There\u2019s no way you could handle an office job. You make too many mistakes, and you\u2019re hopeless even at stapling documents. You should assume sales is your only option.<\/p>\n
So, reluctantly, I went into salesw<\/span><\/p>\n As it turned out, I topped the rankings for three years. After leaving the company to start my own business, I was also approached by a publisher and wrote a book on sales techniques based on what I\u2019d learned in my previous job.<\/p>\n These days, I\u2019m visiting both domestic and import dealerships as I look to buy my second car. Today, I want to share some thoughts about the disconnect I\u2019ve noticed in dealership sales<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The other day, we visited a domestic-brand dealership. I\u2019d called ahead to check whether they had a manual-transmission version of the car we were interested in available for a test drive, then brought our three children along with my husband, making five of us in all.<\/p>\n After we were shown to our seats, the salesperson asked, \u201cWill your husband be taking the test drive today?<\/strong>\u201d My husband replied, \u201cNo, we\u2019re looking for a car for my wife, so she\u2019ll be driving.<\/strong>\u201d The salesperson seemed genuinely surprised: \u201cOh! You\u2019re looking for a manual? I see!<\/strong>\u201d (laughs)<\/p>\n The conversation continued:<\/p>\n Salesperson: \u201cWill your husband be buying the car?\u201d After chatting and listening to the salesperson\u2019s explanations, we left the dealership.<\/p>\n But on the drive home, I couldn\u2019t shake a nagging feeling. I said to my husband:<\/p>\n You\u2019d think they could tell from the way we were talking that we\u2019re a family who\u2019s into cars. So why didn\u2019t they ask things like, \u201cAre you both car enthusiasts?\u201d or \u201cWhat have you driven over the years?\u201d They let every opening pass them by. But they had plenty to say about discounts. I couldn\u2019t tell whether they actually wanted to sell us a car. If I were in sales, I\u2019d ask customers a lot more questions.<\/p>\n My husband replied:<\/p>\n Yeah. In my experience, the more premium the dealership, the more likely they are to ask about your car life and lifestyle<\/strong>. At more affordable dealerships, the questions seem to focus on how you\u2019ll use the car and who\u2019ll be driving it<\/strong>. That makes sense. I do wonder if this tendency is more common at dealerships selling imports or cars with a strong enthusiast following.<\/p>\n During our visits to domestic and import dealerships, I\u2019ve often found myself thinking, \u201cDoes this person even want to sell cars?<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, not every salesperson is like that, and perhaps we simply happened to encounter a few who weren\u2019t especially engaging.<\/p>\n Put simply, the job of a salesperson is to sell their company\u2019s products or services. That doesn\u2019t mean launching straight into a product pitch the moment a customer walks through the door. But I\u2019ve often felt a lack of genuine enthusiasm\u2014whether for showing customers what makes the cars special<\/strong> or for getting to know the people interested in them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For example, a salesperson might:<\/p>\n \u30fbAsk the customer very few questions Take our recent visit. We arrived as a family of five in a Cayenne (I wondered if the salesperson even knew what a Cayenne was)<\/span>, and the wife was looking for a manual-transmission car. I thought that would make it clear we were more into cars than the average family<\/strong>, but the salesperson didn\u2019t explore that at all.<\/p>\n During the test drive, I mentioned, \u201cMy husband likes manual cars too, so I think he\u2019ll like this one.<\/strong>\u201d The salesperson simply replied, \u201cThat\u2019s good to hear. All our customers who like manuals have loved this car!\u201d And when I said I was a car blogger, the response was, \u201cI\u2019ve never met a customer like that before! That\u2019s amazing!\u201d\u2014and that was the end of it.<\/p>\n If I were the salesperson, I\u2019d be wondering:<\/p>\n \u201cThey already have a sporty SUV for the family, and now they\u2019re looking for a manual\u2014are they serious car enthusiasts?\u201d I\u2019d have a hundred questions.<\/p>\n I wonder if dealerships today have a rule against getting too close to customers. Or perhaps sales quotas are so demanding that salespeople focus on \u201ctalking price and closing the deal\u201d instead of building a relationship.<\/p>\n But I believe building trust with customers comes before making the sale. It matters to have a good conversation, get to know each other, and create an environment where customers feel comfortable sharing more about themselves\u2014until they think, \u201cI want to buy from this person.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n While we were talking about it, my husband said:<\/p>\n Maybe a lot of dealership salespeople just aren\u2019t that interested in cars. I often find that I know more about the car than they do. Though I might just be the one who\u2019s done too much research\u2026 (laughs) That makes sense.<\/p>\n Cars\u2014and not just cars\u2014are the result of the hard work of countless people involved in their design, engineering, and development. The salesperson is the person who ultimately brings that effort to the customer. That\u2019s why I can\u2019t help wishing they would sell with more passion and confidence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t interested in cars at all until my husband bought a Porsche. That was when I discovered their appeal, and my whole world changed. We started visiting all kinds of places by car, I discovered the joy of driving, and we made more memories as a family. We also met many new people through cars. I came to feel that life with cars is a wonderful thing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Perhaps that\u2019s why I feel disappointed whenever I meet a dealership salesperson who doesn\u2019t seem engaged.<\/p>\n On the drive home, I was passionately saying, \u201cIf it were me, I\u2019d do it this way! They\u2019d sell so many more cars! Maybe I should go sell cars for them!<\/strong>\u201d My husband said:<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got that much to say, write it up on the blog! w<\/p>\n And that\u2019s how this article came to be. (laughs)<\/p>\n I may have sounded a little self-important, but I don\u2019t want to just tell other people what to do. I hope I can keep moving forward with passion and confidence in my own work, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I Used to Be a Top Salesperson I joined the sales department straight out of university and worked in sales for the entire five and a half years I was with the company. As a student, I thought, \u201cSales sounds tough. The quotas must be brutal\u2014I don\u2019t want to do that.\u201d But during a meeting to decide where I\u2019d be assigned, my future manager told me: There\u2019s no way you could handle an office job....","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":22947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/?p=22832","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nocar-nolife","en-US"],"yoast_head":"Why Some Dealership Sales Experiences Feel Off<\/h3>\n
\nHusband: \u201cNo, my wife insists on buying her own car herself, so I guess she\u2019ll be the one buying it.\u201d
\nSalesperson: \u201cOh, really? Does your wife work?\u201d
\nHusband: \u201cShe\u2019s a car blogger\u2026\u201d
\nSalesperson: \u201cOh, is she? I\u2019ve never met a customer with a job like that before!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOf course, it varies by salesperson and dealership, so you can\u2019t make a blanket statement. But that\u2019s the general trend I\u2019ve noticed.
\nOur Porsche salesperson, H, can seem like he isn\u2019t especially eager to sell. But he seems to genuinely love cars, knows a fair bit about them, and can have a proper conversation about cars. I\u2019m also not a fan of over-the-top service or salespeople who come on too strong, so H\u2019s easygoing approach suits me. Though he does get pretty persuasive now and then! (laughs)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_0814.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBe the Salesperson Customers Want to Buy From<\/h3>\n
\n\u30fbLet interesting details go by without asking follow-up questions
\n\u30fbFail to explain how buying the car could enhance the customer\u2019s life
\n\u30fbLeave too much silence in the conversation
\n\u30fbMake little effort to build rapport<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhat does her husband usually drive? A sports car, maybe?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat cars have they owned so far?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat matters most to them when buying a car?\u201d
\n\u201cShe writes a car blog? What does she write about? I\u2019d love to read it!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nStill, there are plenty of times I think, \u201cWait, you don\u2019t know that? You really need to do your homework.<\/strong>\u201d
\nIf it were me, I\u2019d study every car I was selling inside and out\u2014not just the owner\u2019s manual\u2014so I could answer any customer question confidently. I\u2019d also ask my manager if I could take a test-drive car out after hours and get a feel for it myself.
\nI realize that might not be possible at every dealership, depending on its policies and setup. But I do wish more salespeople were eager to learn everything they could about the cars<\/strong>.
\nAnd I do think salespeople at lower-priced dealerships, or dealerships for brands competing on sales volume, are more likely to rush to close a deal<\/strong>. They must be under tremendous pressure to meet their quotas. But when you\u2019re rushing, it\u2019s hard to build a relationship.
\nSure, if the car is good enough, people will buy it regardless of the relationship. But if the brand stops offering compelling cars, or discounts are no longer on the table, I think it\u2019ll get much harder to sell without that customer connection.
\nThat\u2019s why I think they end up in a vicious cycle where they have to work harder for every sale<\/strong>.
\nBuilding relationships may seem like a roundabout approach, but I think the people who invest in them are the ones who ultimately come out ahead. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned from watching outstanding salespeople across all kinds of industries connected to my work.<\/p>\n