Just got back from the dealer...this isn't true right?

[minimalist]

No, just realistic. These guys are not hired to be consultants. The most product-knowledgeable guy you know could not keep a sales job 2 weeks if he couldn't engage, query, and close prospects...... Let alone deal with DB shoppers day-in day-out.

All the product 'consulting' in town goes right in the shitter to another dealer for $200.00 - right? Trust me, I know of what I speak.

Buying a car is not a normal business transaction. Don't expect otherwise.

I work in sales. Every sale should be looked at as a consultation. That's what query is. It's a missed opportunity to not have product knowledge in your back pocket for customers who want to be informed or are taken back by the information a salesman can provide. No one wants to buy from someone who doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Why not spend the time to thoroughly understand all of the products you sell?

 

[Watchdogg]

I work in sales. Every sale should be looked at as a consultation. That's what query is. It's a missed opportunity to not have product knowledge in your back pocket for customers who want to be informed or are taken back by the information a salesman can provide. No one wants to buy from someone who doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Why not spend the time to thoroughly understand all of the products you sell?

Exactly.

 

[thinkviv]

I work in sales. Every sale should be looked at as a consultation. That's what query is. It's a missed opportunity to not have product knowledge in your back pocket for customers who want to be informed or are taken back by the information a salesman can provide. No one wants to buy from someone who doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Why not spend the time to thoroughly understand all of the products you sell?

Most people don't even have the very most basic automotive knowledge (think about all the people who don't know how to jumpstart, or who don't know that their car needs oil changes and maintenance, there's a lot of those people out there), and so the salespeople only have to make things sound good, get their commission and move on to the next person. The general consumer will not know the difference, and it really won't matter in their daily use. The knowledgeable consumer will have done research beforehand and will be able to spot the bullshit and simply shake their head, cry a little on the inside, and buy the product as long as they're getting a good deal. At least that's what happened in my case when buying my '15 Trail Premium.

 

[philsey]

That's exactly how I feel. That's their job.

Understand, I'm not disagreeing with you. I retired after 40 years of highly technical, straight commission software sales, and in my business, knowledge, ROI, and results were everything -- so I know about sales. But "their job" is determined by their management, not your expectations of what sales "should be". The car business is like no other.

However, I do understand how some people just don't care about the details.

Realistically, ~90% of car sales is based on price/deals (perceived or otherwise) and not knowledge or loyalty. Ppl will walk on a highly informed rep who's spent hours with them, and go across town for a couple hundred dollars. So, your sales guy's 5% job is to "land" you long enough for the bigger guns to work on the 85% left. There is very little incentive to do otherwise. Like it or not, it's numbers, not service.

 

[Throwback]

Does anyone actually show up ready to buy a car without reading internet reviews, forum opinions, etc. anymore? If someone is dumb enough to do that then a technical consultant isn't going to be what closes the deal, it'll be the salesman that can show how the seat heaters switch on and how the satellite radio works.

The guys on this forum, FRS forums, RAV4 forums, Prius forums, Tundra forums, etc. all know WAY more about their specific car than any one salesman could ever be expected to know.

 

[sleevefullofaces]

When I test-drove my 4R, I asked the salesman what the green "eco" light means. He told me, "Oh that stays on all the time, you can't turn it off." That's when I realized he didn't know what he was talking about.

Same thing happened to m me. I googled it and shut it off right in front of him.