A Peek Behind Closed Doors In The Car Sales Managers Office - What Goes On During A Car Deal?
If you’ve ever purchased a car from a car dealership you probably have experienced the car sales person making numerous trips back and forth to the Sales Manager’s office during the course of the deal. While somewhat amusing for the customer to watch
Well, in many car dealerships the sales person has no authority to finalize a car deal without the explicit authorization of the Sales Manager. More importantly, the Sales Manager controls all aspects of the deal. The salesperson is, in essence, a pawn for the Sales Manager to manipulate as he or she sees fit. When the sales person leaves the customer and goes to the Sales Manager’s office, it is to first tell the manager what is going on with the customer and the potential deal.
The Sales Manager wants to know all of the following:
- What kind of vehicle is the customer interested in?
- Is the customer interested in leasing or buying?
- Is the customer interested in new or used?
- Has the customer test driven a vehicle yet, and if not why?
- Is there is a trade-in, and if so what it is?
- Does the customer owe any money on the trade-in, and if so what is the pay-off on the loan?
- What is the customer expecting to get for the trade-in?
- What is the customer’s monthly payment expectation?
- What kind of credit rating does the customer have?
- How much money does the customer have to put down?
- Does the customer have the authority to make a buying decision, or does he or she need their spouse, parent etc. to do so?
- Is the customer prepared to make a deal right now?
The Sales Manager will then analyze all of this information and formulate a plan of action to turn that prospect into a “Today” buyer and close the deal. He or she will instruct the sales person as to what to say, what car to show the prospect, what figure to start the negotiation process at and so forth.
Ideally, for the Sales Manager, the sales person is like a puppet on strings! The Sales Manager then pulls on his or her strings and the sales person works the car deal accordingly!
As the car deal gets going the sales person may need to visit the Sales Manager’s office many times for instruction and advice. This is where the multiple trips back and forth to the Sales Manager’s office leaves the customer shaking their head in bewilderment!
Eventually, the sales person will go back and forth until he or she either closes the deal with the customer as per the Sales Manager’s instruction, or the customer is ready to walk out. If the customer is leaving, the Sales Manager may personally intervene in an attempt to close the deal, or he may send an assistant in to close the deal. Many dealerships have a “Closer” on staff for this very purpose.
The purpose for all of this control is simply to maximize the number of car sales and to maximize the profit on every sale. The sales person does not have the authority, or in many cases, the know-how to squeeze the most money out of every car deal. That’s the Sales Manager’s job.
If a sales person lets a customer leave the dealership without notifying the Sales Manager first, he or she could get in big trouble ,and even get fired! I’ve gotten myself in trouble for this when I was a car salesman, and I’ve seen many sales people fired for this infraction. This is why getting up and walking out is such a potent tool in the customer’s arsenal! The sales person will do almost anything to keep the customer from leaving.
It costs a car dealership a lot of money in advertising and promotion to get a customer in the door, and any well organized dealership is not going to allow a customer to just walk out before they exhaust every possible avenue of closing a deal and turning that customer into a “Today Buyer!”
It’s a high-pressure, high-stakes game, and once you walk on to that car dealer’s lot you are going to get worked over for everything your worth!
Tony Iorio is the webmaster and publisher of InsiderCarSecrets.com, a web site that helps people save money, time and aggravation when buying a car. All of the information, tips and secrets found on this web site have been gleaned from his 37 years of successful, experience working in car dealerships as a Service Manager, a Body Shop Manager, a Car Salesman, a Finance Manager and as a Sales Manager. He has also owned and successfully operated an independent body shop and a used car dealership. For additional tips on buying a car visit Car Dealer Selling System
Tags: car buying, car buying tips, car deal, car dealer tactics, how to buy a car, new car, used car
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