From the Series: Questions People Ask About Car Sales
You may be wondering why I am writing a post about why are car salesmen so annoying. That’s because this is one the most searched for terms in search engines. That’s right this is exactly what people are asking for Google, Bing, and Yahoo. They are also asking “Why are car salesmen so sleazy?”, “Why are car salesmen rude?” and “Why are car salesmen pushy?”. I think it’s safe to say that all of these are closely related. Therefore I should be able to answer all of those questions with this one post.
Since that many people are looking for an answer to that question on a regular basis. I thought it should be answered by someone in the car business rather than someone from the outside looking in. They say there are always two sides to every story and I think that probably applies here. So I will try address both sides when it comes why are car salesmen so annoying.
When I hear people ask why are car salesmen so annoying I first have to ask a question. Where are they going to shop for cars? Because the car dealerships that I have worked with will not tolerate annoying car salespeople. In fact: annoying is unacceptable when it comes to selling cars. However, in order to be fair, I will examine both sides and use the information I have gathered from car shoppers and car buyers over the years.
Customer View of Why Are Car Salesmen So Annoying
I will try to lay the process out in order so we can compare it to the car salesman’s view.
Customer Arriving at the Dealership: No sooner than they pull into a parking space there is a car salesman standing next to their car. They open their car door and get out of the car and they are greeted before they even have a chance to look around. But if they don’t greet them at their car they have to get through the pack of car salespeople standing near the door. These two reasons are high on the list of reasons that people ask why are car salesmen so annoying.
Credit and Downpayment: Some car shoppers felt those car salesmen are annoying because they want to know about their credit before they even looked at a car. Some even asked them to fill out a credit application before they did anything else.
Selecting and Test Driving: The three biggest reasons that people thought that car salesmen are so annoying when it comes to selection are: A. Trying to sell them a different car than they want because they don’t have a color or trim level. B. Talk too much during the test drive. C. Not answering their questions about a car or lying to answer the question. This was because the customer knew more about the car than the car salesman. (likely Internet Shoppers)
Pricing and Negotiation: Here is the area that car buyers hate about car buying. The car salesman that goes back and forth from the customer to the manager. This is by far the most common complaint from car buyers. This is the number one reason that they think car salesmen are so annoying. This frustrates a customer to no end.
Another practice is low balling their trade-in with a ridiculous number (as per the customer). And then showing them monthly payments and down payments that are over-inflated. They feel they have to wait for the car salesman to go back and forth a few times before the numbers start getting close to reality. For some customers negotiating is enough to make them ill. They just can’t do it and don’t want any part of it. These customers will often bring someone to help. This category is the biggest reason that car salesmen are so annoying according to car buyers and shoppers.
Finance Office and Paperwork: Many people felt that the Finance Manager talked them into something or at least tried to talk them into something they didn’t want. Plus they felt overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork. They actually admitted in most cases that the car salesman was more annoying that the Finance Manager.
After Sales Follow Up: This is the area where few people asked why are car salesmen so annoying. This one even surprised me. The car buyer said that the car salesman kept calling to make sure everything was ok with their car. Typically this happens when the person wasn’t very happy with their car salesman. Then they become annoyed by the calls.
Car Salesman View of Why Are Car Salesmen So Annoying
Now it’s time for the car salesman’s view.
Customer Arriving at the Dealership: It’s a competitive industry and we need to talk to customers. If we don’t get a customer we don’t sell a car and then we don’t get paid. The car salesman doesn’t want to annoy customers, but they need to get customers before somebody else does. If the customer wants to walk around the lot and look at the inventory they should tell the car salesman. They will back off and be there when you need them. As far as the wolf pack standing at the front of the dealership I will have to agree with the customer and see why they ask why are car salesmen so annoying. One or two salespeople is fine, but a pack just makes the customer feel intimidated.
Credit and Downpayment: To be completely honest here, we car salespeople don’t want to spend a couple hours trying to sell a car to someone that can’t buy one. We get paid when we sell a car, not when we go on test drives. We don’t mean to be an annoying car salesman, but we can’t make any money if we spend our time with people that can’t buy a car. A good car salesperson should be able to professionally ask the right questions and determine if that’s the case without being rude, pushy or annoying.
Selecting and Test Driving: As car salespeople, we want to make sure we get you the right car. We know we won’t close you on a car that you don’t want. I must admit that we always want to sell from stock and will do whatever we can to change your mind, such as additional discounts, etc… If we must we will locate or order a car, but not until we have exhausted all over options. The old saying of “one in the hand is better than two in the bush” sums it up pretty well.
When it comes to talking too much on a test drive that is usually a newbie or green pea. A professional car salesperson knows when to shut up and when to talk. We can understand why customers ask why car salesmen are so annoying when it comes inventory issues. The salesperson should not be annoying when handled properly.
Pricing and Negotiation: This one is always fun. As car salesmen, we don’t like going back and forth to the manager either. An experienced and well-trained car salesperson will tie up all the loose ends before leaving their customer to go to the manager and greatly reduces trips to the manager. Whereas a Green Pea car salesperson will go back and forth more often because of their inexperience. The sales manager on the desk controls what price the dealership will accept and not the car salesman.
The system is designed that way so someone (desk/sales manager) with the experience and the responsibility for sales and profit targets makes the call. At times the sales office can be crowded with other salespeople and the salesperson needs to wait their turn. So a less experienced salesperson could, in theory, take longer to settle on a price with the customer than an experienced salesperson. So with such a scenario, we can understand why people why are car salesmen so annoying. As a salesperson, we want to wrap up your deal A.S.A.P. so we can take another customer. We know that you would like to make the process move faster, but you should know that we want the same thing.
When it comes to the numbers for your trade-in. You should know that the Used Car Manager cannot evaluate trade-ins as quickly as we would like. Therefore we start with a number that is on the low end of the range for your car. We do this so we can continue to move forward until we get the actual value of your trade. The same goes for working payments. We use an average interest rate because we don’t know your credit score at this point. It takes time to gather the data to come up with solid numbers. The longer it takes the more likely customers are going to ask why are car salesmen so annoying. The answer is that it takes longer than anybody would like it to take.
Finance Office and Paperwork: Completing the paperwork when buying a car is a formality that takes time. The finance Manage offers products and services and explains their benefits. The car salesman should not be blamed for being annoying once the customer enters the Finance Office. The paperwork can be overwhelming and unless you are a finance manager it seems excessive, but it’s just about federal, state and county regulations.
After Sales Follow Up: In practically all car dealerships the car salesman is responsible for following up with the customer to ensure satisfaction. Many dealerships have a schedule when calls should be made. This is especially important when a customer buys a new car because the manufacturer will also survey the customer about their purchase experience. However excessive follow up can be annoying, which is usually done by a new salesperson rather than an experienced one. A successful car salesman can read their customer and know when they are becoming a nuisance. I was surprised to hear that follow up is one of the reasons for people asking why car salesmen are so annoying. Most car salespeople do a poor job on follow up.
To the car shoppers and car buyers that ask why are car salesmen so annoying here is the short answer. Sometimes it’s inexperienced salespeople or poor salespeople. But it can also be the time it takes to buy a car at dealerships. Neither car salesmen or car dealerships want the customer to be annoyed when they buy a car and if we do annoy you at times we apologize. We are just trying to earn a living and we would much rather have happy customers.
Any of you car sales professionals reading this post should no be offended. Because you can actually benefit by learning what car shoppers and buyers find annoying about car salesmen. Take this information and fine-tune your car sales steps to provide your customers an excellent experience. And with that a little luck maybe cay buyers will stop searching for an answer to why are car salesmen so annoying.
Later, Fresh Up on the Lot
KB
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