Ron Gwill

I think it is because cars have become so reliable that customers now look more at bodywork, when I started in the trade cars suffered far more with crunching gearboxes, worn clutches noisy back axles,oil leaks etc. The customer is spending what is to them all the money they can afford, so they have to look for faults. The answer is to know when to say no, because in my experience once you start aggreeing to do scratches and dings they will find more and more until your profit has been hammered. I have also heard salesmen say "Don't worry about the scratches we have a man who comes in and does them before the car goes out" guess what the customer expects then on handover? Regarding the expert friend, I have always found it best to win them over rather than embarrass them. They have probably been put on the spot, same as you probably would if one of your friends asked you to check a car, a good idea is to point out the weak points of the car (they all have them) and demonstrate that your one is 0.k. If the expert friend is relied upon by others he could become good for refferalls, but not if you make him look silly, tempting through it may be.

Interesting to read the coments regarding test drives, can I first say that there are two sides to every story, I have spent 30 years selling cars, and worked for a few large companies. They all have policies regarding test drives,usually the salesman has to take a copy of the drivers licence, often people don't carry them, so a test drive has to be refused, a customer has to be accompanied to comply with insurance normally, and definatly when using trade plates, that is law. So although many customers like to just be given the keys, that is not the correct way, one of my Managers said "How can you demonstrate something if your not there?" Moving on I am a firm believer in test drives, it gives you a chance to get away from the showroom which is your enviroment into a neutral zone which usually makes the customer more relaxed. In my experience salesmen who send customers out on their own are too lazy to go with them or feel that the customer will not feel comfortable, I say it is our job to help the customer get the best from the drive. Also often I have seen a salesman send a customer out, only to then pick up another customer, and not see the first one come back, or be too busy with someone else so the customer just leaves the keys with reception and walks out. One company I worked for had an indoor showroom the cars were only disturbed on a Monday morning when all the sold ones were replaced as it was late model used cars most makes were offered, so test drives were difficult, but one had to develop a way of selling without in most cases test driving, not good but it had to be done. Some of my collegues said things like "So if it drives o.k are you buying it?" Or the classic one was when a customer having paid a deposit said "I supose I should test drive it but you can't get it out" The salesman replied "I tell you what, after you collect it you can drive it as much as you like" not recommended! Ron Gwilliams.