BoxheadTim said:
In reply to Robbie :
And that's before we get to "most car salespeople know less about the cars they sell than the manufacturer lists in their brochure".
There is the main problem. The average dealership goes through at least one complete turnover*of its sales force per year, some many times that.
* That does not mean everyone is fired it means if they have a sales force of 25 there will be at least 25 new guys hired in a year. Some will last more than a year while others are replaced several times a year.
To hire that many people means just about anybody who wants a job can be hired. No real training required.
Stepping back a moment, why would a dealership need that many salesmen? It’s a high burn out rate job for one, and a surprising number of sales to a new salesman is to family and friends. Once that list is used up, sales for that person fall off to the point where what little income he makes is not worth all the time invested. Dealerships care nothing about the sales force except the volume and profit it generates.
Back to knowledge. There are periods where it’s all hands on deck, customers waiting. No time to seek information. Sell,Sell, Sell!!
Other times where few if any customers are around so Sales meetings will be held. Closing techniques discussed, market knowledge shared, “We are the Number 2 Chevy dealership for the month”
”There is a spiff on the Blue Honda Odesey of $300, and the Green Ford crew cab is marked down again.
Oh and don’t forget to mention the extended warranty because that doubles your commission.
Yet I never once heard anyone talk about technical details of the cars.
Remember sales are a commission job. No sales, no commission. Some dealerships do pay a minimum wage ( $7.50/ hr ) for scheduled floor time as a draw against commission. But replace any salesman who takes 2 draws. Others just fire the lowest producers for the month. ( makes taking time off, sick days, or a vacation extremely risky ).
Back to your point. There is a flood of knowledge available to salesmen. However selling is much more important than knowledge.
Customers want to feel good buying. Having the salesman more knowledgeable does not give that same feeling to most people. Few people have any skill in negotiating and most come into a dealership fearful.
