Well said deacjrt. 1956MarkII (Jeff) is a great assest to this site and the automobile industry as a whole. Jeff is a role model in how people should treat each other with respect and honesty.

Thank you for all you do 1956MarkII, it is very much appreiated

 

Dittos

 

IT's not $120,000 but you can spend these accolades all over the industry.......I nominate Jeff for the FTE Hall of Fame........Live long and prosper..........

 

Wow.

Folks, I never intended this to turn into a "thums-up for Jeff" thread, but thank you all, just the same. I'm a little overwhelmed!

I've often thought how cool it would be to have a FTE Convention, where we could all get together and meet. If I ever hit the Lotto, you now know one of the first things I'll be arranging (I hope no one's afraid to fly!). I really hope I get to meet all of you in person in someday; saying "thanks" electronically just doesn't cut it for me.

 

Permit me to go off on a tangent- - you may have touched on a great idea. There's an owners group for the brand of boat I own (Crownline), and they have many regional rallies and a national rally. If you could tie it in with something truck related (show, pull, race) and maybe somewhere warm in the winter (Vegas?), it might draw. Seeing a couple hundred Ford Trucks take over an area would be quite cool. And you wouldn't need to win the lottery- - attendees pay for their own travel & lodging, and tickets for the event; and then we get FMC and aftermarket suppliers to donate a bunch of stuff (Free Banks kits??) for door prizes. I'm not voluneerring either one of us, maybe someone with more time on their hands could pick up the idea and run with it??

 

No problem mark, I work at earnhardt ford. I sell used/new cars. We do get paid on a commission. The lowest we get paid on ANY sale is $250. That is called a "Mini". My yearly income ALSO includes a $10,000 Christmas bonus.
My TAKE HOME including my yearly bonus AFTER taxes in right around 90-95,000.

Also, mark I didnt mean to say YOU are full of crap. What I meant was that "the customer comes first" attidude is something I have not heard of in a while. If its true, I applaud you. I would love to go to a dealer that has that kind of philosophy. I still care about my customers ALOT. I want them to be satisfied with their purchase. I just dont beleive that ANY dealer will sacrafice profit to meet anyones needs.

By the way, regarding my other posts about me not knowing when the 2005 fords come in is because, this is my FIRST year at this dealership. I never sold fords before. I used to sell dodges. THe new dodge models always come in around july. Hope this clears it up.

 

I tell ya, I'm in the wrong line of work!! Hey Jeff- Y'all doing any hiring??

 

HAH!! You don't think I'M making that kind of money, do you? Cut that to a third, and now you've got a pretty good idea what my W-2 looks like!

bronco-

e-mail me your name and address some time, and I'll send you some info on our dealership. You absolutely will not believe the way we do business- it's unlike any other dealership in the country. I have copies of about 8 newspaper/ magazine articles that have been written about out owner over the years. Interesting reading.

 

I am a salesman, have been one for 10 + years, 2 of which was as a car sales man, which is how i learned to do sales, it is not an easy profession to be in, everyday has its highs and lows, you might say its like riding a emotional roller coaster. not many people respect your position, especially a car sales man.
i am currently an indepentent sales rep. in the construction industry for the past 8yrs, i represent 8-10 differant lines of equipment, all commission based, plus i'm a jack of all trades, master of none. and i have know the spec's and safety features of each peice of equipment that i sell.

i just want to give a little insight on what makes up a salesman.

first, they must "enjoy" dealing with all kinds of people, from the very rich, to the average joe covered with mud and concrete dust, and everyone inbetween. race is not a factor when it comes down to your credit score or cash.
they have to have the "gift of gab" be able to hold a conversation on many levels, which means to able to tell a joke, resite a story, or recent events, inorder to be able start a relationship, or break the ice " and develop a certain amount of trust between buyer and seller.

next be able help the person decide what they want to buy, test drives, so on and so on... and have a good knowledge of the products they offer...
and on top of that be the middle man between buyer and management.and be on their feet day after day waiting for the next up.
and what about the people that come in just to kick the tires? you give them the same treatment as a buyer gets. you work long hours to make good money and it not a 9 to 5 either.
hmmmm its not sounding like a very easy job is it so far? well its not...its so easy to flame a salesman.

now heres some fuel to flame the fire.......


what products do you buy that, don't have a salesman some where in the picture? not one .for each truck sold, that means the factory has to have a worker build it, and that worker makes money doing so.. well i'm not going to give an economic's lesson here....hopefully you get the drift on that point.
you hope you make someone happy with a new set wheels, maybe a new friend in the process.
and lastly....Profit is not a dirty word! i don't work for free...
educate yourself to be a better buyer.

i take pride in my profession as a salesman.
go head and flame a salesperson.Its because you don't know any better.

Sorry about the rant, i can stand seeing someone flame a fellow salesman, when they don't "stand in our shoes".
Ray

 

Mark, when I'm ready to buy my new truck (I'm waiting till July) I will give you a call first. I would love to do business with your kind of dealership. You know Mark, you shoudl come out west, all the dealers out here pay real good money. I guess it has to do with teh population growth or something?? ANyway good luck and hopefully I can buy a truck from ya come july!!!

 

1. I've always thought it a little odd that you can wheel and deal on a car, but not a TV...make it all the same. Either negotiate on everything or don't.
2. I've worked at car dealers with my dad. He's a mechanic...and I was a teenager cleaning cars. I've gotten to know the sales folks there.
3. I'm now in the telecommunications field and my job used to take me to many different types of businesses, some car dealers...and lots of places with sales people.

From my experience, here's what I found out about people in sales:
1. You'll often find very greedy, sneaky and 'less than truthful' people that are naturally attracted to sales, for $$$.
2. You'll also find very nice people that you'd love to run into some day and do business with when you're ready to buy whatever product the guy/gal is selling.

What I know about the buyers. You'll basically find 3 types of buyers:
1. The buyer that did his homework, knows what he wants, what a reasonable price is and is fair in his negotiation with the salesman. Also is generally a nice person to deal with. Reasonable.
2. The buyer that doesn't know anything about the product and is looking for someone to help them. This type of buyer is 'sometimes' (not always) clueless and ill likely get screwed if they're unfortunate enough to run into a bad salesman.
3. The buyer that thinks he knows it all, thinks the salesman is an idiot, thinks the salesman makes a $8,000 commission on selling the ($9,000 Geo he's buying), is never satisfied, always complains because nothing is ever right and did I already say he thinks the dealer and the salesman are out to screw him no matter how far below invoice they go?

How many stories have we seen on TV about computer salesmen, car salesmen, etc...telling outrageous lies to get a person to buy something and then turn around and tell even more outrageous lies when the buyer finds out they got screwed? That's why you have people that complain about salesmen. It doesn't mean all salesmen are bad...just means we know for sure some are. I've ran across some real dirtbags in my days as a phone man...all the different businesses I've been to and seen them work...barf! You'd have to be there to know what I mean, know what I saw/heard.

Anyway, all one ever has to do is act like 1956MarkkII and people will instantly know what type of salesman you are. Unless of course you are buyer type number 3 listed above, in which case 1956MarkII is somehow out to screw you somehow....he's just gotta be lol I bought my truck from Jeff (1956MarkII) because he earned my business with his honesty, willingness to go above and beyond without me asking and of course the price. I drove over 500 miles to buy my truck from him. If you're taking heat for being a salesman and you know you're an honest salesman, then don't fret about it...maybe you're being ragged on by buyer type number 3...so don't worry about. People see those people for what they are (morons).

 

Good point. How many buyers respect the salesman's time? I do my homework and know what I want before talking to the salesman. My last 3 trucks didn't take an hour to close the sale combined because I did my duty as a buyer. Some *buyers* deserve to be flamed too.