I’m shopping for my kid. Went to a store in person. I know, I know that’s a big no no. Eh, sometimes it’s easier and less time consuming, especially if the dealership is a 5minute drive from my house. And I get a complimentary frappu-mocha-sugar-cino out of it.
Conversation went something like
Me: I want to lease this car you have, will you go 15% off MSRP deal discount?
Sales Rep: Oh we don’t negotiate like that here, we need to put together an entire deal.
Me: Yeah well the entire deal is predicated upon your discount off MSRP. Everything else is more or less set by either the manufacturer, the leasing company or the government. The main variable is your discount. Everything else falls into place to get a payment.
Sales Rep: Leasing is very complex and we need to put together and entire deal sheet to come up with a monthly payment. I know many clients get confused by what they read on the internet. There’s a lot of false information on how financing a lease works.
(Hear that everyone? You’re spreading lies here!!!)
On it went for a few more minutes before he got a manger to talk to me, who to his credit, was cool and was very easy to work with.
I’m not sure if the sales rep is just a moron and he really doesn’t understand how anything works. Or if that’s his sales tactic. Or, now that consumers have access to all this info, the new tactic is to pretend like the info is incorrect? I could be persuaded either way.
In regards to the topic:
The rep has a vested interest in selling for top dollar in the absence of volume.
(volume’s great but carries it’s own set of risks but that’s another conversation)
The sales manager in this instance just wants the stat.
Yet your entire post shows that it was not easier to go there in person as opposed to a deal email to the SM directly? That is assuming you had the SM email address or then received it after you blew past the “Internet Sales Consultant” that asked you how your day was going in their initial email response from the CRM server.
Most (not all) line staff are morons as you stated, and are nothing like most of the dealer employees on LHer that know likely more than the managers.
Could the salesperson have been smoother about how they handled it, yes. But it seems like the salesperson was doing what they were trained to do. Land you on a particular car (which they did) and then present numbers. Just saying “Yes, we will do 15% off” will get you chewed out by management since it goes against the sales process. And it isn’t some tAcTiC to get you to pay more, it is so the process is faster and smoother.
It’s a maybe. Lots of options out there, and no rush.
Not sure what brand it was, it was brought out to me. I’m not an aficionado, they all kinda taste the same to me.
I don’t want more variables. I want ONE variable. I didn’t ask for a quote. I asked a yes/no question. Will you take this amount off MSRP. It’s about as straight forward as it gets.
Some dealerships get it. Some still play the 4-square bullshit. This guy is still of the old school I guess.
That is why the salesperson wanted to put everything on paper. You are just kicking tires. There is a difference between a customer asking “Will you do 15% off MSRP” before even seeing a worksheet and telling “I will buy right now at 15% off MSRP”. There is still an objection to overcome in the first scenario whereas there isn’t in the second.
Pretty sure the salesperson was doing exactly what he/she is trained to do which is push buttons on a keyboard based on the managers’ directions. This is why I go straight to the manager via e-mail when I know my ask is not going to be well received by the floor staff. And even then, I make sure I cross my T’s and dot all of my I’s in my e-mail to let them know what incentives/rebates I qualify for.
