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Can anyone tell me just how bad it is to sell cars these days? Lost my job about a month ago and not getting any bites on my resume. Last time I had to look for work, my phone was ringing off the hook and I had a new sales gig within 4-5 weeks. I have a background in B2B sales doing everything from software sales to selling stuff to warehouses and manufacturing companies. I've heard rumors from friends of mine that once you hit (or come close in my case) to hitting 50 years old it gets a lot tougher to find work.
Right now the only jobs that are posting a lot of help wanted ads are call centers and car lots. The car lots all claim that they give a guaranteed salary for the first month or two. Will be running out of funds in about 4 weeks and need to have something lined up.
Companies like Alere are growing here in Midwest, on the coasts too but not as familiar with them to name companies. Or the healthcare IT companies too, they have sales departments. Lots of travel involved but some people don't mind/like it
One of my cousins went from software sales to trying to work at a Chevy dealer, no comparison. The guys that run the sales function at car dealers are in the dark ages. They have elaborate beliefs in how to maximize the profit from everyone that sets foot on the lot. Never mind if the person tried to get a quote online, brought print outs with em, has a smart phone or any other non-knuckle dragging shopping techniques, it is expected that you treat every customer like a rube that can be talked into paying extra for undercoating and fabric protection, has no idea how finance works, and will willingly drive home in a red base model when they test drive a blue top tech and sport package...
Poor kid nearly drank himself to death. Fortunately a friend got him hooked up with a different software company.
It has been a few years since I sold cars, but the 3 places I saw many corporate sales people struggle in were having to stand around for hours at a time, negotiating face to face across the table all in one shot, and dealing with a totally different mentality in sales.
Usually the 'new kid on the block' is going to have difficulty roping in the next customer who walks onto the lot; the more 'senior' car salesperson will have the first crack.
A ton of pressure to sell, sell, sell, and sell some more. If you don't meet your quota, you're escorted out the door.
Thanks for the advice, that's kind of what I thought as well. Whenever I bought a car it seems the best salespeople were guys that did not have any previous sales experience. Ex-bartenders, ex-military, retired ballplayers and the like. People that were normally obnoxious and channeled it into car sales. It would definitely drive me crazy to stand around all day waiting for my "up". Guess I will keep plugging away and hope to land something soon.
In my experience working at a new car dealer (parts, not showroom), it seemed like the only really successful sales people were those who "grew up" in the business, and/or were friends or relations to the owner or general manager.
The number of "newbee's" that came and went when their "guarantee" period was up would fill a phone book !
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