What is it like to work as a car salesman?

I've been wondering what it would be like to be a car salesman. It would be great to hear from anyone who's worked for either a new or used dealership.

Questions I've always wondered are:

1. Is it straight commission?

2. Do you get benefits?

3. Are the hours crazy?

4. Is it grinding work?

5. Do you have to start out in another position and work up?

6. Is there extensive training involved?

7. Are there personality/character traits that make a good salesperson?

 

I wasn't a salesman to long before I moved to the shop but it was some pretty long hours. I was straight commission. Average training and my particular dealership did offer benefits after 3 months of full time employment. Definetly was not grinding work IMO more along the lines of hoping for someone to pull into the dealership.

 

I think it may vary by dealership, especially for #1-3, but most have benefits.

A good friend of mine works at a Dodge/Chrysler dealership. He mainly does their used car sales and manages the interwebs side for that as well. He gets a decent hourly, enough to do just fine, but gets commission on cars sold. He gets a bonus if he sells so many. Basically his salary is lower middle class, but with commission he can push six figures if he does really well. He pulls a comfortable living.

He had no prior salesman experience, but was a mechanic.

As far as personality, he's very outgoing. I don't think there's a specific type though, it depends on the buyer. When I bought the Tacoma, my salesman was outgoing and telling me his life story, and remembered me 3 weeks later. He sold me, really. The guy at Nissan tried the whole "say their name a lot to connect with them" trick, and it annoyed me. When I bought my wife's VW, the salesman was 100% facts, super monotone, and straight business no fluff. I liked his approach too. As long as you're genuine, you're good I think.

 

I worked at a Chevrolet dealership for several months. New cars sale was based off draw, used was commission.

Draw is you get X amount each month & must sell so many vehicles to make up the draw. First three vehicles were $200 & it went up from there. You had to sell 9 or 10 vehicles to stay above the water. If you didnt sell 'X' amount of vehicles, the left over draw was put ontop on next months draw. Get too deep & you're fired.

I worked 0800 - 1900, Thursday and Sundays off. It sucked... Always at work, stressing about meeting draw. Lot of down town and stress... I wouldn't recommend it. There's no future in it. Even if you're good, you may become a head sales manager. But if you have a few bad months. You're fired & the next poor bastard gets your spot.

 

Dude that blows.
I can't stand a salesman that plays game. Just be real with me.

 

That kinda sucks. Sounds like if the dealership or corporate doesn't advertise or do anything to get anyone in the door, then potentially good sales people could fall through the cracks. Seems like it could get stacked against the new sales person really quickly.

Sounds like it's a job you have to be able to afford to work at.

 

Sharks in a tank.

 

Questions I've always wondered are:

1. Is it straight commission? Typically, but every dealership can be different. When I was selling many years ago it seemed the "pay plan" changed every other month.

2. Do you get benefits? Most will offer benefits. How good the benefits are depends on the dealership.

3. Are the hours crazy? If the hours aren't crazy then you probably aren't making enough money. Assuming a decent ability in sales then the more you work the more you earn. The month I sold 26 cars I basically worked 10-12 hours a day and 6 days a week. Maine does not allow car dealers to sell on Sunday so that was a day off. What most people don't take into account is that for every car you sell you have to deliver that car to the buyer. Meaning that you have to sit with them when they pick the car up. This can take from 1-2 hours per car if you are doing it right. If you sell 20 cars in a month then you have lost one quarter of the time spent at work not directly selling.

4. Is it grinding work? It can be. Depends on the dealership, your manager, owner and co-workers as well. It also depends on what you are selling. If no one wants what you are selling then that is not much fun.

5. Do you have to start out in another position and work up? That was not my experience. There is high turnover in car sales. It is certainly not for everyone. After 1.5 years in the business, I did not see anyone come from another position in dealership and into sales. I did see the opposite, in fact, I started in sales and ended as a service writer.

6. Is there extensive training involved? Depends on the dealership. (See a pattern here?) Most of the training is on the job but there are some training sessions. The best training is to go learn about the cars you are going to sell.

7. Are there personality/character traits that make a good salesperson? Yep. The first is to learn not to take rejection personally. Being outgoing and easy going are very helpful. But sometimes there are intangibles. I remember a very attractive woman who tried selling cars. She was far from dumb but really was not all that experienced with cars. But she was about as sweet as they come and since car and truck buyers are mostly men, she could negotiate all day long without upsetting any of them. She was genuine also, as she never tried to use her good looks specifically to sell a car. She was just impossible to get upset with so she was very successful, except she really didn't enjoy selling cars so she did not last long.

Turnover is huge in car sales. Most people who make a career of auto sales work for at least 10 or more dealerships in their lifetime.