So, You Think You Want To Sell Cars, eh?

If you’re thinking about entering the car business (either as a permanent career move, or “just until something better comes along”) and you are a never-ever beginner, BEWARE.  You are in for a huge surprise.  Selling cars is not easy–its difficult.  Like Jeremy Cato of the Globe and Mail said, “This job is not for me or the faint at heart.” Professionals make it look easy.  During the several years I was a General Sales Manager, I had my fair share of resumes dropped on my desk for people who supposedly wanted to sell cars.  I estimate that only five (5%) percent were for female applicants looking for a job.  I know it may be hard for you to believe but I even hired my fair share of “new people” who just didn’t make it in the car business.  However, I became convinced that the best applicants for me to hire were those who had little, if any, sales experience (car sales or otherwise). Overall, the sales people I trained who have become successful in the car business are those folks that had zero sales experience. Therefore, they brought no bad habits to my dealership.  Trust me, there is major baggage normally attached to every applicant coming from another dealership.

If You Can Sell Cars, You Can Sell Anything:

So, here are a just a couple of free tips for those of you who are about to embark on the adventure of selling cars.  If you can learn to successfuly sell cars, I believe you can sell any product or service–provided you remain coachable.  First, you will need to understand selling cars (or trucks, RV’s, etc.) is extremely competitive.  No, I’m not referring here to the competition between brands and dealerships, I’m talking about the fierce competition between sales people at the dealership.  Let’s say you’re about to start your first week at the dealership.  Generally speaking, the other sales people on the floor regard you as a threat to their income.  They do not want you there, they do not want you to succeed and will definitely expend time and energy to contribute to you failure–quickly.  You may receive some warm smiles and handshakes–”welcome aboard” type stuff, but lookout–here it comes!  It is your peers’ intention to indoctrinate you to the ways of the “huddle” as quickly as possible.  The priority intention is to incorporate you as a member.  Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be writing about some of the things new sales people must be aware of.  The huddle is the informal parliament in the sales department of the dealership.  The huddle will often successfully create rules for you to follow.  It will directly or indirectly set the tone in the sales department, and decide whether you are “one-of-them,” or not.  The huddle is often subtle and quite tempting.  If you are the type of person who needs to feel welcome by other salespeople, or you have a need to chat with your peers a lot in order to feel welcome; you are a prime candidate for membership.  You do not want to join the huddle but if you’re not careful, you will quickly discover after a short time you have become a member without realizing it.  Membership in the huddle is comprised of beginners together with those salespeople that deliver a minimum acceptable number of cars per month to keep their jobs.  Here’s one example of the huddle at work which I observed on more than one occassion.  I’ve witnessed salespeople (members of the huddle) approach new hires who had not yet even started training.  The newly hired people were casually approached and told, “you can’t make any money here.”  ”It’s really slow in the car business now, hope you already have plenty of money.” You may think I’m kidding but I’m not–that’s the huddle at work even before the new person started. If you’re a never-ever beginner in the car business, ask your sales manager about the huddle and a few examples of how it works at your dealership.  If his or her response includes something similar to the tone of, “welcome to the car business,” or “it’s the car business,” you might very well be in trouble.

The exception is if your dealership has well-trained, professional sales people working there; if so, then you are not a threat at all.  Professional salespeople in the car business do not particularly care how many “new people” managment hires–their incomes are uneffected.  It’s the other salespeople (the majority in every dealership) who see you as a threat because they believe there will be less “opportunities” available.  Opportunities are what new potential customers are called the car business.  If you take an opportunity (also referre to as an “up”) then there’s one less opportunity for other salespeople.

Therefore, one of my first free tips for you is this.  Develop thick skin quickly.  You will need to shield yourself from the huddle, and you will need to protect your attitude from customers as well.  More on that later.  I hope you are at a dealership that recognizes the extreme importance of training and therefore you receive training quickly.  Most new hires in the car business need to make money rather quickly however, these people are often not advised of the true earning expectations during the first three to four months.  In order to make any money in the first few months in the car business, you must become trained quickly.  Stay away from the huddle and let me know if you need help.