I don’t understand why someone would reach out to a dealer like you that’s active on here and not start out with “hey, saw you on LH”.
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Well the leads are round robin so it’s actually by luck they get assigned to me.
Customers are shopping and might not know I work at that location. End of the day I’m fully understanding that people shop to get the best deal. So doesn’t bother me
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Just seems silly. If I was in the market for a Toyota in Ca, my first step would be PMing you here.
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I would imagine most sales people hate this website to be honest…
Most sales positions make their money based off gross profits which if they are getting a deal from this website than profit is non existent.
Not only that but I’m willing to bet customers who are familiar with this site and go into a dealership don’t know how to reasonably negotiate and talk with a salesperson.
Most probably act like their shit don’t stink and they are entitled to X discount because some random Joe Shmo on this crazy website got it lol.
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From my limited experiences with working with a few sales people, they are generally more receptive after you close a deal and know that you will refer more customers to them because of the good deal you were able to negotiate. Now it probably hurts their ceiling of what they can make on a per deal basis but at least they will have a better shot at hitting month end sales goals etc…
I think what makes the difference between a good sales person and a bad is, the good sales person understands this is not a short distance run but a long one which requires cultivating relationships, hitting sale volumes etc…
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Go check out this thread. Mostly car salespeople…
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Your saying that based off a customers perspective but not the salespersons perspective.
A lot of customers feel that way but the reality is that there is no loyalty in the auto business.
Most customers won’t bat an eye going with another dealership even if they liked the salesperson if it means they can save $10-15 per month.
On a lease hacker deal, the sales person will make a “flat / mini” which is average $50-100.
Imagine selling 4-5 cars a week and only taking $200-400.
New cars are not that profitable to begin with so even on regular customers it’s not uncommon to get a flat.
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Don’t disagree with you, its definitely a tough business to be in. I commend those who are able to battle the long hours and the number of tire kicking customers that are around.
“Hondas don’t lease well” so I usually close out LH customers. I can’t chase a leasehackr score on a calculator; some customers won’t pull the trigger on a great deal because of that factor alone. Alas they will have to get a Honda Junior QX50000. I usually know they are a LH customer when they say “I can’t get the numbers to line up on my calculator.” I will say the LH customers are usually the most understanding when I say I am going to pass on trying to move forward with making a deal.
Edit: Would work with the LH community all day over this person who says they are getting a 2020 Civic LX for $17,500. “I have a cash offer of $17500 for the LX that includes car title registration license doc fees no availability for negotiations we bring the cash we pay you we sign the paperwork we shake hands we drive.Tanase”
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Part that bugs me the most is when they are using my website to negotiate my own store. Asking another sales person to match my numbers. (Happened today)
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Why not just working with you? So dumb…
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What an idiot. Maybe they’ll see this thread and speak up as to why they thought that was a good idea.
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Isn’t the first rule of leasehackr, to not talk about leasehackr? I certainly don’t disclose my secrets at the stealership, if anyone asks I just say I found the infos on the interwebs.
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I’m in sales for Lexus. Bring me a commitment to buy a car I’ll get a deal done. I send referral money out as well.
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Are you saying that a customer reached out to a sales person in your dealership asking to match (not beat) a deal you posted here in LH? Isn’t that good for you dealership that you’re anyway getting the sale? I’m finding it difficult to understand why this is perceived as offensive.
(Edit: I misunderstood this as though they were assigned a different sales person even though they contacted you or quoted your name. Didn’t realize that the ‘first lead’ would be that other sales person in this case)
Maybe they were assigned to that person per that round-robin rule you mentioned. Maybe they just thought that is the right way to get that deal you posted.
From a buyer’s perspective:
Imagine me, a LH member, liked a deal you posted, and if I’ve never testdriven the car, I visit a dealership - preferably yours, as I found a deal you posted in LH, and then decide this is the car for me.
I can’t just walk away after the test drive, the salesperson makes an initial (usually exorbitant) offer. When I counter with a reasonable, researched price, he laughs on my face to say my ‘asking price’ is impossible and unrealistic as it’d mean heavy losses for the dealership, in front of my friend.
Even at this situation, is it unacceptable if I correct them saying I know confidently that there are sales made at this price and that is the price I’m willing to pay? The obvious next question would be asking how can I prove it / do I have a quote - at this time, referencing that your own dealership made this and showing the LH post is unacceptable? The customer is calling out the BS but still offering to do business with your dealership. It’s not pretending to be oversmart, it’s just showing that they’re not gullible. Why is this considered offensive?
Anyway, what’s your suggestion on how a LH member - customer is to behave in such a situation?
Why would you go to someone completely different than the sales person that is offering that deal? Even though most of these deals are “minis” we don’t work for free.
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It’s incredibly screwed up. While it means nothing to you, how would you feel putting in countless hours of work for someone else to get paid off of it?
Not everyone gets LH pricing and if they did my store and Cody’s stores would go out of business. I’m not sure how it works at Cody’s dealership, but if anyone came into the showroom and worked one of my Bolt deals with another salesperson / manager they would be laughed out of the showroom. I’m the only one with the ability to do my deals, which is why I post them.
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Yes. Taking the deal out of @Cody_Carter’s hands and into another salespersons pocket is very good for him… 
And the odds of what you said happening (working with a salesperson at the same dealership as him before contact) is typically not the case.
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Isn’t it obvious? Why don’t you contact @Cody_Carter and setup an appointment for the test drive?
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Hmmm, I think I misunderstood a few things and now I realize my comment doesn’t convey what I intended - my bad! Let me clarify…
We put leasehacker customers into our sales rotation so the salespeople love it… A great way to pad the salespersons sales numbers is to get a few hacker deals every month.
Part that bugs me the most is when they are using my website to negotiate my own store. Asking another sales person to match my numbers. (Happened today)
For some reason, I put these comments together and misunderstood that ALL your leads (including contacts via LH) also have to go through the round-robin assignment of a salesperson - and was puzzled why it wasn’t okay for the LH price to be brought up with them. 
Yes. Taking the deal out of @Cody_Carter’s hands and into another salespersons pocket is very good for him…
Oh no, I thought that the dealership would still know it was HIS lead and that he would be compensated - since it was (I assumed) the dealership’s decision to assign salespeople on a round-robin manner.
While it means nothing to you, how would you feel putting in countless hours of work for someone else to get paid off of it?
I respect what you (@ethanrs), @Cody_Carter and many others in LH do and would be more than willing to support you by ensuring your leads are rightly projected to your dealership, thereby converting to compensation. Didn’t mean anything to suggest taking away from that is okay, and I think the ‘it means nothing to you’ comment is a little judgemental here.
I’m a first-time car buyer and I just didn’t fully understand how the first-lead is attributed. I was asking a genuine question to know what the right process is.
Isn’t it obvious? Why don’t you contact @Cody_Carter and setup an appointment for the test drive?
^ This - is what I was looking for. I guess the takeaway here is to NOT reach out to the dealership directly - even to schedule a test-drive - and do that through your LH contact instead from the beginning.
I’ve noticed that some threads like Cody’s and Ethan’s have a ’ Do Not Contact Dealership Direct’ text - I think it helps to clarify for the sake of newbies, to reach out to them directly even if they aren’t decided and offer a test-drive.
Thanks all for the insight.
Back on the topic, do you think maybe the buyer in that case also didn’t understand this nuance behind how a salesperson is compensated based on first-lead and a TD accidentally attributes the lead to another salesperson? (Give it a benefit of doubt)
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