Looking to get a new car,went to dealer, felt like they where telling me where to go

[hutchy_belfast]

I've never really understood sales people of any ilk 'looking down' on potential customers. It's not just cars, it's the same in stupid girls clothes shops.
The customers are literally the people keeping them in a job. It's not like they are providing a fantastic service to society either. Their function is to part people from their money, not cure cancer ffs. Treat someone like dirt and they aren't likely to part with much. I'm sure it's a melt of a job dealing with timewasters but that's the cross they have to bear unless they want to do something else to keep them in replica swiss watches.

 

[mrloaf]

Bought her C30 from Boucher, no real issues though I also wouldn't say they stood out either.

Would usually pick Greers over SMW though.

Even getting through to the parts desk in SMW is a pain, then no one returns a call, Greers seem a lot more helpful in my xp

 

[da.murf]

can we change this threat title to 'let's just abuse sales execs & tar everyone with same brush'

Remember more often that not the sales guys is stuck in middle.

Customer wanting you to move heaven & earth
Manager not wanting you to move a single solitary penny.


And small side note, if you are genuine and honest 9 times out of 10 the sales exec will try much harder for you. You have no idea the difference a nice customer makes. If you walk in with quotes 'to be beaten or matched' the sales exec already is on back foot. And more often than not you will spend a few days working for customer and they will still go online cause it's 3pmm cheaper lol

 

[davey-dimples]

can we change this threat title to 'let's just abuse sales execs & tar everyone with same brush'

Remember more often that not the sales guys is stuck in middle.

Customer wanting you to move heaven & earth
Manager not wanting you to move a single solitary penny.


And small side note, if you are genuine and honest 9 times out of 10 the sales exec will try much harder for you. You have no idea the difference a nice customer makes. If you walk in with quotes 'to be beaten or matched' the sales exec already is on back foot. And more often than not you will spend a few days working for customer and they will still go online cause it's 3pmm cheaper lol

You better work real damn hard that I feel too guilty to do that then lol

 

[SMcP114]

I would rather give my £300 to someone who will kiss my ass when I walk through the door rather than someone who wants me to kiss theirs.

I'd rather mine went to whoever worked out cheapest in the end regardless of what the particular salesman is like

 

[da.murf]

You better work real damn hard that I feel too guilty to do that then lol

I do, and it still happens

 

[Modmedia]

Opposite again, pretty good experience with Agnew Seat when my gf got her Ibiza last year thanks to @Modmedia

On the same day we went up and down Boucher at my request that she didnt just buy the first car she saw - SERE sent us out round the forecourt and didnt even bother when we came back in and Ford salesman did/said very little which didnt work well for him lol

Ended up back with Agnews and did a deal and they sorted out a few niggles and the next service a year later FOC

Thanks again... I'm genuinely appreciative of the feedback.

In terms of the contents of this thread... I suppose I see both sides of the argument here. On the one hand, I'm a car enthusiast and love a bargain the same as the next guy! On the other: I am one of the dreaded Salesman on Boucher Road a lot of people are slating (albeit I'm from Ballymena and don't live with my 'ma').

I totally get how some customers can feel like they are being poorly treated. Some of the stories, if true, are terrible. I will not defend every salesperson as there are some truely bad ones out there... however I would suggest that saying everyone on Boucher Road is terrible, would be incorrect.

You will of course know that salespeople are on commission and a **** basic wage - that is no secret. You will hear many people walking into the showroom saying 'What is your best price for cash' and being met with resistance and a feeling that the salesman is not interested. The customer does not understand that potential finance income in a franchised dealership is what generates the biggest source of revenue for most dealers. As a result, the salesperson is targeted and under obligation to assume the role of informing the customer of their options to avail of the finance and other such products. This is not a choice they must do this and some customers will be flabbergasted that they are not breaking their arm for a 'cash sale.' This leads to people, rightly or wrongly, posting on social media or online that 'The salesman in Dealership A was only interested in pushing the finance and wouldn't discount the car.' Chances are the salesman would love to cut through the noise and deal with you but the modern day business model of a franchised dealership is standing in the way. I am not saying what is right or wrong; at the end of the day I can say in my case I will try my best to alter my approach to each individual customer... depending on how I feel I can best sell them something that will make them happy and tell their friends/family to come and see me too.

The above is just one example I have picked but there are many others which can be used to explain why some salespeople seem disinterested. In my own experience I just love cars and I love getting a chance to do something as a job that I enjoy. However, for a lot of salespeople it is just a job and therefore they will, wrongly, be unable to hide their disappointment if they think a customer is - for example - simply wasting time or not able to buy for a year (it does happen!). Even the best, most helpful and genuine salesperson will have their off days and just feel like nothing is going their way. They may have had their time wasted by 4/5 people in a row and then a genuine buyer comes along and they feel drained and don't give that customer 100% of the attention he/she deserves. I genuinely try my best every day to ensure I don't leave anyone disappointed but I'm sure there are instances where people have left feeling that I wasn't interested. I will say we are all human and that it would never be my intention to ever make someone feel like I was disinterested in their enquiry. The customers are what keep our doors open and we do appreciate being given a chance to gain their business. As for the snobbery thing, well I'm just a fella from 'Ballymena hi' so I can honestly say I've never had that complaint from anyone in my 6 years of selling cars lol.

To the original poster, I would suggest that you would ask to speak to the manager of Bavarian and simply and calmly tell him what you have told us here. Without bad mouthing the salesman (it solves nothing and lets be honest he may be out of his depth or simply new to the business) I believe if there is anything they could do to resolve the situation and gain your business they would do it. Sales Managers love to be seen to be gaining someone's business who had previously felt disappointed, so use this to your advantage.

As for anyone else reading and wondering about the mystery of buying cars I can try to clear up a few things that were touched on in the thread:

- Shopping around for the best deal: is of course the right thing to do. However, don't tell a salesman you're immediately going to compare his quote to 'Dealer B' up the road. They will immediately get defensive and may try and not give you a price for fear of you going to Dealership B and them beating it by £100 after they have spent the time with you on a test drive etc. My advice? Tell your salesman you are just interested in a quote for your chosen car and leave it at that. Then pick the cheapest quote from the dealerships you have visited and phone that Dealership back to negotiate further, if needed. Also as a side note, if they phone you just tell them you got a car elsewhere don't hang up and then complain that they ring you every day. If you tell them once you got sorted, they won't phone back - simple!

- CarWow Quotes. I will tell you that most dealerships in Northern Ireland (if you walk in with one of these quotes) will not be impressed. Most of the time they are sold at cost or very close to cost price and the dealerships in England are happy just to get another unit against their registration target. If you would like to go down this route and get the cheapest possible car I say: go for it! However, please don't be surprised when you present the quote and ask for a test drive that you are met with resistance. The salesman on his crappy basic wage is having to spend an hour knowing full well that you are only using him to test drive a car you will not purchase from him. Think about it from the point of view of your own job, would you - happily - work for MUCH less than minimum wage for an hour for your employer... on a task which at the end of it your employer views it as a failure, on your part?

- A customer not being approached on the forecourt: I would actually genuinely be interested in an opinion on this and may create a separate thread for it. Firstly let me make it clear there is no excuse for salespeople ignoring customers, at all! 99% of us do not care what you wear - hell, we all love working Saturdays so WE can dress down! With that out of the way I'll tell you my opinion on it. I will always give a customer time to park up and have a bit of a look around before I go and approach them. I think approaching a customer straight away is off putting and doesn't give them a chance to settle into the surroundings. If they come straight in and make eye contact that's a different story but I think letting a customer look around first is better - I may be wrong, but I can't see me changing my approach!

Finally the big one! Not phoning customers back. Ok folks, I will level with you. Every single salesperson is guilty of this, myself included. Like I said before we are not perfect - we forget, we don't get the email, we took down the wrong number etc. We are only human! My suggestion would be if you don't get a response try us back. There was a time recently where a customer said that I didn't phone him back so, thankfully, he came back and spoke to me face-to-face... long story short I showed him the number he gave me and it turned out it was his girlfriends old number! We had a good laugh and he ended up ordering a new car on his third visit into see me. My point being that sometimes if you are really serious a second call doesn't hurt or even drop him/her an email again with your number.

In a nutshell I think if you are honest with your salesperson most of them will try their best to get you the best deal they can. A lot of people on RMS I would imagine would be looking for the performance cars and if that is the case then ask the dealership who would be best placed to sell you that GTI/Cupra/RS/M4 type of car. A lot of salespeople hate selling these cars because they either don't know enough about them to feel confident talking about them (their own fault!) or are sick of test pilots. Most places have at least one geek (bet you can't guess who it is in our place ) who is more than happy to talk to you about the finer details of these types of cars and will spend a lot of time with a serious buyer making sure they can get you the best deal possible.

Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings - we are not all bad all of the time folks, I promise lol!

 

[WSM]

Most people who buy a new car are on some sort of ego massaging exercise who think you should be fed strawberries in the buff because you're giving 300 a month for 3 years

Concentrate on the deal, not the service

Those ****ers at Nissan didn't give me strawberries. Damn them!

 

[ChrisL]

Those ****ers at Nissan didn't give me strawberries. Damn them!

... But you were in the buff?

 

[WSM]

... But you were in the buff?

I felt violated when I left if that's the same?

 

[Debaser]

@Modmedia

I read your post with interest

What strikes me is the fact you seem to be making a lot of excuses for 'poor salesmanship', your own included

The fact is, if I'm walking into a shop to spend say, between £10 - £100, and I get shoddy customer service, Yes of course I'm going to be pissed but I understand a lot of retail staff are young people, maybe just out of university, or maybe its a stop-gap job. Most times its not their true vocation and that shows in their attitude

On the other hand, if I'm walking into a car showroom to spend say, £20,000, I bloody well want the salesperson to bend over backwards for me. Its a major financial decision, I don't want to be fed one-liners from their latest training session. I want honesty, transparency, product knowledge (I often know more about the car than they do), and above all, being sold what I WANT, not what THEY WANT to sell me

 

[da.murf]

Problem is that some people seem to have it in their head that as a sales exec you should grovel, bow and 'feed strawberries' like the customer is personally giving you their hard earned 30k personally.

I cannot take arrogance and ignorance. It's a two way thing, some customers literally treat you like scum and still expect you to go above and beyond.

Treat others how you expect to be treated. Believe me it'll save you money.

 

[WSM]

Problem is that some people seem to have it in their head that as a sales exec you should grovel, bow and 'feed strawberries' like the customer is personally giving you their hard earned 30k personally.

I cannot take arrogance and ignorance. It's a two way thing, some customers literally treat you like scum and still expect you to go above and beyond.

Treat others how you expect to be treated. Believe me it'll save you money.

Who exactly is giving you the £30K if not the customer? The dealership, seller, whatever, gets the money in their hand regardless of the finance option used to fund the car. So, yes, you are taking their hard earned.

 

[ChrisL]

Problem is that some people seem to have it in their head that as a sales exec you should grovel, bow and 'feed strawberries' like the customer is personally giving you their hard earned 30k personally.

I cannot take arrogance and ignorance. It's a two way thing, some customers literally treat you like scum and still expect you to go above and beyond.

Treat others how you expect to be treated. Believe me it'll save you money.

I wouldnt expect groveling or strawberries, even naked like @WSM did ... however the 30k I would be spending for example is MY hard earned cash whether its paid off over finance or paid in full from my account. So I would expect the sales man to create a bit of an experience for me the customer and not just treat it like another day at work. End of the day its not like the salesmans doing it out of the goodness of his heart, he earns money off what I spend too.

 

[ChrisL]

Genuinely ... its reasoning like that why I would only use select dealers/traders/salesmen

 

[NickR]

I'll be honest, I use how I'm treated by a salesman to measure how likely the company is to look after me once I actually buy the car from them.

For example, I get regular calls from JKC to ensure everything is still going ok with the car and if I'm having any issues. I also have had a couple of warranty issues sorted without question and been given a brand new car as a courtesy car for a couple of days so as not to inconvenience me with work, etc.

In my opinion if a company can't look after me at the purchase stage, chances are they won't give a monkeys once I actually own the car and they have my money.

 

[Cooper]

Have to say @Modmedia's post is fascinating. Being a lover of the second hand market that I am, my path crosses very little with dealers, never mind franchises.

I've recently found myself frustrated with a local franchise when attempting to buy the replacement for my 335. It's for something performance and as you rightly say the knowledge isn't there. In my case when I started asking questions about recalls or uprated parts I was fobbed off a bit. And calls were not returned at some points as well. I'm going to go elsewhere over it which is a shame.

I want honesty, transparency, product knowledge (I often know more about the car than they do), and above all, being sold what I WANT, not what THEY WANT to sell me

Point well made.

 

[Modmedia]

@Modmedia

I read your post with interest

What strikes me is the fact you seem to be making a lot of excuses for 'poor salesmanship', your own included

The fact is, if I'm walking into a shop to spend say, between £10 - £100, and I get shoddy customer service, Yes of course I'm going to be pissed but I understand a lot of retail staff are young people, maybe just out of university, or maybe its a stop-gap job. Most times its not their true vocation and that shows in their attitude

On the other hand, if I'm walking into a car showroom to spend say, £20,000, I bloody well want the salesperson to bend over backwards for me. Its a major financial decision, I don't want to be fed one-liners from their latest training session. I want honesty, transparency, product knowledge (I often know more about the car than they do), and above all, being sold what I WANT, not what THEY WANT to sell me

Please don't get me wrong... I am NOT making excuses for poor salesmanship at all. I am merely stating why I think in some cases it happens. I focused on the bad areas as this was the topic in question.

I don't want to blow my own trumpet... but my customer surveys which I receive I'm really quite proud of. In fact those qualities which you have mentioned are some of the reasons people mention in them that keep them coming back to me. It is not uncommon for me, for example, to bring down our stock sheet and show a customer what the car is standing us, show him/her the cost of the work carried out and consequently the profit we are making. I don't hide the fact we are making profit - every business needs to make money but it shows the customer that the deal I am doing is really a amicable and transparent one for both parties.

I completely agree if you are spending that amount of money that you would want to be looked after and I also totally agree with your desire for a no BS approach, which is something I have practised for my entire time here. Training courses in the car industry are a complete waste of time which are usually always presented by those who failed to sell cars or have never sold a car in the real world. Needless to say we are aware of this and very few salesmen I know of actively follow the process they recommend.

As for the product knowledge side of things... there is nothing worse! Thankfully I never have this problem and I find myself having the opposite problem. I feel like I have to catch myself on sometimes in case I go into too much detail when all the customer is asking is what size the touchscreen is and doesn't care that because it's a 2015 it has a higher resolution screen than a 2014 one the same size lol.

 

[Modmedia]

I'll be honest, I use how I'm treated by a salesman to measure how likely the company is to look after me once I actually buy the car from them.

For example, I get regular calls from JKC to ensure everything is still going ok with the car and if I'm having any issues. I also have had a couple of warranty issues sorted without question and been given a brand new car as a courtesy car for a couple of days so as not to inconvenience me with work, etc.

In my opinion if a company can't look after me at the purchase stage, chances are they won't give a monkeys once I actually own the car and they have my money.

It's a shame! I wish I got some likeminded car geeks from RMS into my work that I could talk cars with lol! But other salespeople run a mile! I would welcome the refreshing change haha

 

[Cooper]

It's a shame! I wish I got some likeminded car geeks from RMS into my work that I could talk cars with lol! But other salespeople run a mile! I would welcome the refreshing change haha

If too many RMS members all worked in car sales, no cars would be sold.

"You wouldnt want that, go to England for it"
"That's the slower model"
"xx owned that last year, remember him"
"smokey when cold"
etc etc.

 

[NickR]

It's a shame! I wish I got some likeminded car geeks from RMS into my work that I could talk cars with lol! But other salespeople run a mile! I would welcome the refreshing change haha

That was part of the appeal, I wasn't completely sure what car I wanted so I was talked through all my options and given test drives in all the different models/engines. Salesman spent hours with me on several occasions to help me to tie down exactly what I was looking for and it paid of for us both.

I got the car I wanted and he got the custom.

 

[Rocko]

If too many RMS members all worked in car sales, no cars would be sold.

"You wouldnt want that, go to England for it"
"That's the slower model"
"xx owned that last year, remember him"
"smokey when cold"
etc etc.

"I'm here to look at the Volvo?"
"Golf R?"
"No, the Volvo."
"Golf?"
"NO! THE VOL-VO!"
"GO-LF?"

 

[ChrisL]

Fair play @Modmedia for being 100% honest ... to be honest its all the bu**s*it that some salesmen talk that puts me off, even the lies surrounding why they never called me back. Id probably much prefer someone to say sorry mate I completely forgot to get back to you on that ... I could move on from that, as like you say everyone is human.

I've always been a fan of the second hand market and finding my own cars etc however there are some real good salesmen out there so I wouldn't want to tar them all with the same brush. That being said though, if im buying performance I want a knowledgeable salesman to talk me through the deal, not a brochure qouter rambling on about 0-60 times and that it was developed at the nurburgring ... means jack to me driving in Belfast city centre traffic most of the week.

That being said ... the honest post definitely gave me a different view on car sales in Belfast.

 

[lightning]

Good post @Modmedia very insightful.
I can't help thinking is the whole structure at fault. I know Greers Volvo don't have their guys on commission. This means if someone comes in that was dealing with someone else the day before who is maybe off/busy there is no problem getting good service with someone else. A friend worked their for a while and said it worked great. There is always a chance of having a slacker on the team but it is probably easier to manage in a smaller environment. Maybe some sort of team commission where it's based on dealership sales rather than individual? Or rough targets can still be set in a non commissioned way.

The problem with the current system is that the sales guys are only interested in their commission/pay rather than whats good for the company, understandably as they can't survive on less than minimum wage. And the average customer looking for a new car only sees the salesman so he is the face of that company.

 

[Bedhead]

Missus was looking for a new car about 8 years ago, was interested in a Kia but when she went to look in the dealership the car had no seats in it. Eventually bought a new Fabia from Mervyn Stewarts that kept putting on the EM light, Stewarts were less than helpful, basically blaming the missus even when the supposedly fixed car started playing up less than 100 yards after driving it out so phoned Skoda Uk who arranged for it to go to John Mulhollands. They fixed it and did the required software update that Stewarts couldn't be arsed doing. The upshot is that she's since bought three brand new motors from Mulhollands and has talked about half a dozen people into avoiding Stewarts like the plague. Their loss.