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CLNSC3
CLNSC3 HalfDork
4/30/12 5:00 p.m.

I love selling vehicles. Have a lot of powersports sales experience...

I am not a sleezy salesman in my opinion, but I did have a few tricks.

  • No way in hell those trade in keys were leaving my pocket until the guy absolutely was not going to buy.

  • My favorite: Take a blank piece of paper and make a mind numbing diagram about why buying from our dealership was a smarter choice than others. Pictures lots of arrows, smiley faces, words, and general BS. Pretty much whatever came to my head. The whole point was to get their mind spinning so fast they agreed to buy from me rather than elsewhere. They probably agreed most of the time just to shut me up. But its fun.

That being said, I would never lie or anything like that to make a sale. Tried to be upfront and honest about everything. But its just like fishing, when you get that right piece of bait out there and the fish mouths it, you gotta set that hook and do the deal!

Damn, now I miss my job. HAHA

Javelin
Javelin UltimaDork
4/30/12 5:11 p.m.
CLNSC3 wrote: - No way in hell those trade in keys were leaving my pocket until the guy absolutely was not going to buy.

That's illegal in all 50 states Bubba.

Curmudgeon
Curmudgeon MegaDork
4/30/12 5:12 p.m.

If it were me as a buyer, I would ask nicely just once for my keys. If they were not returned immediately, I would then retrieve them by force. Then you'd never see my fat ass again. Or any of my friends.

Javelin
Javelin UltimaDork
4/30/12 5:15 p.m.
Curmudgeon wrote: If it were me as a buyer, I would ask nicely *just once* for my keys. If they were not returned immediately, I would then retrieve them by force. Then you'd never see my fat ass again. Or any of my friends.

I've seen the cops called and come out for that. I've also seen an old guy start pulling a revolver...

Anti-stance
Anti-stance HalfDork
4/30/12 8:47 p.m.

Yeah, keeping their keys and making up BS drawings... that's straight classy right there. Man, I don't miss it. I was even at an easy dealership as far as the sales managers went.

CLNSC3
CLNSC3 HalfDork
5/2/12 11:39 a.m.
Javelin wrote:
CLNSC3 wrote: - No way in hell those trade in keys were leaving my pocket until the guy absolutely was not going to buy.
That's illegal in all 50 states Bubba.

Haha, but do they know that? Clearly if they ask for their keys they are getting them back immediately...but I would never do a trade evaluation and immediately return the keys if they didnt ask for them. Same goes for titles, always stayed up on the sales managers desk.

I may have "muddied the waters" from time to time but there are lines I would never cross. Like telling somebody whatever they want to hear on the phone just to get them down there and then completely catch them off guard. I would never have done that. All the time I would negotiate as far as I could, the customer would want a lower price and I couldn't do it. So they would call a competing dealership who would fill them full of E36 M3 to get them down there. In these situations the customers returned 99% of the time and confirmed that they were being lied to. Which I had told them was most likely the case, but nobody is ever going to trust a salesman.

As far as customers go...I have some that are awesome, still speak with on a regular basis, go riding with, would bring me food when they came in for service, etc.

Others I absolutely never wanted to see again. But being a motorcycle dealership, a lot of customers come back and just hang out or look at parts and accessories...sometimes several times a month. I remember cringing at the sight of some of these guys.

Customers call in all shapes and sizes(literally and metaphorically). I was the floor manager so I had the joy of dealing with all the huffers/puffers, desk pounders, screamers, etc. Some people are out their minds, like being willing to pay no more than $8,000 including TTL for a vehicle the DEALERSHIP pays $7500 for and has no problem selling. The same guy would scream at me and storm out of the building only to return a week later with his tail between his legs because he realized my deal really was the BEST deal.

Most people also don't realize on 99% of powersports vehicles, there is not a whole lot of profit margin.

A lot of customers actually are the ones that make the experience bad for themselves. They will complain about how long it is taking when they spent 2 hours picking the color and another 2 hours trying to argue over $5.

The internet has made the job of a vehicle salesman much more difficult, and less profitable. But from the standpoint of the customer, its awesome.

That being said. I hate dealerships and I hate dealing with salespeople, although these days I end up just laughing at their BS cause I see right through it. BUT I love selling vehicles and love the negotiation process! I am glad I don't work in that business anymore, but sometimes I do miss it!

Javelin
Javelin UltimaDork
5/2/12 11:43 a.m.
CLNSC3 wrote:
Javelin wrote:
CLNSC3 wrote: - No way in hell those trade in keys were leaving my pocket until the guy absolutely was not going to buy.
That's illegal in all 50 states Bubba.
Haha, but do they know that? Clearly if they ask for their keys they are getting them back...but I would never do a trade evaluation and immediately return the keys. Same goes for titles, always stayed up on the sales managers desk.

You keep telling yourself that when you get the old dude with the revolver.

CLNSC3
CLNSC3 HalfDork
5/2/12 11:46 a.m.
Javelin wrote:
CLNSC3 wrote:
Javelin wrote:
CLNSC3 wrote: - No way in hell those trade in keys were leaving my pocket until the guy absolutely was not going to buy.
That's illegal in all 50 states Bubba.
Haha, but do they know that? Clearly if they ask for their keys they are getting them back...but I would never do a trade evaluation and immediately return the keys. Same goes for titles, always stayed up on the sales managers desk.
You keep telling yourself that when you get the old dude with the revolver.

Hahaha, I was doing this in TX and a large percentage of the people I worked with had guns on them at the negotiation table...so I was constantly aware of the risk. But then again I have my concealed carry permit too...

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