THE WAY IT IS: On the Lot

Posted by P.W.R. in January 7th, 2010

THE WAY IT IS: On the Lot

Overheard on car lots every single day, all across this great land:
Sales Manager: “Where did those people go?”
Salesperson: “Which people?”
SM: “Those people that were back there checking out the (anycar).”
SP: “Oh, they said they were just looking.”
SM: “Really. Did they talk to a manager before they left?”
SP: “Well…no.”
SM: “You’re fired.”
-

Car dealerships know that it is more cost-effective to
alienate 85% of the people who are “just looking” in order to sell
to the other 15% who will finally give up and buy after several
hours of ‘the process’.
-
When you say “where are the keys to my trade-in, I want to
go home…” what they hear is “I need some more convincing.”

Why does this make sense to them? Because they sell an
exclusive item that only ‘needs’ to be replaced every 3 to 5 years.
You won’t remember where you had your bad experience, and who
cares if you do? These are sales of tens of thousands of dollars.

When folks are asked for their opinion of car salesman, the
answer is often an unbroken string of obscenities.

Even kindly old Granny, sitting there knitting a sweater for
her cat, might fire off a burst of profanity that could make the
most battle-hardened Marine queasy.

This is the result of years of conditioned responses from
both buyers and sellers.

The ‘process’ is so contentious that many folks keep their
cars long after they no longer want them in an effort to delay the
sacrifice of time and dignity out on a car lot.

The fact is that this is an invasive procedure by nature:
gathering personal information and determining credit worthiness.

When folks become aware that their ‘comfort zone’ has been
breached and the rules that they live by during the rest of their
lives no longer apply, they can become less honest and less
straightforward, as a kind of defense mechanism.

In 80-90% of franchise car dealerships today, the salesperson
you meet on the lot is more of a tour guide than the
plaid-jacket-striped-pants-white-shoes stereotype of yesteryear.
He may well be the one guy who CAN’T sell you a car.

He has absolutely no idea what they will sell the car for, what your
interest rate will be, or how much you can expect for your trade-in.

There is a well-known adage in the business that one talks
about cars ’standing up’ and about money ’sitting down’. In this
age of specialization, his or her sole function is to get you inside
and sitting down. Period.

This method of using the soft-spoken ‘nice guy’ to greet the
potential buyer and urge them to come inside makes perfect
sense because very often the customer is so wary and on-edge
that the task requires the gentle persuasiveness that ‘the closer’
typically lacks.
———————————————–
‘The Close’, ‘Closing’, ‘The
Closer’: The process of securing a
commitment to buy, an
agreement to final terms, the
person responsible for this action.
———————————————–

Once you are sitting down, the next person you will meet is
The Closer, and s/he does not really care what your kids are
named or where you work, what your hobbies are or how long
you have been married. They only want to know how much effort
will be required to put the deal down so they can move to the
next one. They want to know the answer to “if I can ___, will you
buy now?”

Somewhere in a room, near the back of the dealership, out
of the sight of customers, in this most competitive of all sales
disciplines, there is a chalkboard that lists the names of all the
salespeople and the sales each have made during the month to
date.

The well-seasoned and the rookies alike will face this board
several times a day, and each will be reminded of their respective
rankings on this board by their managers. Often.

No one knows when the sales-magic will leave them (or
arrive!), and no one counts a deal done until the car rolls over the
curb and into the street.

There is no such thing as job security, and every salesperson
begins each month at ‘zero’. The fella or gal who greeted
you on the lot, that “polite young person”?

They are hovering in the background, hoping all goes well.

They are rooting for you to hold strong, to not get tired, to
be happy with the trade-in amount offered.

They want you to be warm and comfortable and they want
you to be able to afford the car.

But most most of all, most of all, they want to put some chalk on
the board.

next: ON THE LOT: Respect