I am about to tell you about my worst day as a car salesman. It’s not because I am proud of that day, but rather to provide an accurate picture of what it’s like to be a car salesperson. We all have good and bad days selling cars. Hopefully, you have more good ones than bad ones. I already posted my first day as a car salesman and then I will post my best day as a car salesman. If you are weighing the pros and cons of being a car salesperson this will be on the con side. But the best day as car salesperson will be on the pro side.
My worst day as a car salesman was on a Monday, go figure. I was scheduled to work bell-to-bell (9 AM to 9 PM). It was an average Monday, kind of quiet in the morning except for a few phone calls. All of the calls were from customers that I sold on the past Friday and Saturday. They had questions, or need to send me stips and wanted to schedule the installation of accessories. Handled the calls and headed out to the showroom to scout for some customers.
Monday was typically our second best day of the week with Saturday being the best. That was one of the reasons that I didn’t mind working 12 hours on Mondays. I could usually snag at least one deal on a Monday and sometimes two. However, this Monday seemed pretty quiet in the showroom. I never thought that a Monday could be my worst day as a car salesman, but I was wrong.
Recover From My Worst Day as a Car Salesman
So before I knew it was 1:00 in the afternoon. What’s worse is that I haven’t talked to a customer yet, except the phone calls I mentioned earlier. Then the General Manager pages me to come to his office. He tells me that the deal I made on Friday is getting unwound. The was a problem with the proof of income so they had to return the car (they didn’t have the best credit, blah, blah, blah..). It was a mini deal and my commission was $75.00. Not the end of the world, but I also sold them some accessories and packages that would have paid me $175.00 on top of the mini. So here I am, out $250.00 and down one unit. It has happened before, so it’s not my worst day as a car salesman (or so I thought).
The GSM tells me that I need to complete two online manufacturer training classes ASAP. I ask, why can’t I do them tomorrow, I need to make up for the deal I just lost. He says they need to be done by the end of the day today. So I head to my desk on the other side of the showroom to complete my online classes. I walked through the showroom slowly, hoping I could pick up a customer before I get there, but no luck. I started thinking this has to be my worst day as a car salesman. So I go take my classes and tell myself that I can still salvage the day by selling a couple units after my classes (I am here until 9:00 PM anyway).
So here I am sitting at a computer doing these *^$%# online classes. I keep looking over at the showroom and I see customers walking in the door and getting upped by my fellow salespeople. I am doing my best to complete this online BS as fast as I can, but I can’t make it go any faster. When I finally complete the classes I head to the GSMs office to let him only to discover that there are 6, count then 6 deals working. And I have never even had a chance to talk to a customer today. So far this has been my worst day as a car salesman, but I still have time to make a sale.
It’s now 5:30 PM, but I tell myself that I can still make a deal, I have time. I head out to the showroom floor scouting for customers, but nothing. So I hit the lot looking anything I can get, but so far nothing. Then I get paged for a phone call and I head to my desk to answer the call. Turns out that it was a customer I talked to earlier with another question about the car they purchased last Saturday. By now it’s 6:30 PM and while I was on the phone two more customers were snatched up by other salespeople. I must admit that I was starting to think that this has to be my worst day as a car salesman.
Definitely My Worst Day as a Car Salesman
My attitude went to hell and I couldn’t catch an up for the rest of the evening. So here I am, I spent 12 hours at the dealership without talking to a single fresh customer and I lost $250.00. This was definitely my worst day as a car salesman. It’s bad enough when you work a bell-to-bell and make absolutely nothing. But I lost $250.00 to boot. That sucks.
I always try to keep a positive car salesman attitude, but it wasn’t happening on that Monday. I was disgusted and in a terrible mood when I got home that evening. I didn’t tell my wife because I didn’t want to relive my worst day as a car salesman. That would have just made me even crabbier. I sucked it up and put it behind me, but it wasn’t easy. That’s all you can do when you sell cars for a living. We have to take the good with the bad and look at the big picture. One day doesn’t make a month. We all have bad days now and then. Chalk it up to experience and let it go. On the other hand, you can read about my best day as a car salesman.
Fresh Up on the Lot,
KB
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