How long does it take a salesperson to memorize options and prices on the car? I don't mind them not being sure but at least look like you have an idea of what you're talking about. One guy didn't know what drag coefficient is and he was trying to sell us a luxury car. I think they rely on their "experience" too much. Who cares if you've been selling cars for 15 years. How many years have you been selling this brand of car? Is it so hard to memorize what's in the sports package? Sorry. We've went car shopping lately for a car for my dad and a car for my mom and the sales just piss me off.

 

It's like my old boss used to say when some incompetent boob would say he had fifteen years or whatever years of experience. The guy didn't have fifteen year's experience, but one year's experience fifteen times.

 

ever looked at sales job opportunities? they look for sales people, not people with experience in this or that department. its important to note that when buying anything. its like a negotiator, the negotiator is paid to negotiate not from his expertise in a particular area/product/trade.

it all comes down to a talent in communication, not necessarily a communication of verbiage through grammer ('communication' in a common understanidng - not necessarily 'language') - as do most other specialized professions adhere to - i.e. - doctors.

 

Actually I have been looking at sales job and most look for experience. I mean I understand that experience is important but sometimes it gets in the way. For example I've been trying to get a job at a retail computer chain for quite some time and have no luck because I don't really have experience. I'm a regular customer there and many of the sales there are just laughable. For example, one time when I was shopping for a mouse I asked a very general question. "What's the difference between all these mice?" (computer) You know what he said? "All mice are the same" I'm like okay... why does one cost $60 more then? How hard is it to figure out that one is easily better than the other?

 

Sometimes things are the same. Brand name sets them apart. But even so, the sales guy should have provided more detail. I worked at 3 different retail computer stores before I actually got into engineering. Some sales managers where terrible, both technical and otherwise.

Just remember to some it's just a job, if their on commission, they just wanna make a sale. If their not, they don't care if you buy something or not.

 

S2KFan. Well you can make a case that all mice are the same since they perform the same function but there's a reason there are different mice on the market and there's a reason why some are better than the others. If you game the mouse is one of the most important equipment out there.

Anyways I agree that some people are just in it for the job. Still might as well be happy with what you're doing.

 

"Why are car salespeople so stupid?"
Most are motivated by greed and money. When this happens, all but 2 neurons die. Of these 2, 1 mutates and becomes an inhibitor of the other. Thus, a vicious circle - greed, then stupid, then money, then stupid, then greed..........

 

One reason is they learn enough about it to deal with the vast majority of people coming in to buy a car. How many people come in and ask about drag coefficient? Less than 1% maybe? I would guess the vast majority of people buying cars don't ask anything remotely complex. Those that do most likely already know the answers (because they have done their homework) and only need a salesperson to actually facilitate the sale.
If everyone started asking tough questions or drilled them on certain numbers, my guess is they would learn them.

I am not saying whether this is right or wrong, but I think it is the reality.

 

What bugs me is that they don't know their stuff and then goes on to brag about his experience. What bugs me even more is that the guy needs to look at his stats sheet for everything.

I went to a bimmer dealer the other day and the guy needed to look at the stat sheet to figure out what was available and what's not. What was on the sports package and what's not. It's not hard to know roughly how much the sports package costs.

It's also not hard to memorize some prices.

 

I'm not saying that there all the same, I'm just saying that many are the same. Some are even identical.