.  So back I go,  my bones ache, and my hands are just in pain.  I get the car the customer drives and we have a winner.

We get dad on the phone and finish up the details.  Thank God it was not just for the fun of it.

When does spring start?
 

Cuban Gynecologist comes to America Car Sales

Some Things are so Funny They Have to be Shared!

This is a real commercial that is running in North Carolina.  It was made for a small dealer and you have to watch it.

If you want to get attention this is one of the ways to do it.

Find more videos like this on Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community (ADM)

Kuddos to the Ad people!

Dealing with Punks

Punks Suck

I have to tell you a story about last Saturday.  I had waited nearly half the day to get an up, I did not want to wait that long, but there just wasn't a lot of business.  So when I got paged to the receptionist for a customer, I went up and introduced myself to a customer I had been talking to on the internet.  The guy seemed very nice, and young. 

The guy was 22 or 23 and had his girlfriend in tow.  Young "Punks" like to bring their girlfriends or friends to the dealership so that they can show their "woman" how tough and smart they are. The guy wanted to look at a 2006 Grand Prix GT that we had on the lot.  In the emails we exchanged he was very nice (obviously his girlfriend was not standing over his shoulder) so I did not immediately suspect that he was a "Punk".

I sat him down and we talked about the car, there was not going to be a trade-in, so that was all there was to discuss. I verified his information and got the keys so I could pull up the car.  I showed them the vehicle and then sent them on a test drive.  He was still being a really nice guy and his girlfriend was just quiet.

When he got back from the test drive, he tells me "Wow, I love the car, if you can get me in the car for $300 a month, I'll take it."  So I am excited, I have a commitment from the customer, if he has decent credit we should be able to get to the $300 a month.  I ask him to fill out a credit application and he does. I talk to Mullethead (my desk manager) we are going to have to discount the car a little to get to the guys payment, but we agree it is a deal, if the credit is decent. Turns out the kid has excellent credit, a surprise for a kid that young, but he doesn't have a lot of credit and no previous car credit.  Next, I talk to Beamer (the finance Director) and he says that he can get it done, but we are going to have to discount the car more than Mullethead and I thought.  So back to Mullethead, he says okay to the deal.

Now back to the customer, but first lets review.
* I have talked to the Punk for almost a week through email about this particular car.
* We have previously discussed the price of the vehicle, to which he agreed.
* The Punk has never had a car loan before.
* The Punk agreed to buy the car if we get it to his payment, with no cash down.
* We are going to have to sell him the car for less than the price we had agreed on to get to his payment, but are willing to do this.
* All systems are go.

So, I tell the Punk, congratulations we can get the deal done for you.  I will get the car cleaned up and we can do paperwork.  NOW Enter the "Punk" Persona - "Well how long is that loan for? What price are you selling me the car for?"  I inform him that we have to sell him the car for less than we had agreed on, and the loan is going to be for 60 months, as we had previously discussed.

Punk - "No, that is not going to work, I need the loan for 48 months at $275"
Me - "But that is not what we agreed to"
Punk - "I don't care that is what I need" (smiles at girlfriend)
Me - "Why didn't you tell me that before" (feeling stupid - remember the rule 'Buyer are Liars')
Punk - "I just worked out my budget"
Me - "Despite the fact that we had been talking for a week?"
Punk - "I won't do it unless you get to $275 for 48 months"
Me - "Let me see what I can do" (Must get away from Punk)
Punk - (giggles with girlfriend as I walk away)
Me - (Fury building)

So now I have to go talk to Mullethead and tell him that Punk has 'backed up' on his commitment.  Not relishing this conversation, I run back to Beamer, despite knowing the answer, that we cannot do what the customer wants, just to make sure.  Beamer blows a gasket for having his time wasted (this is practice for Mullethead). Having taken my beating and the repeated "why didn't you know this?".

I then return to the desk to explain to Mullethead what is going on.  As predicted I am called a flury of names that I cannot retype, (some of which I cannot even spell). We go back and forth with Punk a few times, trying to re-close him.  Punk will not explain how he got to his new decision but is firm.  He will not move to a different vehicle, and will not budge on the payment or term. Finally, over an hour later Mullethead blows a gasket and he tells me to tell the Punk to get the F*** out.

I have now been working with Punk and the girlfriend for over 2 hours on a Saturday, the day we make money. Mullethead has blown his gasket. I have been cussed out by both Mullethead and Beamer, and I am furious with the Punk. So one last shot:

Punk - "So you got it done for me" (smiles at girlfriend)
Me - "No, we cannot get to your numbers, simple math would to tell you that" (getting mad)
Punk - "That is what I need" (smiles at me)
Me - "I told you in the email, on the phone and here today what the price was, we are going to sell you the car for less than that, but cannot get to $275 a month for 48 months" (madder)
Punk - "Well I want to buy this car and that is what it is going to take and I am sure you can do it" (winks at girlfriend)
Me - "No we can't get there, but we might be able to get you to $280 for 60) (face turning red)
Punk - "You just go talk to your manager again and get it done" (chuckling)
Me - "He told me not to come back and talk to him about this deal" (furious, who does Punk think he is)
Punk - "What, that's your job" (feeling superior)
Me - "So let me ask you a question. I can't do it, but let's say I go talk to the manager and he agrees to do the deal.  When I come back are you going to do the deal or are you going to once again change your mind and say $250 for 48 months" (On the Edge, don't push me Punk)
Punk - "I don't know, I might (winks and girlfriend, and smiles slightly) After all it is a buyers Market"
ME - BOOM - I have lost it - "Get the F*** out of here, you F***ing Punk"
Punk - "What?" (shocked)
Me - "It isn't that much of a buyers market, and I am tired of your S***, get the F*** Out"
Punk - "You can't talk to me like that"
Me - "My Manager told me to tell you to get the F*** out and I just did, so get out"
Punk - "But I want to buy the car"
Me - "We aren't going to sell you the car, get out"
Punk - "How dare you talk to me like that!"
Me - "F*** You! I make my money selling cars and you have been here for almost 3 hours Jerking me off, on a Saturday, the day I make most of my money.  I have a wife and 3 kids to feed, and don't get paid unless I sell a car.  I do not have any more time for your S***" (I walk away)
Punk - (Stormms out)

I am feeling very guilty, I have never talked to a customer like that before, but I just lost it on the smug piece of Pond Scum.  I quickly call Mullethead and tell him I told the kid what you told me to tell him.  To my surprise he says good.  I remind him that he has to back me up.  He hangs up the phone.

About 10 minutes later I am at the sales desk working with another customer. Mullethead's phone rings, I hear him say "Let me talk to him......Hi this is Mullethead...No...I did not tell him to say that...I am sorry he said that, I will talk to him....What I told him to say was get the F*** out and do not ever come in to our store again...I hope I am clear!.....'Click'"

Go Mullethead!

Are You Serious

  The Car Business is Slow, But it isn't THAT SLOW!

Yesterday, for the third time this week I had a customer offer to buy a truck on our lot if and only if we would take another $7,000 off the price.  Mind you at the moment we are selling our cars and trucks at employee prices and then the customers get the rebates.  So we are selling the trucks for less than we own the trucks for and then Ford cuts us back a check for selling the vehicle.  The money that Ford gives back to us is somewhere between $500 and $2500 depending on the vehicle.  So if we took $7000 it would COST US at least $5500 to do this.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!?!

Itstarted on Monday when we tried to get a 2008 truck from another dealership.  We do not have any 2008 F-150's left on our lot, because we are sold out!  It ended up that we could not get the truck from the other dealership, because they sold it!  When we tried again to find another truck that met the customers needs, there was not one available, the Midwest was SOLD OUT!  The customer became irate because we couldn't find another truck for him.  He argued that we should sell him a new 2009 F-150 for the same price, the price difference was about $6,000.  My reply is listed above, and I asked him why he thought we would even consider it.  He said you need to make sales, your boss will do it.  I kindly (maybe not so kindly) informed him that we wouldn't do it, because obviously we were selling F-150's, we and the rest of the Midwest was sold out of the truck he wanted.  He left saying "I can't believe you won't do it!"

Tuesday, I had a customer come in and drive a brand new F-150, his mom works at the Ford plant in town, and has for 25 years.  He wanted to look at the new F-150, so I showed him some numbers after he drove the truck.  As a Ford employee's son he could buy the truck for almost $10,000 off.  He called back on Wednesday and said he would buy the truck if we would take another $6,245 off.  Where he came up with the number I have no clue.  But again I was forced to respond, "Are you serious?" 

A customer that I have been working with for almost 6 months, he has been looking for a very specific vehicle.  He wants an F-250 Harley Davidson, we have been workingwith him for so long, that the one we have on our lot we ordered for him if we couldn't find the one he wanted before it came in.  When it came in, he kept saying, I want to see what the rebates do next month.  So he can buy this specific truck at the employee price minus the rebates, it is certainly the best deal of the year.  Yesterday he calls me and tells me he will be up on Friday to buy the truck, if and only if we took an additional $7,000 off.  Are you serious?  I told him not to bother.  He said, "You are going to have that truck forever".  I reminded him that we only had 3 2008 Super Duty trucks left, but he still was shocked when I would not take another $7,000.

Why would we take a loss of Thousands of dollars to sell a car? I know sales are down, but losing money is not how you stay in business.  Ford is selling all of their cars and trucks at employee prices and that is less than we own them for.  Our income per car and truck has already been cut to the bone.

Times are tough, but this isn't a fire sale.

The Boys are Back in Town

The Boys From Detroit Come Out Firing!

 

This time they drove to Detroit in their Hybrid vehicles.  Only one of them driving an actual production model, Alan "the Man" Mulally drove an Escape Hybrid from Detroit.  The other two drove prototypes.  They bumped up the $25 Billion to $34 Billion, but they knew what they needed.  The other incredible thing about the plan is that $15 Billion is for lines of credit forthe future, $9 Bil for Ford and $6 Bil for GM.

GM is in dire need of cash, and Chrysler is close behind.  Ford does not need money at the moment, but wants to line up money in case it needs it in the future.

The plans that they presented to congress are detailed and seem to well thought out.

The Ford Way

The GM Plan

The Chrysler Plan

Dear Congress,

Give them the money and let us get back to work.

Another Day

If only there were more customers!

One of my coworkers asked our GM if he could come in at noon everyday, because we didn't have any customers until then any way.  The GM told him that if he had to be here so did the salesman.  The salesman then informed the GM that he was going to go ahead and get his back operated on and he would see him in the Springtime.  One more casualty of the slow down in the car business.  We have lost well over half of the sales staff and still probably have 2 or 3 too many.

What a difference a couple of years makes.  This market is incredibly tough.  Two years ago if we sold one car on a given day, we would all be Mother F***** the next day by our GM.  He would walk around and tell us how worthless we all were and we should all go get jobs at Nebraska Furniture Mart.  Now, when we have a day like yesterday with only 12 customers all day and only 3 cars sold, the GM (a different one mind you) walks around and tries to pump us up.

It is hard walking into work and trying to pump yourself up for a slow day.  The good news is that when customers do come in for the most part they are serious buyers.  The bad news is that you still may not be able to get them financed, but we keep trying.

It is going to snow in a couple of hours so today should be really productive.  Time to do follow-up work.

What a Time to be a Car Salesman!

I have been selling cars for 14 years and the business has never been this hard.  With gas at $4.00 a gallon and the crash of resale values for anything with a V8, this has been a difficult time.  The car business didn't just start to slow down, the business for all domestic car dealers has been slowing over the last 2 years.  In the last year it has declined for everybody.

Car sales have been very good to me over the years, I have made a lot of money.  I started selling cars out of necessity, not because I love cars.  I lost my business and needed a job that I could make money at "right now", while I looked for a job in the corporate world.  What I did not realize was that I was going to quickly start making so much money that I could not afford to quit.  The average salesman that is new to car sales; lasts 4 months, makes almost no money and then goes into the mortgage business.  My third month selling cars, I made over $7,000 and I was hooked. 

I guess that I got into the business at the right time.   I have sold Ford's almost exclusively over the past 14 years, at primarily 3 dealerships.  My first dealership was a horrible place to work and I only stayed there for 11 months.  Since then I have worked primarily at 2 dealerships. I have been at the one I am currently working for over 6 years and do not plan on moving.  I did try selling Toyota's for a month and hated that.  My clientele is Ford based, so that is where I stay.  After 14 years I have a good base to sell to and it has been very beneficial.

I have seen a lot of crazy stuff over the years.  The craziest things have not been from the dealerships, they have been from the customers and the salesman.  So I am going to tell some stories, talk about the industry, and answer some questions that my customers have asked me over the years.