Describe the career of a car salesman?

depends on foot traffic and how many salesmen/women the dealer has. the amount of stock used and new cars on the lot. and whether you can do some bullsheet to sell the car. some dealers a small hourly fee and commission some just commission. some dealers have salesman who've worked their for years who have the gift of selling and have regular customers who send friends and relatives. I know a salesman since i'm in the auto business (not selling) he makes a six figure salary but his dealership has 7 makes of cars has been with the same dealer for over 20 years and has the gift of selling and his customers have his home and cell number

Car sales is as unreliable as it gets. You're only as good as your last month's sales figures. When things go good you make a lot of money. When you have a bad month you make nothing.

If something like a recession hits people stop buying cars. Ask any car salesman what it was like 2007-2010.

Standing around in the dealership or on the lot with other sales guys waiting for "ups" to walk onto the lot as you each take your turn. In fleet sales, you sit inside as clients basically lease/buy the car online and only show up to pick the car up. Margins are not high on new cars, it's a volume business.

If you are going to college and will have your BA in Finance, you can certainly find a better job.

It's hard to paint one picture of the business and the lifestyle. I've known salesmen who made $250K-plus, I've known some who washed-out after only a month.

It's hard, long, boring, etc... especially that first year. You're doing nothing but making contacts and trying anything to bring people in the door. If you sit around and wait on "ups", you make minimum wage unless you work at a REALLY high-volume lot. There are some days when you see four customers, some days when you sit around staring at the phone.

As mentioned above, some dealers will overhire, and expect that most of the newbies will go away after a month on minimum wage. If they hire five, they might expect one to stick around and learn more. Usually, they'll offer a "minimum salary" for the first month or two... but, there's always a catch... they're not going to just hand someone a salary for sitting around.

Dealership politics can be worse than those in the White House. At one I worked at, the owner (a banker who might visit the lot twice in a year's time) had a son who did nothing but travel around in a $200K motorhome and buy auction cars for the lot. He would bring home one, maybe two, cars back with him. Seriously, that was his job... travelling around the region to buy one car at a time. His sister (a "silver spoon" moron) would come in, take new cars off the lot to drive around for the day (this was a Lexus dealer, mind you), and yell at the staff who questioned her. She cost me a good sale once, because the young couple coming in to look at a nice used vehicle were surprised to find that Miss Silver Spoon had taken the car for the day. How do you explain that?

You deal with all types... and 95% of the folks who come on to the lot think you're out to screw them over. So, you develop thick skin quickly, or you leave with your tail tucked between your legs. I actually had a guy run over my foot speeding off when I told him we didn't have a certain model he wanted on the lot.

I was successful because I spent my "empty time" learning other aspects of the business... F&I, management from the tower's perspective, how to structure deals, etc. I learned about the back office stuff, too, which was how to file paperwork, how to work with the DMV, etc. I built up a customer base through hard work, saved my money if I had a good month (you'd be surprised how young salesmen want to blow their money on the dumbest stuff, and act like they'll make they much every month without fail), and always asked for references and referrals if they liked me. I was near a HUGE college campus (and was graduating from that school myself), so I worked with the marketing team to develop programs for "first-time" new car buyers that were graduating and looking forward to their first new car. I knew I wanted to be in F&I, and worked to get there.

Don't expect to be treated well by the staff your first month. They've seen plenty of youngsters come and go.

You'll know within a few weeks' time whether or not it's for you.

long hours, pay based on sales. Anyone can sell cars to someone coming in to buy one. Dealers hire more salesman than they need and then pressure them to find customers to bring in to buy.

Often salesman are hired because they figure everyone can sell cars to friends & family. And when they run out of friends & family, you cant sell enough.

Your pay is higher the more you overcharge people and get them to buy overpriced crap like extended warranties.

I couldn't do it because I didn't like the conflict.

So instead, I become a curbstone dealer & bought & sold my own cheap cars on the side of the road.

I felt much better because I knew my prices were low and they were getting good deals and I was also making money. Doing what I did is harder nowdays because other dealers really dislike curbers and so they have laws against it and stuff. They make it sound like all curbstoners are crooks. I never was in my 12 years.

http://www.stopcurbstoning.com/