Another job thread...

Oh kind hearted and wise GRM I prostrate myself before you and seek your guidance and counsel in regards to the second most confounding subject concerning mankind.

I am currently still employed but since our overtime was cut and it seems to have gone the way of the Dodo I have been looking for alternative employment and have had two interviews with a particular Subaru dealership.Surprisingly the position is for a sales representative,not a technician or mechanic.(Whatever the semantic difference between the two may be.)

As you may or may not know I have a wife and two children and I am the sole source of income for our household so if I make a financial mistake my family suffers.(And if you were not already aware,toddlers are EXPENSIVE).Which is one reason why I'm filled with apprehension. The beginning salary is less than what my current position pays but after 90 days I will be eligible for a 25% commission of the profit from each car I sell.In our current economic position we are getting by with approximately $200 left over from one paycheck by the time the next one comes.We're not affluent by any stretch of the imagination but we are making it and in this economy that is pretty good,or so we've all been told.

The potential to make well into the six digit annual salary range as a salesman is definitely there and this means college funds,high quality clothing,reliable vehicles and nutritious food for the family.On the other hand should the sales dwindle or disappear all together it could mean my children would grow up the way I did and I will NOT let that happen.

Another con is that I have been either a diesel mechanic or machinist for the past 8 years so I don't have any "nice" clothing;my work attire has consisted of uniforms,and I will have to invest in a "white collar" wardrobe while making less than I do now.It's a bit of a tortoise and hare conundrum;slow and steady (surviving) as a machinist or (possibly) fast and sporadic (actually living) as a sales rep.

The whole "ventured" part of the "Nothing ventured,nothing gained" cliche is what has me scared poopless.

No offense,Poop.

I need an outside opinion from an informed yet uninvolved party that is a bit (or more than a bit) wiser than myself and may have a view that is unencumbered by concerns such as my own.

Illinois is pretty close to me....here's a thought.... My cousin tried to sell Subaru. was the highest seller at his store for 5 months.

never got above an average of $5 per hour.

Subaru's just don't sell like Fords/Chevy's/Toyotas

True...sad,but true.

If you have the drive and determination to do well in any position, it can happen. Do you have the "fire in the belly" to make it happen? Is this your dream job that you will give up stuff in order to be successful? Then this might be the career for you.

We have a friend in car sales (last 25 years) and this is a really rough time for their family. Commissions are hurting.

Tom Hopkins (seen below) was determined to be the number one real estate agent in the Los Angeles market and he pledged to work every single day for 2 years to get it started (every day - Christmas - Sunday - 4th of July).

http://www.tomhopkins.com/tomhopkins_bio.html

Do you have this drive?

Do you look like Tom?

Are you a slick dude?

I would be a little gun-shy right now about switching careers.That's a big jump.

Would it be possible for you to work part-time on the weekends to see what it's like? Get your feet wet, so to speak?

Good Luck Regardless.

You have the option of doing the mechanic deal on weekends for $.

As for clothing go to a Salvation Army store and pick up a suit, shirts and more for less than $100, you can get newer once the $ starts to flow.

Are you really ruthless enough to sell a car people want but do not need? This is a fact of car sales and why salesmen get a bad rep. I lasted 2 weeks at a Subaru dealership....I knew more about the cars than any other salesman and it hurt my efforts.

My .02 is to keep what you have now, once the CFC money is gone car sales will dip again and will have to recover normally, not through Govt. hype.

But if you do decide to take it, look at Goodwill for nice clothes. I have found some nice Claiborne and Hilfiger sport coats before for $10 and some pretty cool ties. Most people but that stuff for weddings and the like and then get fat, so they donate some pretty new stuff.

Can you work the sales job part-time at nights and/or weekends to see if you "meet their expectations"? This will at least give you an idea of whether if will pan out in the long term while not giving up the bread and butter.

Sales can generate some good income but the hours are HORRENDOUS. You might not see your kids for a week at a time. And like aussies says, you gotta push pretty hard, low key doesn't get the sales, particularly in this economy. It can get pretty cutthroat out there.

You also are going to go through the first few months on a shoestring; referrals are where it's at and those will be few and far between at first. As you sell some cars, those folks will tell their friends and there's your referrals. But like I said that takes a while to get rolling.

If you are determined to get into the dealership bidness, I suggest you look at service advisor positions (even though I just lost mine). If you hustle, you can make pretty good $$ (there are a couple here in Chuck pulling down ~$100K a year).

pete240z wrote: If you have the drive and determination to do well in any position, it can happen. Do you have the "fire in the belly" to make it happen? Is this your dream job that you will give up stuff in order to be successful? Then this might be the career for you. We have a friend in car sales (last 25 years) and this is a really rough time for their family. Commissions are hurting. Tom Hopkins (seen below) was determined to be the number one real estate agent in the Los Angeles market and he pledged to work every single day for 2 years to get it started (every day - Christmas - Sunday - 4th of July). http://www.tomhopkins.com/tomhopkins_bio.html Do you have this drive? Do you look like Tom? Are you a slick dude?

Keep in mind one thing, THOSE GUYS with the seminars, make so much more money doing seminars than they did working. Tom is no exception. They saw that it was easier and more profitable to sell seminars than to sell whatever their product is.

It's just been released that Retail sales of cars was up for the month of July. The problem is UP from what?

I've known lots of car salesmen and the old 80/20 rule applies there. 20% make 80% of the money.

I wouldn't willingly switch to a sales career; especially if you are already making enough to support the family at the moment. Slow at work means more time for either family or if you need the money, side jobs.

could you whore out your machinist skills on weekends to pick up a little extracurricular cheddar? do you have enough space to dismantle and eBay in pieces one 944 at a time? there are a few killer deals on the detroit CL right now...

I'm with Angry. See if you can pick up a part time evening/weekend gig. Hell, deliver pizzas; there's good money in that.

Jed's wife here :)

I just want to say thanks for all of the outside opinions you all have provided. It has really given us a lot to think about.

I am sure Jed will chime in in a couple hours when he gets home from work...

Thanks for all of the input fellas. I have been trying to look at the situation from all angles but I seem to have fallen short of an objective perspective.

I have been looking for a part time machining position and have yet to have any good luck. I had a part time gig turning wrenches at a "light" custom shop (no fabrication) but the owner's son lost his job and nepotism reared it's ugly head.

I will look into the service advisor position at the next interview. That seems like it might be a better fit. I have already seen the HR administrator and three of the five sales managers,this next one is for the other two. "You guys HAVE to see this...there's a gorilla that speaks English in my office,right now!"

I'm not sure I would have much luck at a second hand clothing store as I seem to have a bit of an odd build. (Though I do appreciate the suggestion.) Something about my proportions having not been seen for about 30,000 years.

Once again,thanks.

Having been a car salesman, know about cars is totally different than selling them. I did it for about 6 months before an out of state move forced me into a career change. Now I love cars, but that did not necessarily make me a good sales guy, even though I am passionate about what I was trying to do. I quickly learned that my opinion about a vehicle did not matter, that knowing the ins and outs of the specs like options were good, but how the suspension was designed was not. Really in the long run I could have been selling anything, and was starting to get the stigma of being 'the car salesman' from friends and family. Those people closest to you most dealerships will push you to get them in the door. The only thing good about the dealership I worked for is that it was closed on Sunday, otherwise I would have been working 7 days a week.

That being said, there were people at the dealership who did pull down 70-100K and this was in a small town in Alabama, selling Fords. But they have 10-15 years there and mostly ran on referrals. You would probably see some business form the cash for clunkers coming in, but after that you will be fighting with the other folks for walk-ons.

Just be aware of what you would be getting into. I would think that the service adviser/mechanic would be a better fit if you don't mind staying on that side of the business.

My wife and I had previously discussed the hours and while they are long hours it is most likely a necessary evil. We would be in the same situation if I were to have another part time job.

Datsun1500,where did you get your information? Apparently I have been looking in the wrong places as the information I had gathered suggested the average commission was between $200-$1,000 per new vehicle. There are two salesmen at this particular Subaru branch and they sold 22 cars in July. I know that these numbers are somewhat bloated due to CFC but the average is between 10-15 cars per month.

Thanks to the input and fresh perspective of none other than you,the GRM family,I have decided to pass on the sale rep position. I will pursue the service advisor position,should there be an opening,as it seems to be more fitting for someone with my background.

I am not dead set on making $100,000 per year just yet as I know that is not feasible for someone like me at this point in my life. I would be happy with 50k if it's a steady 50k;as in not dependent on how things go from day to day.

Inigo,you could not be more correct. I can ramble on all day about Subarus and what has changed from year to year and what parts interchange. But,like you said,selling them is something else entirely.

Why does everyone want me to deliver pizzas?

The_Jed wrote: Why does everyone want me to deliver pizzas?

Because pizza is delicious, just ask your daughter :)

And that is why there is such terrible turnover in car sales. Big dealers are always hiring. One good thing is the sales training they provide. They will teach you how to sell anything to anybody.

Datsun1500 made a real good point: used cars are where the money's at in any dealership for a salesman. But at the same time the manufacturer whose name is on the big sign out front expect X number of cars to go out the door. So now we are at cross purposes. The dealership's real money in new cars is on the 'back end': finance and insurance, service contracts, etc. In most dealerships I've worked at, the salesman sees little, if any, income from that part.

Knowing cars has nothing to do with sales, unfortunately. Knowing people and how to motivate them to buy something is where it's at. The salesman's job is to max what he gets for the dealership's vehicle while minimizing their costs (what they put into the trade in). Period. So that means not being as transparent about numbers as you might like to be. There's nothing dishonest about it, it's merely the way things are.

About the hours: I knew a GM whose favorite line was 'You must not want to sell cars'. If the salesmen needed to do anything (go to lunch for an hour, get off at 7PM, whatever), that's what he'd say.

The_Jed wrote: Thanks to the input and fresh perspective of none other than you,the GRM family,I have decided to pass on the sale rep position. I will pursue the service advisor position,should there be an opening,as it seems to be more fitting for someone with my background.

Datsun, the horse is dead,kindly stop beating it or the ASPCA shall be notified.

I despise supervisors like the above mentioned GM. You will not get the best work from people by running a sweat shop.

Behind every high powered salesman is a higher pressure sales manager.

I do sincerely appreciate the information as I am largely ignorant of the inner workings of the sales side of any business. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to things like this and see insult,implied or otherwise,where there is none. I apologize for my douche baggery.

The_Jed wrote: I do sincerely appreciate the information as I am largely ignorant to the inner workings of the sales side of any business. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to things like this and see insult,implied or otherwise,where there is none. I apologize for my douche baggery.

wow...if you call that douche baggery then you sir are the nicest one I have ever met.

I have been on lots of other forms and this one is the most respectable one I have been on. Now if you are trying to become the resident A-H you will need to take some lessons and step it up several notches. I do have several forms that come to mind if you would like to take notes.

COUGH corner-carvers COUGH