Who said you had to be dishonest to sell a car? I have been approached by several people and asked how to make money as an honest car salesman so I thought this would be a good subject for a post. Just the fact that I asked this question by more a few people bothers me because many people naturally assume that we need to be anything less than honest in order to close a deal. I know we don’t have the best reputation, but I really resent the fact that people still think we are all crooks. You can still make six figures selling cars without being a snake.

Success as an Honest Car SalesmanI have never seen, heard or attended any kind of car sales training where the class was told that they have to lie, cheat or deceive the customer in order to sell a new or used vehicle. Yes, it happens in our industry, but I don’t believe any salesman was ever instructed to outright lie to a customer. If you are selling new cars the customer can always burn you on a C.S.I. survey and on a used car they can call a lawyer, call the owner, call the Better Business Bureau or even the Attorney General. All of these scenarios can cause more trouble than it is worth and if you continue you may find yourself without a job.

Yes You Can Make Money as an Honest Car Salesman

When you are a car salesman working with a customer and dealing with their car sales objections not everything is black and white. Yes, there are some parts of the deal that are clear and beyond question, but there are also details that buyers don’t ask. It’s not the car salesman’s job to answer questions that the buyer doesn’t ask. It’s not being dishonest to sell a car to a customer that doesn’t ask the same questions that you or I would ask when we buy a car. Every detail and every dollar is accounted for on the bill of sale and the finance contract to answer any question any buyer could want. The buyer is instructed to sign all documents after they check the accuracy and that is how you can make money as an honest car salesman.

When people buy cars it is their job to do any research or crunch any numbers they see fit. When someone buys any item regardless of what it is do you hold the person that collected your money responsible for allowing you to purchase that item? If you buy a house and mortgage that house does the closing agent or the Realtor provide every detail about the property or all the clauses of the mortgage? Of course not, but if you make that purchase and sign the documents without reading and understanding them that is your responsibility. Does that make the Realtor, closing agent or mortgage processor dishonest? So why should buying a car be any different? Now that’s how you can make money as an honest car salesman.

I am not saying that there aren’t any dishonest car sales people, but there are not nearly as many as the public believes.  The car salesman that lies to the customer to sell a car is known as a “kink” or “kinky” and most car dealers do not like kinks working on the floor. To put it clearly, you don’t need to be dishonest to sell cars for a living and make great money. When you are a professional car salesman there is no need to be dishonest. The most successful car salesmen and saleswomen sell cars to the same customer over and over, they wouldn’t buy from them again if they didn’t believe they were honest, hard working car sales professionals.

You Can Make Great Money as an Honest Car Salesman – Get the Car Sales Manual – Make More Money!

Later, Fresh Up on the Lot

KB

Don’t forget to read the book to make the big money!


7 Comments

KB · October 1 at 6:34 pm

Hi RKW,
You are not the only dealership that runs their business in that manner, but it can come back and bite them.

RKW · September 27 at 5:38 am

We are instructed to tell the customers on the phone that we have a certain car, even if we don’t. We are told to say we are the BEST at every thing. We are told to ask the customer to falsify CSI surveys. We are asked to bribe the customer with free gas to get a PERFECT survey. We are instructed to “make up shit” in order to have common ground with the customer.

KB · February 13 at 7:12 am

Hi Ronnie,

Thanks,
You can also say let me check for you or I am not absolutely sure, but I will be happy to find out for you.I don’t want to tell anything that is not 100% accurate so I will get that info for you in a little bit.

KB

ronnie · February 10 at 12:25 pm

Hey KB,

This is a great article and even though it was short I enjoyed it. I too am an honest car salesman that lives in a little town where everyone knows everyone elses business so there is no being kinky not too mention i look very young. but just from experience i have come to realise most questions a customer ask is just to find out if you are gonna lie or not and they already know the answer. Most the time I just say I don’t know and that seems to work best rather than come up with an outlandish answer, is there any other method you may use other than just saying i don’t know?

Thanks
Ronnie

KB · January 1 at 7:26 am

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your comments, but based on your thoughts and information I think it is time for you to change dealerships. It sounds like you are at a dealer that is stuck in the past. Things are different at most dealerships today, but there are still some around that give the business a bad name.

KB

chris · December 30 at 10:28 pm

I would have to say you are right there is a place in the car business for honest people, I know from experience that it is not the salesman who is dishonest but the management, which withholds information on cars from the saleman ie, what repairs have been done accidents, I found the owner of my garage making up fake repair bills on the cars to reduce the saleman commision then in sales meetings saying that the saleman where giving the cars away but charging $900 to change tires and $700 to change front brakes, the car business has become so compettitve that most new car dealers are giving hi fives for a $1000 a car and with all the competition in the used dealser can make $500 per used car and just prey the clients will come back to get the car serviced.

GM · April 1 at 4:15 pm

“Professional” Car Salesperson being key word there.
If you have to be dishonest to do the job please find another field.

Comments are closed.