Drove by local Ford dealer Friday on our errand route. Stopped to see if there were any 17's on the lot. Sure enough, three F250's. Predictable enough, a salesman soon appeared, a young guy. He wanted to know what I had for a truck now, and I responded that we had sold our RV hauler, but could use our Kenworth in the meantime. His response was "What is a Kenworth? Never heard of one." My wife could not believe it. Not a truck guy I guess. Should have asked what he sold previously- maybe it was knitting supplies or the like. I'm not sure I have the patience or energy to educate someone at this stage of my life.
However, ended up sitting in a Platinum, so easy to understand the level of excitement these trucks generate. Totally awesome!

 

I understand. It really bums me out going on the lot and the salesmen having not the slightest clue what is going on.

Really makes me want to slap on a name tag and sell them on my off days on Friday. They sell themselves, but man, if you had a guy that wasn't pushy and knew the product! Home. Run.

 

Back when I was buying my 2012 F350, my salesman went into this big long explanation about how the 6.7 had spark plugs because all engines have them and it couldn't run without them. I found a different dealer.

 

Wow that is just amazing. you think these kids that are trying to sell a $55K plus truck or higher would get out the little information device out of their pocket and do a little research. They would keep the dunce hat at bay that way.

 

So a guy selling light duty trucks doesn't know what a Kenworth is?

Not sure it's worth getting all worked up over.

At least he didn't try to BS you by saying how much more the 250 could pull over the KW.

 

Did you know that the 6.2 gasser has the same HP as the 6.7 diesel, but the 6.2 only has "700 something torque". That's what a salesman told me when I test drove both engines a few weeks ago. I just went along with him and acted surprised...

 

My salesman thankfully was smart enough to realize he just needed to sit down, shut up, and enter the order codes I had written down.

 

basically the way mine went. a 17 hit the lot, i drove it, told them exactly what i wanted to order, negotiated then ordered a few days later over phone, no deposit req'd. Nothing frustrates me more than someone who pretends to know about something they dont.

 

While you're paying $55k on a truck, my avg commission is $380. I focus on truck sales, but the guys selling Fusions really isn't going to be out too many deals by not knowing what he's talking about. You can't expect top notch sales folks when you're willing to drive several hours to think you're saving money at another dealership. It's the downside of capitalism when there is too much competition.

 

I do not negotiate as hard when I am dealing with someone that is educated in their product but I will push for every penny if I have to educate them...

 

This.


And this.

When I test drove the ONE super duty I've still only seen, the salesman didn't know what a dually was.....


Frantz, you have a difficult job. I think 90% of those of us on forums can understand that.

Knowing when to volunteer information and when to hold back is a skill that is learned and forever being fine tuned.

 

Think I might have met his brother...

Stopped by a Ford dealer and of course the sales person arrives. Asked to see the F 350's SRW. We end up at the other end of the line looking at a F 250, at first I don't notice, then I see the shorter bed and note its a F 250, tell the sales person I want to see the F 350's.

I am told the ONLY diff between a F250 and 350 is the dual wheels of the F 350, other than that they are the same truck, "350 means Dual rear wheels!"


OK thanks I will keep looking...

 

Being a commercial pilot I hope small airline pilots don't have the same attitude. When you choose a profession it is your job to be the best you can possibly be at it. Selling Fusions or Ferraris it shouldn't matter. In today's world of YouTube it took me about 2 hours to learn almost everything there was to learn about the Super Duties. When I went to buy my truck the salesman jokingly said I knew more than the guy teaching the classes on them. I didn't earn a single penny knowing everything I could about the truck. However I take pride in knowing what my money is buying and why I want that. If more car salesmen took pride in their work, the sales process we are all FORCED to go through would be a much better experience.

Done with rant now!!!

 

Eh, First, most people don't "choose" a car sales job, and fewer make it a lifelong profession. With internet pricing and MOST customers caring more about price and getting a good deal than anything else, why bother? Seriously consider that. And if no one else knows the product, the normal guys don't have any motivation to know it better. You said it well, you're the one investing the money. The dealership is trying to make a few bucks and they split a percentage with us. Most shops make more in service than sales. We just exist to feed service when. Never once have I had a customer say "I really need help and if you save me the pain of buying the wrong truck I'll let you charge me full sticker", or anything even close. The norm is "I want you to work as hard as you can for as little as possible and if it's not absolutely perfect I'll still give you a bad survey". The reality is the less a customer knows the happier they are in the transaction. The very demanding folks do often get the best deals and still are unhappy. Not that I promote being lazy but the nature of the consumer does make laziness a more profitable stance to take. Most people will continue to shop after getting their answers. And the next shop will be able to beat me by $100 and why waste time going back, after all you insisted they called it a "best price".

The sales process has to occur, because if it didn't, 90% of people would buy somewhere else. The vehicles really are commodities and generally it's the same in any given region. If you need to shop around that means there is a slim chance you're coming back. No one likes to hear "You were the best salesperson we worked with by the other dealership beat your best price by $500" because it means we failed to take you through the process.

 

Frantz, with trucks now reaching the price the manufactures are demanding the sales people have to become more knowledgable. I ordered a truck and cancelled that order on the simple premise that my salesperson for one was totally unknowledgeable about the product and he couldn't return a call to save his life. If 2 hours of YouTube is too much for a car salesman then they need to quit and move on to another profession. And if they were a real salesman they would understand that knowledge is power in the deal making process. The more value I can show a customer, the higher dollar amount I can make them pay. Trust me I sold college books to professors for a couple years. Nothing is harder in the world to do as professors think every book on earth is not as good as the one they would write.

BTW I also handed my sales guy $100 tip on the side since he did everything he said he would do in the process.