cerealuk Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Just wondering if anyone has worked or knows anyone who has worked at a main dealership? One of my local dealerships has a sales position going. What's it like? Do they kick you out if you miss targets? Is the advertised 35k / yr likely to be realistic? (It's a Nissan dealership) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I used to work in sales, not in cars though, but selling one thing is exactly like selling anything else. As the recession hit sales got hard, mainly because bonuses are easy to deny and justify the denial. Targets got harder to hit and the bar continually pushed just out of reach. Tbh it really does depend on the management of the local branch. All company HQ's will look for the same type of stats, set the same type of targets etc, so it's up to your local branch what it's like. If you have a good team then it's easier to hit branch targets and achieve bonus levels, also you find repeat customers coming in and you can pick them up for a good sale. On the other hand if the branch is full of lazy a'holes then you might have a miserable time. Key things are product knowledge, knowledge of the system you use to sell and a bit of the gift of the gab. The first two take time and training, the last one can be learned but it's easier if you already find it easy talking to people. I did like working in sales but found it to get tedious once I had learned the majority of the info that interested me, that and my manager was a complete mongtard. If you already work in sales sorry to have bored you with what you already know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Do they say what the base salary is or just a "you could earn upto £35k/yr"? If its the latter, its very unlikely you will earn that I would guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 A friend of mine worked at a main agent for a while. As Chris warned, be aware that it will be a low basic with a sliding scale of commission. Whether the two combined will actually add up to 35k is a different matter. Also bear in mind that as the "new boy" you will be fighting against the established salesmen with there repeat customers "I spoke to them before" and all the underhand tricks in the book to take your sale. Remember you are only as good as the last sale you made. Another friend of mine in sales described being a salesman as "prostitution without the penetration" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Been in sales for over 10 years. As a rule you can assume to earn about 20% less than the quote OTE bonus. If you taker the job just be sure that you're not the bottom performer (top is best ) and always bring more gross profit than what your basic amounts to. If you love what you sell thats always going to help to as it will come across when you pitch, like it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Send me an e-mail, I can help here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealuk Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 I used to work in sales, not in cars though, but selling one thing is exactly like selling anything else. As the recession hit sales got hard, mainly because bonuses are easy to deny and justify the denial. Targets got harder to hit and the bar continually pushed just out of reach. Tbh it really does depend on the management of the local branch. All company HQ's will look for the same type of stats, set the same type of targets etc, so it's up to your local branch what it's like. If you have a good team then it's easier to hit branch targets and achieve bonus levels, also you find repeat customers coming in and you can pick them up for a good sale. On the other hand if the branch is full of lazy a'holes then you might have a miserable time. Key things are product knowledge, knowledge of the system you use to sell and a bit of the gift of the gab. The first two take time and training, the last one can be learned but it's easier if you already find it easy talking to people. I did like working in sales but found it to get tedious once I had learned the majority of the info that interested me, that and my manager was a complete mongtard. If you already work in sales sorry to have bored you with what you already know Thanks for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 no worries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroudy Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Used to work for Peugeot in sales. If you like cars its quite good but yeah as everyone else says you will only earn that figure if you bust your balls week in week out. Theres quite a good team morale/banter thing going in in most dealerships but on the flip you'll get a few idiots that think they're god, jesus and nigel mansell all in one. 6 days a week usually too with most 'executives' required to work Saturdays with a day off in the week and something like working one sunday a month depending on the size of the team. Hours used to be about 8 till 5:30. You'll get a motor to take home usually which can be fun because as they say, 'never buy an ex-demonstrator' What manufacturer is it for?? I now work in forestry which is pretty much a dream job as offices and showrooms weren't for me in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealuk Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Thanks for the info stroudy. Its for nissan . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l-jack Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I am new here mate, however I worked in car sales for over 7 years and have had a number of friends and family in the business if you want an honest laydown PM me. However just as general advice don't throw away another job for car sales! Only go into car sales if you don't have another job, have a look around at how many garages are recruiting > it's because they are always recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l-jack Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 for some reason I cannot reply to PM's cereal sorry. sorry if this is a long reply but you need to know before dipping your foot in... 1) I would say generally you can expect to be on one of three pay bandings: 8k basic 10k basic 12k basic personally I wouldn't have a basic like that to carry around megan fox's underwear (well thats probably a lie~) 2) +then you get paid 10% of profit in the metal (usually) 3)+then 5-10% on the commission knock back from the finance company. 4) + commission from selling products SO it seems like your on the gravy train right? WRONG and here's why: 1) the basic sucks! 2) most car companies have to retail there vehicles with low profits > gone are the days when I used to make 3K profit in the metal (=£300 in my wage packet) occasionally they still might but it's a rarity. If the car makes under a certain amount of profit you get paid £50 minimum and this is the majority! 3) unless your a finance manager/sales manager you don't know what the kick back is > and all car dealerships are liars! 4) The products are just a real pushy hard sell and then you lose the respect of your customer > and they are massively expensive. You can even lose a sale at this point purely down to products depends what the sales manager is like. 5) company car is great right? well you get stuck in run of the mill cars most of the time > until you become top sales dog and then you may get a nice smoker > however remember this is taxable and you have to pay for your own fuel. 6) every garage has it's top dog's > they really get preferential treatment I know because I had it for a whole year and my life was EASY! but everyone else is fighting for the scraps 7) The hours are long and hard > and you find that you get pulled into never taking a holiday (I worked with guys who didn't have a day off in three years because they needed the cash for a family etc) > also you work your days off just to get that couple of sales. Also weekends are the busiest time >so say goodby to your GF as shes going to be with someone else who is at home on the weekend. 8) How do you feel about walking up to someone >"hi how are you?" etc they tell you to F off > but you can't you have to stick with them like glue, or else your in for it off the sales manager > you can't leave them until they get in there cars and go > and if you do one of the other guys like me will try stealing your customer. It's easy at the start but after 6 years you just get fed up! 9) Sales in cars is totally seasonal > don't expect a decent wage between Nov and Feb because you don't take home anywhere near what you want. Wel I guess I bored you to death but > IT IS WELL WORTH READING And anyone who wants to criticise my overall assessment has shutters on their eyes and they are in denial. This is the gritty truth on car sales > and if you want to say it was because I wasn't any good here's where your wrong: -I worked for audi for a year, and BMW for a year -I was top salesman at Stoneacre dealership for a year -Top salesman at renault for a year -at 24 I had 51K at the top of the note -I drove everything from a kia picanto to a brand new range rover sport as demo's -I did both sales manager and business manager roles Sales is a drug and when I got out the industry had taken a dive bomb I found myself changing from dealership to dealership taking home between 800 -1500 a month at best! Whereas in previous years I had taken home anywhere up to 4K in a month. To answer your questions > it isn't a safe job poor performances lead to instant firing >I would expect to earn 18000 - 25000k per year + a car (but remember they hit you quite hard with company car tax Hope my mad ranting helps. BTW if you don't have a good career then give it a try for a year you never know you might find your pot of gold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 for some reason I cannot reply to PM's cereal sorry. You will be able to after 5 quality posts - unfortunately problems with spammers have necessitated the monitoring of new members posts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l-jack Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Damn I was looking forward to a bit of spam aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Damn I was looking forward to a bit of spam aswell as my ban button is getting a bit rusty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.