New Cars, Old Salesmen

My friend spent weeks and months considering which car to buy. As a modern, Internet-savvy consumer, she did her homework and finally, walked into a local dealership to start working on buying her choice. There, she ran into... a car salesman.

Sadly, what happened shows why so many of us hate car dealerships. She was told things that weren't true, such as the availability of a feature with an engine size or model. An inexperienced salesman kept going back to "talk with his manager" and kept arriving with incorrect information (or, "lies" as my friend says). It seemed clear that the dealership wanted to sell my friend something they had in stock and weren't interested in providing her with what she wanted.

At one point, to prove the salesperson was wrong, my friend emailed a car she "built" online using the manufacturer's own website!

As it stands now, she will take her business to a different dealership and try it again. She bought her last three cars there and it's just plain lost business--forever.

This brings to mind an article I just read about Joe Girard, the all-time top-selling car salesman. He moved 13,001 Chevrolets over his 15-year car-selling career. The key? Serving his customers! He actually had to schedule appointments because he was in such demand. He once sold 18 car in one day. He later moved into advice and has an active speaking career today at the age of 83.