Thanks for serving Boss. Im white collar all day, I had no interest in the military really but I have to be able to support a family aswell, not to say its not possible to do it selling rides but im fully covered where im at. You can't be desperate going into sales you gotta be cool, desperate sales people fail, driven sales people succeed. You have to want it or you'll hate it. If you decide to do it, I have plenty of tips and I would be happy to help.
Anyone sell cars for a living?
- Thread starter G-Body_Vet
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HARDCORam said:
Don't mention it. I've been out since '97 so it's been quite awhile. Don't get me wrong, I've thought about trying this out in the past. I worked retail parts for a few years and I was surprisingly good at it. I usually doubled my quota fairly easily. I know this is a different ballgame though.
Maybe "desperation" was a little harsh to describe my situation. I'm just ready to give something else a try and this sounds feasible compared to a lot of other places I've looked into. It's close to home and I'll actually be able to get paid for my efforts. I don't mind dressing up for work either.
There are a few things in the info packet they gave me that aren't very clear. The reason being is that I'm not familiar with the lingo and acronyms they use.
-F&I?
-GBR?
-What's a "pack"? New is $300, $1000 for used and limited production vehicles
-CSI ranking?
The pay process is a little unclear as well. There's apparently 5 different sales levels. Each one of them corresponds to the number of cars you move per month, the commission %, salary per week, demo or car allowance and minimum commission. Then there's bonuses for aftermarket equipment and warranty sales too. I'm trying to establish a baseline of expectations instead of rolling the dice.
This is every thing I said plus his first hand experience. I learned everything from the Service Dept. looking in at the Sales Dept.HARDCORam said:
G-Body_Vet said:
F&I is the fiance manager or Dept. They close the deal and sell the mechanical Insurance policies (you may or may not get a commission for that).If they can't get your customer financed you don't get paid the commission.this sometimes take one to 2 weeks to finalize the deal.
The "pack is dealer prep, title fees or anything they can add to the retail price of a unit.(aka.. pure BS or profit you don't get paid for.) The House reaps all this.
CSI is "customer Satisfaction Index" They send questionares, to your customers ,kinda like a report card.If you don't get good scores you don't get to the next pay level.
GBR is something I haven't heard of honestly.
I've been in the business for over 30 years, all with GM. I started in sales and eventually moved to management. When GM announced in 2008 they were discontinuing Pontiac and trimming their dealership numbers, I left a Buick, Pontiac,GMC store where I was General Sales Manager and went back on the floor at a local, highly reputable Chevy store. A few months after I left, my old store was terminated, so it was a good move to leave. I'm not an "A-type" personality, nor a pushy person, but I've made it work for years. I've put two kids through college without any loans or grants and live in a $300K house that's one year from being paid off. I do still enjoy working with automobiles and enjoy the challenge of convincing a perfect stranger to be comfortable enough with me to spend $10-$20-$50K. I do believe in my product, which to me is important.
Based on the information you have provided, my decision would be based on my perception of the dealer. If it's a song-and-dance store, with endless hard core, back-and-forth negotiation, I'd pass. That's not my style and it doesn't seem like yours either. When I started in the business, I patterned my style after smooth soft-sell guys, who achieved their objectives without all the theatrics. I don't look at customers as "marks" or "targets", but as potential friends, who can become advocates for you if treated right. Of course there is the possibility of taking the job just to gain the experience, and then moving on to a another store with a more customer-friendly way of doing business. Be prepared for inconsistent income, as that's the nature of the business. If you can't manage your money well, you're better off with a more regular-paying job.
BTW, "pack" is a charge added to the cost of a vehicle to determine the commissionable gross profit. Considering there's only about $600 to $800 markup on a new Cruze, $300 is a big bite. And $1,000 added to "limited volume" vehicles? Unless they have a "salary plus commission" program, or lucrative volume bonuses, I don't see much opportunity to make a respectable living on new cars under that plan. F&I stands for Finance & Insurance. After you close a deal, the F&I department is responsible for arranging financing and attempting to sell other items, such as extended warranties or some insurance products. You may or may not be paid on the profit they generate, depending on your plan.
You're certainly welcome to PM me if I can help you in your decision.
Bill
Based on the information you have provided, my decision would be based on my perception of the dealer. If it's a song-and-dance store, with endless hard core, back-and-forth negotiation, I'd pass. That's not my style and it doesn't seem like yours either. When I started in the business, I patterned my style after smooth soft-sell guys, who achieved their objectives without all the theatrics. I don't look at customers as "marks" or "targets", but as potential friends, who can become advocates for you if treated right. Of course there is the possibility of taking the job just to gain the experience, and then moving on to a another store with a more customer-friendly way of doing business. Be prepared for inconsistent income, as that's the nature of the business. If you can't manage your money well, you're better off with a more regular-paying job.
BTW, "pack" is a charge added to the cost of a vehicle to determine the commissionable gross profit. Considering there's only about $600 to $800 markup on a new Cruze, $300 is a big bite. And $1,000 added to "limited volume" vehicles? Unless they have a "salary plus commission" program, or lucrative volume bonuses, I don't see much opportunity to make a respectable living on new cars under that plan. F&I stands for Finance & Insurance. After you close a deal, the F&I department is responsible for arranging financing and attempting to sell other items, such as extended warranties or some insurance products. You may or may not be paid on the profit they generate, depending on your plan.
You're certainly welcome to PM me if I can help you in your decision.
Bill
I really do appreciate all of the responses to this thread. If you guys could comprehend the misery my current job has put me through, you'd see why I want to move on. One of the guys I talked to at the dealership said, "You might have to make 30 calls a day". Try taking 400-500 a day as a dispatcher, most of them generally rude.
I'd be going from a rat-race city pace to an environment that appears more laid back with substantially less stress. As a matter of fact, being "laid back" was one of the things they liked about me when I was offered the job at the dealership. Dealing with customers is much more tolerable than the crap I put up with now...and I can look good doing :lol:
There was a point in time where I was absolutely against any type of sales job. After dealing with the public for 7 years I have no problem approaching people and talking to them. Is taking this a gamble? Sure it is. But you know the saying, no risk, no reward.
You just have to step outside of your comfort zone once in awhile or you'll never know. If it doesn't work out at least I gave it a shot.
I'd be going from a rat-race city pace to an environment that appears more laid back with substantially less stress. As a matter of fact, being "laid back" was one of the things they liked about me when I was offered the job at the dealership. Dealing with customers is much more tolerable than the crap I put up with now...and I can look good doing :lol:
There was a point in time where I was absolutely against any type of sales job. After dealing with the public for 7 years I have no problem approaching people and talking to them. Is taking this a gamble? Sure it is. But you know the saying, no risk, no reward.
You just have to step outside of your comfort zone once in awhile or you'll never know. If it doesn't work out at least I gave it a shot.
as far as I see it you have to make the change and speaking from experience you'll really question yourself about giving up the security of that job, no matter how much you dislike it. After the fact however you'll really feel good about yourself and realize it wasn't such a big jump after all. I realised that it was my own insecurities that trapped me in a job and the paycheck was just an excuse to stay there as long as I did.
pontiacgp said:
That's what has held me up for so long. When things start to get stagnant and you've REALLY reached the end of your rope, something has to give.
Well tomorrow is the first day on the new job so we'll see how it goes. It's a crap shoot but I'm confident things will turn out fine. Anything beats the circus I just left.
If it doesn't pan out at least I gave it a shot rather than remain miserable without trying.
If it doesn't pan out at least I gave it a shot rather than remain miserable without trying.
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