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Schedule
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Car dealerships in most parts of the country are open six or seven days a week. Weekends are usually the busy times for car buyers, so a salesman will usually have time off during the week. Most dealerships are open from the morning until well into the evening. Each day you will be scheduled for an early shift that starts before the dealership opens or a late shift that finishes at closing.
Meetings
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Many dealerships have a sales meeting before each shift starts. Sales managers update the sales force on any news or promotions A longer sales meeting for all sales people is often held on Friday or Saturday mornings to get everyone ready for the weekend.
The Day
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A car salesman’s primary duty is to meet customers coming to the dealership, show and demonstrate cars and convince buyers to purchase a car at a profitable price. On a slow day, a large part of the day can be standing around waiting for customers. Time can also be spent calling old customers or prospects who came to the dealership but did not buy. Additional time should be spent learning the features of the different car models.
Customer Time
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The process of selling a car to a customer goes something like this: Meet the customers as they come into the dealership. Find out what type of car they are looking for and show them a car or cars. Provide a friendly, detailed explanation of the car’s features and benefits. Go with customers on demonstration drives. After the test drive, take the customers into the dealership to negotiate price and purchase details. If customers have a trade-in, get the details of the trade and take the car to the used-car manager for an appraisal. With assistance from sales manageers, negotiate with the customer until you reach price and payment terms that are accepted. Take customers to the dealership business/finance office to complete the purchase paperwork. While customers are doing the paperwork, take the car to be cleaned and fueled. When the paperwork is complete and the car is ready, give your customers the keys to their new car, thank them for their business and get back on the lot to find your next prospect.
Making money
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Depending on the dealership and local labor laws, car salesmen usually earn a small salary and make most of their money from commissions on the sales of cars. The more profit in the car deal, the bigger the commission. The job can be extremely frustrating when you spend time with customers and they do not buy. It can be boring when you spend hours waiting for the next customer to come to the dealership. It can be exciting when you sell a car and make a big commission.
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