It's Not a Museum

[Pimento]

ITS A CAR LOT!!

So Dear Customer...

Dont get mad when youre approached and asked if you need a hand, when you say "Just looking" dont get pissey when i say "Great, what can i help you look at."

Its my job to hang around incase you have questions, or to move you along if youre not buying anything. If you come to look, look after hours when sales staff isnt here.

[Legal Eagle]

not everyone likes sales pitches, i will look and if theres something i like i will contact you. If you come over and start following me around buging me i will leave and you won't sell.

[HYHYBT]

What Legal Eagle said... and what about people who are in an earlier stage of looking for a car and aren't ready to talk to a salesman yet? What about the fact that the last time I tried your advice to look after the dealer was closed, the police showed up?

[draftermatt]

I'd much rather a salesperson come say hi than ignore me completely.

That said if I say I'll come find you and you stick around yeah I might be a smidge irritated. I like being able to discuss things with my wife (we always car shop together) in private.

I will typically tell the salesperson what I'm looking for, unless I'm just getting an idea on price and happened to drive in, but have no desire to talk to anyone because I'm months away. No sense in you wasting your time talking to me when I'm not ready, and trust me no sales pitch works on me.

I one time took a car back to a dealer 50 miles away because the payment was $20 more than he quoted me. (They lent it out over the weekend, went to sign paperwork before school wife was in class, I left went and got car from school parking lot, turned around and drove back to the dealer and told them to give me my keys.)

[Pimento]

Heres the thing about competative sales, if you talk to someone, unless you get a minimum name/number from them and can log it into the contact management system, other sales people can take over.

I realise it looks pushy and everything to people who arent in the business. Its my job to approach and ask questions, and to stick with you and pick a product that fits what youre looking for. At the end of the day, im not an asshole, im not a prick and im just doing my job. People that expect to be left alone on a car lot need to give their head a shake.

Now this doesnt mean that once i ask a few questions and chat for a bit i wont back off. But im talking about people who freak out when you try to counter act the automated "Just looking" response. Because 9/10 times its a knee jerk reaction to seeing a sales person.

[RetailWorkhorse]

"Great, what can i help you look at."

I'm looking for a Thing.

Because 9/10 times its a knee jerk reaction to seeing a sales person.

This could be true. Dog knows I've asked plenty of people if I could help them find something to be told they're only looking....then yelling for help.

[sprocket79]

People that expect to be left alone on a car lot need to give their head a shake.

As someone who is in the market for a new car, I would not reward your behavior. I think it's you that need a head shake. You're in a service business, you should act like it. Talking about customers needing an adjustment is the wrong way to be thinking; it's you that needs to adjust.

If I tell you "I'm just looking" then I mean it. If you want to keep my business then respect that. What I appreciate are the sales people who say ok, hand me their card, say they'll be around and to ask for them if I have a question. If someone is a jerk about not leaving me alone then I will purposely ignore them and go talk to someone else. I don't care if one guy talked to me first. I do know that car sales are on commission, and if you aggravate me, I won't work with you.

[Pimento]

As someone who is in the market for a new car, I would not reward your behavior. I think it's you that need a head shake. You're in a service business, you should act like it. Talking about customers needing an adjustment is the wrong way to be thinking; it's you that needs to adjust.

If I tell you "I'm just looking" then I mean it. If you want to keep my business then respect that. What I appreciate are the sales people who say ok, hand me their card, say they'll be around and to ask for them if I have a question. If someone is a jerk about not leaving me alone then I will purposely ignore them and go talk to someone else. I don't care if one guy talked to me first. I do know that car sales are on commission, and if you aggravate me, I won't work with you.

Now this doesnt mean that once i ask a few questions and chat for a bit i wont back off. But im talking about people who freak out when you try to counter act the automated "Just looking" response. Because 9/10 times its a knee jerk reaction to seeing a sales person.

My issue is when i get "Just looking" and reply with something to try to counter act that response, and then (specifically in this case) get called an asshole for it. If you say youre just looking, and i try and help narrow it down for you, and you still say "no its ok" then ill card you and walk away.

[sprocket79]

I didn't call you an asshole, for the record. I just think that if those people are anything like me then they really don't want any help and ignoring the first "I'm just looking" really is frustrating and creates a lot of bad feelings. Take it how you want.

[crazylegs]

Mod notice

Knock. It. Off.

Quit bickering and stick to the original artice.

Any further comments will result in infractions.

[goldensummer]

Alternate to What Can I help you with?

I've always liked 'what brings you in today' rather than any closed ended question... it almost entirely prevents 'just looking' and you gain some info and if you get the vibe they want to be left alone it'll be easier to reengage.

[Andara Bledin]

Nekojin tried to get into car sales when he was still unemployed.

They took him in for training and said some BS about how it wasn't like it used to be and they were working to improve the experience for buyers, and then started in with the same hard-sell, mushroom-growth, steer-the-customer stuff that gives car sales the reputation it has.

^-.-^

[Pimento]

Nekojin tried to get into car sales when he was still unemployed.

They took him in for training and said some BS about how it wasn't like it used to be and they were working to improve the experience for buyers, and then started in with the same hard-sell, mushroom-growth, steer-the-customer stuff that gives car sales the reputation it has.

^-.-^

The market has changed, customers are more educated.

As far as im concerned, ill find you what works best for your situation out of what i have to offer. If theres two units that work for you, and one pays me $500 more....i will try to sell that one to you. Any person here would, thats not crooked, its how it is. Im not going to drop my pants on every deal, if you want to negotiate, ask for it, if you sign a full sticker deal then its your fault, not mine.

That all being said, there are places ive worked for that have doctored paperwork, and given people deals they couldnt afford, these people give us all a bad name so i understand the animosity.

Also, to clarify: I never accuded people here of calling me an ass, it was a customer who said "just looking" and i said "Great, what are you looking at maybe i can help you narrow it down" to which he replied "Im looking at vehicles asshole, now go away"

IF he would have said "no thanks, i just want a minute or two to look" I would have carded him and walked away. In my opinion that reaction was not appropriate at all, and it happens enough that i think people really need to stop seeing us as villans and understand that we have a job to do and were not all out to screw you.

[Andara Bledin]

The market has changed, customers are more educated.

This was less than 2 years ago, so I sincerely doubt the "public" is any more educated than they were then.

Hell, most of them aren't much better than they were half a century ago.

^-.-^

[Pimento]

This was less than 2 years ago, so I sincerely doubt the "public" is any more educated than they were then.

Hell, most of them aren't much better than they were half a century ago.

^-.-^

Oooook...

The internet has changed sales in a huge way. Customers now have acess to dealership costs, car invoices and any information they desire. The net is also flooded with some very poor advice like the MSN articles on "11 things to watch for" and junk when buying cars.

So on that note, i would say that the "public" is definately more educated than they once were.