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Comment by NANCY SIMMONS on May 12, 2011 at 7:33pm

This is an awesome discussion...I am certain we all have a story to tell on this subject... The best veteran salespeople confuse the act of pre-qualifying with pre-judging... Pre-qualifying can only be acquired through a series of well thought out questions...each one triggered from the reply to the preceding question...Therefore, "listening" is the key!  I have witnessed numerous scenarios of this...the old cranberry grower who comes in with high boots and smelly clothes and a brown paper bag full of cash...the couple who just won the brand new Corvette from the Corvette scratch card...(They didn't want the Corvette, so we bought it from them and sold them a modest car and a pickup truck)..The list goes on and on.. We have sold cars to many "exotic dancers" in our day as well, who have the suitcase full of ones and fives...Yikes!!!! Love the stories...Keep them flowing!  All three scenarios I mentioned were sold by a sales consultant out of rotation... The pro who was up had to suddenly go to the bathroom, pick up his dry cleaning, gas up a car, etc...

Comment by Bobby Compton on May 10, 2011 at 2:30pm

Awesome share Arnold, I happen to like Slayer... lol

Comment by Arnold Tijerina on May 10, 2011 at 2:26pm

The exact same thing happened to me. We worked on an up-list in one of the first straight sell dealerships I was on the floor with. A guy pulled up in a PT Cruiser. He was wearing big boots, shorts and a t-shirt. He was very tatted up and had this long goatee. The guy who was up next didn't want to help him and asked me if I wanted to (since I was next on the up-list essentially he wanted to trade spots). Turns out the guy was Kerry King, the lead guitarist for Slayer. He was a very nice guy. The tats and everything were pretty much for his rock star persona. He ordered an Infiniti G37 coupe from me at MSRP right then.

Comment by Tree King on May 9, 2011 at 4:15pm

There's no way I'm going to stand on the point and judge people, even thoug I see it daily.  I hear that often and I treat everyone the same with respect.  Being the only woman I truly understand how men and woman see things differently.

Comment by Keith Shetterly on May 7, 2011 at 7:01pm

I have one from the Internet:  We get a lead from a customer who submitted a credit app with $1100 as monthly income from her job as a clerk at a church.  Nobody wanted to work with her, call her, run credit, etc.  I had my youngest guy call her.  Turns out she was the recipient of an annuity that paid her $25,000 a month--and she worked at the church for nothing, donating her check into the collection plate every Sunday.  She bought a new, fully-loaded GMC Acadia that same day.  YOU NEVER KNOW!  And, for the Internet, the cover of the book you're wrongly judging is thinner and dimmer than ever.  :)

Comment by Joe Webb on May 7, 2011 at 5:26pm

Salespeople are inherently (and sadly) a judgmental breed.  Here is a comedic video I made about that very same topic:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S1oSmmpIuo

Comment by AL LEVINE on May 7, 2011 at 2:49pm

This is the reason I pushed myself to Special Finance. When I was a salesmen I met these customers who had all the right answers, trade in free and clear, money down, good job. They pu tme thru the ropes, 5 test drives, a million questions. I gave them all the answers. They finally agreed on a vegicle 4 hours later. I wrote up the offer with the credit ap, I brought it to the manager. He ran the credit bureau, and told me their is nothing he can do for these people, tell them to leave. I returned the title to their trade and their check for $1000.00 dollars and said sorry we can't help you and the people left. I said I worked very hard for over 4 hours and I was going to find a way to work with these credit challenged customers. They all want help and realized their mistakes in the past and want a second chance. They are a easy sell and love the words YES and THANKYOU. You make all the profit up front and still have room for a nice Warranty and Gap Ins and maybe more. Or would you like to deal with someone with a 800 score, who wants zero percent financing, has a 100,000 mile warranty on the car, dont need gap insurance, has a printed copy of the invoice which he got off his computer and wants to know how much would you go in to the hold back to make this deal? Lets get real and get involved in SPECIAL FINANCE.........20, 40, 60 DEALS A MONTH AND IT COSTS YOU NOTHING, THATS RIGHT ITS FREE. Salesman are on commission, and management. utilize your salesman and pay him $150.00 to take a test drive with the customer and if you have closers and you are taking one of their salesman, pay the closer $50.00 from the deal also. Everyone is happy.....Sounds so easy, but its true....I can run a SPECIAL FINANCE dept from A to Z.......PROFIT, PROFIT AND EASY MONEY......BUT you need the RIGHT person...

Comment by Joe Papa on May 7, 2011 at 1:04pm

Listen to this one...A few years back this scruffy looking couple pulled up front and got out of a scruffy looking taxi and started walking into the showroom. The sales people either ran for the bathroom, picked up the telephone or zipped back in to the service dept. Our newest salesperson greated them and was immediately informed that the husband had just received a large settlement from the Gov't for injuries he received from the war. To make a long story short, they left the dealership in a brand new truck, sold at full sticker of course, and bought everything the F&I manager had to offer. It gets better....A week later they totaled the truck, got the insurance settlement and did it all over again!

Comment by Bobby Compton on May 5, 2011 at 11:31pm

I can remember being fairly new in the business. The particular dealership I worked for was open from 8 A.M. until Midnight. It was a Saturday night and the General Sales Manager would stay at the dealership until every last sale person was paid their weekend spiff, and let me tell you in those days the spiff was worth waiting around for. 

The line of sales people went from his office to outside of the building. There were two people who walked on the lot, most of the sales people judged their appearance and said they couldn't buy anything if they wanted to - standard judgement comments. Plus it was after midnight and most everybody wanted to get out of there anyway. 

I was taught to speak to everyone, and it just so happened that these two customers were two of the most successful real estate agents in Las Vegas - Steve and Bee Vandenburg. That night they bought two vehicles from me, and have referred them to dealer clients since. 

It's amazing how we are all guilty of judging the book by it's cover. 

Awesome share Tony - GREAT EYE OPENER...