DasLeben
06-26-2005, 09:18 PM
Last week, I started a new job right out of college. Because of the way the aviation industry is (I'm trained as a pilot), I decided that I should get another full time job in order to pay the bills for now.
So, I looked around and applied for various positions, one of them being a blackjack/poker dealer (which fell through), and another being a sales associate at a Toyota/GM dealership (AKA the bane of modern society). Because of a contact I had, I landed the job as a car salesman and started last monday. I'd never sold a thing in my entire life.
I came into this business a little naive, I think. I expected most dealerships (including this one) to be caught up to the modern trend, which is a low-pressure and no-haggle approach. Well, I found one of those oldschool pushy ones, and it turns out I'm working for it.
So, my first day I began learning the ropes. The first thing they told me was to "Never lie, and treat your customers like you'd like to be treated when you buy a car." Cool. I liked it.
As it turns out, everything they told me dripped of ways to deceive your customer. When they say "never lie," they really mean "spin the truth so they like it." Remember the Simpson's quote: "There's the truth (nod), and...the truth (shakes head)"? It's exactly like that. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
So, here's a list of things we do:
-We steal trade-ins. If someone comes along with a vehicle that's worth $4000 on a trade, we'll try to get them to take it for $2500. If they haggle, we'll give them $3000, and add a solid $1000 profit to the deal.
-We build people's trust, then stab them in the back with a high price for a car that's not even CLOSE to what they could pay for it. Building the trust simply allows us to more easily con them into taking the high price.
-We push people into buying cars that they might not 100% want. If they come on the lot to "just look" (we have a line to get around that one too), it's our job to get them to test drive and settle on a car. It really doesn't matter which car, as long as they at least like it somewhat. Then we point out all sorts of stupid details about the car (power windows, power locks, shatter proof headlights, etc.) in order to build false value. It could be any car, and it doesn't really matter what we say as long as we just keep talking. Suddenly that customer is thinking "hey, this car is nice," not thinking that there are probably plenty of other cars that are better for the price. It's basically a con.
-We're like sharks when it comes to people on the lot. We're lesser forms of ambulance chasers. If someone comes in, we're made to chase them down. If we're on golf carts and they pull in and drive around the lot, we'll tail them and try to get them to stop. It's sickening.
Anyways, I've been here for a week and I'm already thinking about quitting. I don't see how most of these other salesmen sleep at night, knowing that the top producers scam people out of thousands of dollars per day.
I've been told "that's just how the world works," but I refuse to take that as an answer. I just can't and won't do something that's contrary to my ethical standards.
Ugh. I don't even know why I posted this...maybe I just had to get it off my chest. I dunno.
So, I looked around and applied for various positions, one of them being a blackjack/poker dealer (which fell through), and another being a sales associate at a Toyota/GM dealership (AKA the bane of modern society). Because of a contact I had, I landed the job as a car salesman and started last monday. I'd never sold a thing in my entire life.
I came into this business a little naive, I think. I expected most dealerships (including this one) to be caught up to the modern trend, which is a low-pressure and no-haggle approach. Well, I found one of those oldschool pushy ones, and it turns out I'm working for it.
So, my first day I began learning the ropes. The first thing they told me was to "Never lie, and treat your customers like you'd like to be treated when you buy a car." Cool. I liked it.
As it turns out, everything they told me dripped of ways to deceive your customer. When they say "never lie," they really mean "spin the truth so they like it." Remember the Simpson's quote: "There's the truth (nod), and...the truth (shakes head)"? It's exactly like that. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
So, here's a list of things we do:
-We steal trade-ins. If someone comes along with a vehicle that's worth $4000 on a trade, we'll try to get them to take it for $2500. If they haggle, we'll give them $3000, and add a solid $1000 profit to the deal.
-We build people's trust, then stab them in the back with a high price for a car that's not even CLOSE to what they could pay for it. Building the trust simply allows us to more easily con them into taking the high price.
-We push people into buying cars that they might not 100% want. If they come on the lot to "just look" (we have a line to get around that one too), it's our job to get them to test drive and settle on a car. It really doesn't matter which car, as long as they at least like it somewhat. Then we point out all sorts of stupid details about the car (power windows, power locks, shatter proof headlights, etc.) in order to build false value. It could be any car, and it doesn't really matter what we say as long as we just keep talking. Suddenly that customer is thinking "hey, this car is nice," not thinking that there are probably plenty of other cars that are better for the price. It's basically a con.
-We're like sharks when it comes to people on the lot. We're lesser forms of ambulance chasers. If someone comes in, we're made to chase them down. If we're on golf carts and they pull in and drive around the lot, we'll tail them and try to get them to stop. It's sickening.
Anyways, I've been here for a week and I'm already thinking about quitting. I don't see how most of these other salesmen sleep at night, knowing that the top producers scam people out of thousands of dollars per day.
I've been told "that's just how the world works," but I refuse to take that as an answer. I just can't and won't do something that's contrary to my ethical standards.
Ugh. I don't even know why I posted this...maybe I just had to get it off my chest. I dunno.