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I was in car sales for a decade and quickly became top 1% (more like 0.2% really) in the country at it. I only did that after first wasting 6 months being a bit

I was in car sales for a decade and quickly became top 1% (more like 0.2% really) in the country at it. I only did that after first wasting 6 months being a bit slimy first. You can't really succeed in sales when you're dealing with all the drama you created by being slimy in the first place. Eventually I realized I had to be as good as possible, and as responsive as possible, so customers would work with me for sure and not accidentally land with a bad salesperson elsewhere.

AlwaysRock 2y ago
Eh. Depends on the type of sales. Plenty of sales is one off sales that requires no long term relationship building. I know lots of incredibly slimy sales people who great at making money. They just dont have a ton of repeat customers.
- talldatethrow 2y ago
  I'd say that car sales is definitely one of the ones that don't require long term relationship building to be successful. Enough customers are putting in leads and walking through the door that you can make good money just working those. But drama does and will catch up with you just the same.
Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
> Eventually I realized I had to be as good as possible, and as responsive as possible The first time I was car shopping, I was appalled at how unresponsive some car salesmen could be. It was 2003. I was 20 years old, looking to buy something used in the $3-7000 range. I didn't have my heart set on any specific car, I just knew I wanted a 4-door sedan with air conditioning, and that I cared more about fuel economy and reliability than performance. I mean, I was only making $11/hr, and was probably going to be moving out of my parents' within the next year or two, so needed something that wouldn't cost me a ton of money. I told each dealer that, and most of them took me to cars that met the criteria I was looking for, but one of them started off by showing me a $12,000 Pontiac Sunfire Convertible and started raving about the incredible Alpine stereo heat unit. 2-door, no A/C, and way above my price range. I was like "Uh...no, not at all what I asked for" and re-iterated my criteria, and added that while a nice stereo is nice, I'd also not spend the money on that right now. He then tried to sell me a PT Cruiser, which again was way outside my price range. I said "Thank you for wasting my time" and left. I have no idea what that guy was thinking. My brother sold cars for a short period of time and said that either he thought "Psh, this guy is 20 years old, he doesn't know what he wants, I'm gonna sell him something he thinks will be a girl magnet", or it's possible, though very unlikely, that they didn't actually have something that fit what I wanted. The dealer I eventually bought from, after telling him what I was looking for, asked "Manual or automatic?". I said I didn't care, and he showed me two cars that fit my criteria, test drove one of them, and drove it home. Owned that car for 13 years and 120,000 miles.
nunez 2y ago
Car sales is very different from software sales. Very little margin for what's usually a one-time or few-times purchase, so you've gotta rely on volume. Pressure sales thrive on low margin. Software sales are super high margin, and big money software always requires implementation work. Long-lasting relationships are ultra important. The sales process is much slower and longer, but you get stickier customers at the end of it that keep coming back. Sales people also don't need as many deals to meet their quota...at least at first. Granted, there are still some, umm, characters, that sell software, but many of them are great people who work hard for their keep. My only gripe with the industry is sports. I just can't with all that. That said, sales folks totally expect SEs to know nothing about the sportsball; another reason why this gig is awesome!

AlwaysRock 2y ago

Eh. Depends on the type of sales. Plenty of sales is one off sales that requires no long term relationship building. I know lots of incredibly slimy sales people who great at making money. They just dont have a ton of repeat customers.

talldatethrow 2y ago
I'd say that car sales is definitely one of the ones that don't require long term relationship building to be successful. Enough customers are putting in leads and walking through the door that you can make good money just working those. But drama does and will catch up with you just the same.

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago

> Eventually I realized I had to be as good as possible, and as responsive as possible The first time I was car shopping, I was appalled at how unresponsive some car salesmen could be. It was 2003. I was 20 years old, looking to buy something used in the $3-7000 range. I didn't have my heart set on any specific car, I just knew I wanted a 4-door sedan with air conditioning, and that I cared more about fuel economy and reliability than performance. I mean, I was only making $11/hr, and was probably going to be moving out of my parents' within the next year or two, so needed something that wouldn't cost me a ton of money. I told each dealer that, and most of them took me to cars that met the criteria I was looking for, but one of them started off by showing me a $12,000 Pontiac Sunfire Convertible and started raving about the incredible Alpine stereo heat unit. 2-door, no A/C, and way above my price range. I was like "Uh...no, not at all what I asked for" and re-iterated my criteria, and added that while a nice stereo is nice, I'd also not spend the money on that right now. He then tried to sell me a PT Cruiser, which again was way outside my price range. I said "Thank you for wasting my time" and left. I have no idea what that guy was thinking. My brother sold cars for a short period of time and said that either he thought "Psh, this guy is 20 years old, he doesn't know what he wants, I'm gonna sell him something he thinks will be a girl magnet", or it's possible, though very unlikely, that they didn't actually have something that fit what I wanted. The dealer I eventually bought from, after telling him what I was looking for, asked "Manual or automatic?". I said I didn't care, and he showed me two cars that fit my criteria, test drove one of them, and drove it home. Owned that car for 13 years and 120,000 miles.

nunez 2y ago

Car sales is very different from software sales. Very little margin for what's usually a one-time or few-times purchase, so you've gotta rely on volume. Pressure sales thrive on low margin. Software sales are super high margin, and big money software always requires implementation work. Long-lasting relationships are ultra important. The sales process is much slower and longer, but you get stickier customers at the end of it that keep coming back. Sales people also don't need as many deals to meet their quota...at least at first. Granted, there are still some, umm, characters, that sell software, but many of them are great people who work hard for their keep. My only gripe with the industry is sports. I just can't with all that. That said, sales folks totally expect SEs to know nothing about the sportsball; another reason why this gig is awesome!