[88Fiero]

Originally Posted by zzyzx1122

Having been a pretty successful car salesman for a number of years, I always find it interesting to read the comments of enthusiasts on these boards.

Being an enthusiast myself, I can understand the desire to have a salesperson that knows all the specifics and is a complete expert on every vehicle they sell.

However, most people who shop for cars just don't care about technical details. They buy because they like the styling, comfort, or some other features. But rarely do people go much beyond the basics.

I've *never* had a customer ask me about hydro forming.

Nor has anyone ever asked me about OHV engines vs. OHC. They just want to know if it has good power.

I'll never forget hearing a customer ask one of the guys "What kind of engine does this have?" His answer - "I don't know, but it's a good one!"
The customer laughed, drove the car, and bought it.

So the average salesperson can usually answer the questions of 95% of customers with pretty limited product knowledge. Personality and closing skills can go a long way.

As far as the ride & drive booklets and other sales training guides that are provided from the manufacturer... they are usually written by well-intentioned college grads who have never sold cars in their lives. There's a little bit of a disconnect with reality.

And finally, I must say that the average "know it all" guy who comes in to the showroom and expects you as a salesperson to be a complete expert on everything (asking questions they already know the answers to, in order to "test" you), they are the same people who expect the dealership to make practically nothing in selling them the car.

Then they get on internet forums and bitch about how the salesperson knew nothing, wouldn't deal, bla, bla, bla.

Trust me, if sales people made a decent commission per sale, you'd see more professionalism out of them.

So, like the one guy said before me... if you get a salesperson who is really professional, knows the product, and gives you good service... support them.

Believe me, I could spend hours going over everything on a vehicle and completely servicing a persons needs, but the typical customer will just as soon go buy the same car that I showed them, from a guy who knows nothing about it, if they think it will save them a few hundred dollars.

Unfortunately, that's the reality of most car sales these days.

There are exceptions. And selling cars can be great. But I wish people on these boards could see what it's really like to me on the front lines. Dealing with the public can be really interesting.

Hope I provided some insight. Thanks!
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Amen brother! Ive been selling GM products for over 30 years. What you had to say is so true. When I first started I was told by old timers "buyers are liars". It didn't take long to find truth in that statement. ON the product knowledge part, everytime you turn around GM is changing some spec. And the same liter engine in a different vehicle has a different horsepower. So after a while you get tired of trying to memorize all the specs on each vehicle. As you said it is rare to have a customer come in and ask intellagent questions. When I do get one I thank them for asking a challenging question. In our area(we have a lot of dutch) all they care about is $$$. Have you tried sales hawk? It has a great comparison feature in it. I cant imagine a dealership that doesn't have GM DealerWorld access for every sales person. I would stay away from such dealers. Seeing as we sell the COMPLETE GMC line we are in the habit of asking what the client is going to do with the truck. We also know about axles, trans, GCWR GCWR etc. The guy that did this article Gruch or something, did you know the 1500HD is really a 3/4 ton rebadged? It has 8600GVW. Did you know the 2500HDs are rebadge 1 tons? GM marketing messed this up.