Being a Manhattan resident for almost nine years, I care as much about cars as I do about hunting. To me, a V8 is a gross tomato drink. But I love a good story about someone hustling for a buck; mostly to see how they negotiate personal guilt along with the sale. So I was intrigued by Edmunds.com's inside story, "Confessions of a Car Salesman," that appeared on Blogdex this week, months after the story was published.
The premise is that one of the site's writers was to infiltrate the car-sales industry by working for two dealers, one high-pressure and one strictly no-haggle. The result is a monstrous piece of work that details every step of the hustle.
The unidentified author started in a high-pressure sales position. What with the scripted humor ("Last time I was just looking, I ended up getting married"), the racial stereotypes (Asians were considered "completely impossible" hard bargainers) and the board that embarrassed under-performing salesman by listing names of those who hadn't closed a deal in three days, I couldn't get Glengarry Glen Ross out of my head. I was looking for Shelley "The Machine" Levene's byline at the end.
Car salesmen spend their days waiting for "ups," taking their turns at customers who drive into the lot. They execute the handshake the proper way (three pumps, pull forward a bit) and deal with the customer's biggest fear, that they will fall in love with a car and not think clearly about the finances.
How do you get people to spend more than they want? Add "up to?" to any answer. So if a customer says he wants to spend $400 a month, the salesperson replies, "Up to...?" Now you've got $450, and that's what gets written down in "first pencil," the bullshit numbers that will get marked down to something lower and uneven (i.e., $423, so it doesn't look made up) when the salesperson has "an idea" or "remembers" a rebate or special interest rate program.
At the no-haggle dealership, the author was able to focus more on the customers' needs, but didn't make as much money. Car sales, it seems, is business as usual.
If you can't get through the whole report, you can view the Car-Buying Concepts on the final page, a summary of key points from the article. To protect yourself as a consumer, arm yourself with knowledge. Again, business as usual.
Other News Links:
• Clinton Sent Only Two E-mails as Prez — Maybe from his official address, but I want to see records of arkansas_9inches@hotmail.com.
• Long John Silver's Set to Capitalize on Mars Exploration — Free giant shrimp (oxymoron, anyone?) if NASA finds conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars. They could give away free sex with Alyssa Milano and I still wouldn't eat in a Long John Silver's.
• Several Firefighters Quit Over Co-Worker's Porn Career — She must've declined to give free access to her webiste.
• John Stossel's Top 10 Myths Fueled by the Media — Remember when this 20/20 reporter got smacked up by Hulk Hogan (corrected) "Dr. D" David Schultz a few years back? He's all better now.
• The Great Paving — Fortune remembers Dwight D. Eisenhower's greatest legacy (after kicking Hitler's ass): the Interstate Highway System that helped create the modern economy. (Thanks, Art)
• The McDonald's Project — A New York man tests his body against the effects of a steady diet of McDonald's. The results are — shocker! — not healthy.
Paul... come clean... you are lying about that second Long John Silver's offer. You'd be first in line if Alyssa Milano were the prize in the bag. So would I!
Posted by CJ at January 29, 2004 12:54 AM