Do Car Dealerships Make You Comfortable?

It's been a typical Monday today at the car lot. It is the last three days of April now and we are all busy generating as much traffic as we can so we can sell as many cars as we can. I'm sure many of your companies operate in a similar fashion where the end of the month is a big deal. My salespeople have done a good job bringing people into the dealer today which put a spotlight on today's topic.

Are you, Mr. or Ms. Car Buyer truly comfortable walking into your local car dealer? Is it true that you would rather go have your car buyer teeth pulled before coming to see me? I spoke with a couple earlier today who quite innocently uncovered why that might be. It is not what you think. It's not me, or even the stereotypical version of me (you know, the used car guy with snake skin boots and polyester suits), it's not even the pressure you believe all car salespeople are trained to put on you to buy a car. Sorry, I should have said BUY A CAR TODAY! (Though maybe the pressure thing is part of it.)

You, Mr. and Ms. Car Buyer, do not enjoy going to car dealers because you don't understand how the car dealership operates. Think about that. Outside of your assumption that we must sell cars to make money, you probably don't know much about how a car dealer works. It's not like I work at Target or Wal-Mart or Best Buy for that matter. With those companies, most buyers or customers know how things work. You don't need a salesperson's assistance to make a purchase and more important you know where items are located inside the store. You know where the check-out counters are, heck you probably could even describe the location of the restrooms at most of your local chain stores. Why is this? Chances are you visit those store once a month or more and by acclimation you have become comfortable with the individual store layout.

Want to know a better reason than those above as to why you look forward to your visits to Best Buy or Target but loathe coming to see me, the friendly used car guy selling cars at the local car dealer? Virtually every retail store operates the same way. Shopping at Best Buy is no different than shopping at Target. Shopping at Wal-Mart is no different than shopping at Best Buy. They are all the same. You go in, you pick out what you want to buy, you pay and you leave. Simple, easy, familiar, and comfortable.

Car dealers don't work like that. Maybe we should, but we don't. Even like-branded car dealers will handle their sales and customer interaction procedures differently. Most dealers will rush greet you the moment you step foot on the lot, some won't. As a potential car buyer you've been conditioned to expect this greeting. I've watched customers leave the car lot angry because we decided to give them time to become comfortable with their surroundings. They were angry because they felt ignored, yet I guarantee you they complained to their neighbors about the car dealers who did rush to greet them for being too pushy.

As Mr. or Ms. Car Buyer you are not inherently comfortable in your role because you don't play it very often and we do not often follow the same procedures at the dealer lots. All you know for sure is you have to deal with a salesperson. If you look here, you will see I have already talked about the meet and greet. The next step at most car dealers is vehicle selection. My next post will cover this in detail. If you can't wait you can always check out this great book here. Thanks for stopping and see you next time!