Tipping your car salesperson or giving a gift (vehicle, auto, convertible)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We bought two cars from our car salesperson in the past 2 weeks. He did a great job helping us find my wife's vehicle. The people in the dealership are all so nice, too.
Anyways, I feel like giving our salesperson a tip or a gift of some sort. Is that a common practice? Have you ever given you auto salesperson a tip or gift?
The best "tip" that I have ever given to a great salesperson was to send more business their way. Referrals are the lifeblood of a good salesperson, and can mean more than a gift to their bottom line. However, if you want to bring them something personal, cookies or brownies, for example, I am sure that would be welcome.
Interestingly, I will tend to bring cookies/cake, etc. to mechanics who do an awesome job, but the commissioned salespeople, I will refer business thier way. I also write letters of testimonial for their employee file, which can be beneficial to them in the long run as well.
We bought two cars from our car salesperson in the past 2 weeks. He did a great job helping us find my wife's vehicle. The people in the dealership are all so nice, too.
Anyways, I feel like giving our salesperson a tip or a gift of some sort. Is that a common practice? Have you ever given you auto salesperson a tip or gift?
Why not? It's not expected, but if you got outstanding service, what could it hurt?
I'm of the opinion that anything that places me in a different league from "everyone else", is money well spent--whether it cost money, or whether it was simply a little bit of time. If it's buying a car, eating out, or a holiday card with something unexpected to my favorite bartender, it works. When I want to buy a car, I call the same guy, and I get exactly what I want, for a realistic but very low price. Next time I want my drink made a special way, I get it. I don't usually wait to sit down in some of the busiest places in Scottsdale for this very reason. We're talking relationship building 101. And it's the thought that counts, not so much the value of the gift. (Translation: You don't have to produce a stack of $100 bills just to get someone's attention).
What I'm saying is, why not say thanks for the good service that you felt was deserving of recognition, particularly if you had a few transactions recently with the same person. No harm can come from this. No matter if you spend a few dollars on a gift, or spend an hour crafting a nice letter to the general manager of the dealership, any work or expense you incur should--and will--be mutually beneficial to you and the person receiving it. You will be remembered, the salesperson will be remembered by you, others, or the dealership management (or all three!). These are good places to be for both you and the salesperson.
And I fully agree, send more business to them... and make sure that they know, you sent it. Because that, is how business works.
Last edited by 43north87west; 01-10-2009 at 11:29 PM..
Why not? It's not expected, but if you got outstanding service, what could it hurt?
I'm of the opinion that anything that places me in a different league from "everyone else", is money well spent--whether it cost money, or whether it was simply a little bit of time. If it's buying a car, eating out, or a holiday card with something unexpected to my favorite bartender, it works. When I want to buy a car, I call the same guy, and I get exactly what I want, for a realistic but very low price. Next time I want my drink made a special way, I get it. I don't usually wait to sit down in some of the busiest places in Scottsdale for this very reason. We're talking relationship building 101. And it's the thought that counts, not so much the value of the gift. (Translation: You don't have to produce a stack of $100 bills just to get someone's attention).
What I'm saying is, why not say thanks for the good service that you felt was deserving of recognition, particularly if you had a few transactions recently with the same person. No harm can come from this. No matter if you spend a few dollars on a gift, or spend an hour crafting a nice letter to the general manager of the dealership, any work or expense you incur should--and will--be mutually beneficial to you and the person receiving it. You will be remembered, the salesperson will be remembered by you, others, or the dealership management (or all three!). These are good places to be for both you and the salesperson.
And I fully agree, send more business to them... and make sure that they know, you sent it. Because that, is how business works.
Thanks that sounds like a great perspective. I consider myself a big tipper when it comes to getting great service from a restaurant. I have also tipped very low when service was below standard ($0.53) = 1.13% of the bill - you could buy a Coke back then (You know the phrase "Have a Coke and a Smile"? - that jerk was not smiling).
You may have already seen my post on dealing with a salesperson from Dealership X who said something misleading which dropped his credibility, in my opinion. Even when the 'sticker' stated something contrary.
My wife was looking for a specific vehicle at a low price (BMW convertible, low miles, etc). I used Vehix but it is hard to determine how to check out a car from out of state (the ones I liked were in GA, AL and NC).
When we asked our salesperson from Dealership Y to search for one, he found one at an auction, had them check it out. They got the Carfax report and their mechanics checked it out, also. We saw the car and drove it, and it really exceeded our expectations - and the price was what he promised (even though its market price is a lot higher ). There were a lot of people looking at the car, as it was just sitting there. He was always giving us updates on what was out there by email and I was frequently contacting him by email and cell phone. I know the dealers make money or they wouldn't do it; however, I figure I could at least get him a gift card for dinner or something for the service.
In retrospect, I should have tipped my other car salesman in Maryland, too. Not only did I save money from the deal but I saved money from driving a hybrid.
If the salesman made you a return customer, he did his job well. It's not personal. But, dealers now are sweating the economy and expect the pink slip any day. A letter in their file would be a trophy for them, and may mean the difference of their employment in their competitive field.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
