Experienced people in car sales?

Question

I am a car salesman pushing about 12 units a month. This is a decent number, but sales is not what it used to be you have to work much harder to make the same amount of money you did in the early 1990's . People are more educated due to the internet. We do not gross as much as we used to off of each unit. Therefore salesman now make much less per unit. To make up the difference GM's are now paying commison and other bonuses. At my particular dealership you will make an average of $200 per unit there are a lot of manys($100) and some flats($500+) so if you sale 12 every month that would normally come to $2400 a month. Thats not that great now you got to figure in that month you will probably hit atleast 2 flats on one of the weekends wich would bring your pay up $1000 for the month, now thats a lil better stiil not great. They have a fast start and fast finish. I need 8 units sold from the 1st to the 15th and 8 more from the 15 to 30th if I could do this it would be an additional $500

or $1,000 per month. So if I could do this just a few more per month I would actually make about $4,400 per month, that would be great I really need to have a few more people ask for me and buy a car from me what can I do to achieve this. Please give me some ideas to bring more customers to me!!
Thanks,

Josh

Answer 1

Having been in the business since 1980, I can tell you that it is harder and harder to make a living in the new car business. As you say, there is not a whole lot of money to be made per deal. At least you have a bonus structure that will help somewhat!

In my area, there are mostly dealer groups (meaning that several dealerships are owned by one person or company) Sales personnel are considered to be expendable in many of these stores. One dealer group requires the sales force to be there all day every day, 7 days a week. If there is a customer left, no one can leave for the day, so often the entire sales force is there until 11 pm or later!

The only thing I can suggest is to follow up with your previous customers and ask for referrals! I used to give any customer who sent me someone who bought a car some sort of thank you gift for each sale! Usually it was a coupon good for a free oil and filter change in the service department (I paid for the service myself) This not only gave them a reason to send me more business, it also brought them back into the dealership and more than once, I ended up selling them another vehicle that they would not have seen had they not come in for the free service!

Good luck

Answer 2

Fire4511 has a great answer, thats why he is a TC. I have been in and around car sales for along time and it's really frustrating to see great sales associates struggling. With kbb.com making things worse, people come into dealerships thinking their car is worth way more than it actually is.. People think there is a lot of mark up in the cars, but there isnt.

The fact is that all the manufacturers have been reducing their sticker prices to be more competative and people still think they should get thousands off cars. We actually turn down nothing deals and try to help the sales assiciates make more money.

My best advice for you is to sell the car. Place that customer in the car and you will see your profits increase. It's a fact that some of your happiest customers are the ones you made more money on, while the ones that whack you on a survey and bought the car for next to nothing are a pain to sell, and a pain to deal with months after the sale.

Another intersting fact is people buy on average from the 3rd place they visit. Not because it's the best deal, but because they are tired of shopping. If you show the benefits and the value of the car, you can actually make more profits. We sell all CTS's at full list. Suppliers must order. We sell Acadia's full list. Those who walk in and say they don't pay sticker, we simply tell them we understand and show them other vehicles that they can get a discounted price on.

Remember this: getting a great deal is only a perception. Too many people buy cars then trade them in less than 3 years. It's because they think they are getting a great deal, when in reality, they are buying a car they don't even want.

Times are changing and many of the dealerships that sell cars at invoice are going out of business faster, so it's only a matter of time before people realize that instead of asking "What is your best deal?", they should ask, "Is this the car I want"..ranting over.. Luck 2U!

Answer 3

I'm not all that experienced but the " Joe Verde " system has some good tips . i did 3 yesterday , that got my month back on track . good luck , stay positive .