Salesman and the Economy

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Having sat on both sides of the car salesman's desk, I can only say that fair number of customers are total jerks. They are rude, disparaging, and often feel entitled to a fantastically unrealistic discount simply because they are unloading their unwanted, worn out car on the dealer. The reality is that no dealer is going to sell anyone a car at a loss.

At various times I have sold everything from VWs to Rolls-Royces and I can tell you this: Generally speaking nice customers get a better deal, without asking for it, than the obnoxious ones who come in, throwing their weight around, and demanding unrealistic discounts.

[Weasel Mender]

When my wife was ready for a new car we had the financing all arranged for a Chevy Malibu but just in case we checked around as the financing was good anywhere. At the Dodge dealer we checked out a new Charger, liked it and sat down with the "salesman" informed him of the situation and told him what the max paymant we would make. He left for a short while, and returned with that "salesman" smile and announced he had a wonderful deal for us. That deal was ONLY $150.00 more than the financing we had in place! My wife and I stood up and I asked him if he was deaf or just stupid as we walked out the door with him begging to "earn our buisness". The end the next day we went to the Cadilac dealer and wound up with a new CTS for $16.00 more than the Chevy.

Weasel

[bigdad1]

Having sat on both sides of the car salesman's desk, I can only say that fair number of customers are total jerks. They are rude, disparaging, and often feel entitled to a fantastically unrealistic discount simply because they are unloading their unwanted, worn out car on the dealer. The reality is that no dealer is going to sell anyone a car at a loss.

At various times I have sold everything from VWs to Rolls-Royces and I can tell you this: Generally speaking nice customers get a better deal, without asking for it, than the obnoxious ones who come in, throwing their weight around, and demanding unrealistic discounts.

It goes without saying that polite people get treated better than rude people but my experience is most car salespeople are more concerned with quotas and commissions to look into the personality of the people they are talking to. I have been in sales for almost 40 years and have found that spending a few minutes looking past the opening introduction enables me to learn how the person wants to be treated and how to treat them that. Of all the industries I have worked in or dealt with I have never encountered a group who knows less about their product and their competitions products than car salespeople.