Job as a car sales person...anyone do this as a career?

GinG · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:02

Morning All,

Looking into new job options at present. Very unhappy at work, and pretty much on the brink of leaving.

I am leaving with no job option to go into however me and the girlfriend are prepared to loose the £25k basic I am currently on as I am very very unhappy.

There is a job going within walking distance to work as a new car sales person. My background is sales & marketing so feel that I have the qualities required, but selling cars...is it a bit of a different ball game to selling over the phone, or selling high end flooring and doors to punters?

I am aware that basic wages are pretty low, and to be honest at this moment in time does not bother me in the slightest, our mortgage & bills are covered by the girlfriends wage, we just need the extra cash for spending & luxuries.

Can anyone offer their experiences, what is involved and potentially what the average earnings could be?

Any help would be fantastic.

Fusion · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:07

Might be better asking in motors.

franco_22 · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:09

OP in a couple of years:

tigerstyle · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:21

Friend did it, loves it. Go try it.

New cars, or second hand lot though?

bitslice · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:25

It's def more of a 'face fits' sort of job,
are you the kind of guy that can mix with different people?

There is apparently a bit of competion between sales guys and some may be a bit arsey over their turf, but any job is better than one you hate.
Some nice perks in driving the cars at weekends.

Priapus · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:29

I would only ever do it if it were newer cars. Second hand cars are a lot harder to sell imho.

I know a friend who does this and he loves it. But he only sells high end cars.

GinG · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:35

franco_22 said:
OP in a couple of years:

Can just see it now

It is new cars, ford & merc. With the odd 2nd hand car on the lot £8k - £20k it seems.

Sent an email to someone there asking if it would be possible to have a chat and see what is involved before sending in the CV. See what happens!

Priapus · 12 Apr 2011 at 11:12

GinG said:
Can just see it now

It is new cars, ford & merc. With the odd 2nd hand car on the lot £8k - £20k it seems.

Sent an email to someone there asking if it would be possible to have a chat and see what is involved before sending in the CV. See what happens!

Good luck! :cool:

Metalface Mark · 12 Apr 2011 at 11:14

If you like selling and you can live with the basic wage, then go for it I say, its something i wanted to try my hand at when i was younger but the debt i had meant i couldnt take the risk.

[FnG]magnolia · 12 Apr 2011 at 11:15

Milkybk said:
All about "the gift of the gab".

There is far more to selling than this. I could bore you with the detail but I won't. Good salesmen - and they do exist - have a damn sight more about them than just being able to talk a good game.

4T5 · 12 Apr 2011 at 11:21

My Nephew has been selling for about a decade, He started at VW then got poached by BMW, There was a good long time where things happened as he planned it, He was top salesman at VW earnt good money & drove good cars, When he moved to BMW the cars got better & so did the money. Having said all that he has had enough & jacked it in & moved careers.
With the way the economy is he had to do more & more for less & less which made his job ten times harder & paid less. On top of all that there's the BS politics that goes on at a dealers between salesman/managers/section managers etc
It just isn't the job it used to be with deals on trade ins/kick backs/back handers cash deals etc
Just like everything else the companies have things nailed to the wall so hard you can't fart without them knowing & they have rinsed it so bad there is only small change left for those that do the graft.

Shakeel · 12 Apr 2011 at 11:23

jobs are hard to come by see if you can sort your situation out. hope it owrks out for you

[TW]Fox · 12 Apr 2011 at 12:37

Very long hours, lots of pressure, very low basic, lots of politics and in-fighting.

I am passionate about cars but wouldn't do it.

GinG · 12 Apr 2011 at 12:48

Shakeel said:
jobs are hard to come by see if you can sort your situation out. hope it owrks out for you

Its getting to the point of not having the choice, supposidly not performing even though I have grown the sales month over month, up to 40% in the last few weeks, bringing in £200k new/developed business since January etc etc...

Bonus being cut because of this non performance...even though I only get it based on performance. Supposidly not making the effort...couldnt make a meeting on Saturday due to spreading my nanas ashes - I should have tried to re-arrange, work around the meeting?!?!

Also over night they have cut back hours from 8 - 5 to now 12 - 4...just going to give them the finger tomorrow and just get whatever job I can. I don't need to put up with all this?

Atrox Moris · 12 Apr 2011 at 12:50

tigerstyle · 12 Apr 2011 at 12:51

[TW]Fox;18885107 said:
Very long hours, lots of pressure, very low basic, lots of politics and in-fighting.
.

Not everywhere, what you describe sounds like a badly run dealership, but yes, there are idiots everywhere these days!

wez130 · 12 Apr 2011 at 15:20

any good at cooking? I need a 2nd chef lol

[TW]Fox · 12 Apr 2011 at 19:55

tigerstyle said:
Not everywhere, what you describe sounds like a badly run dealership

That is about 95% of the market, yes

And you wont get into Merc as a newbie - you'll need previous experience. Start with Ford.

MeEsH BaKkA · 12 Apr 2011 at 20:38

Im not too sure on what main dealers pay but my dad's sales man is on £250 a week basic with £100 per motor comission and he shifts around 25 a month.