Telemarketers

[Ltlabner]

I test drove it at the dealer and then went home and bought it on the internet.

So you aren't really avoiding the salesmen experience, you are avoiding the negotating experience. You still had to engage the salesman, unless you wrote your request to test drive out on paper and pretended to be mute.

Car salesmen can be an interesting bunch. I've run the gammut from horrable to actually very good. You definatley have to sift through them. I agree 100% with those who do their research on the net, with friends, Consumer Reports, Kelly, etc and using the sales guys as a "fact check" and too dig for other info. Generally it's the older guys who've sold cars for a long time that know how to dig for what your needs are, ask questions to determine how youd use the car, etc that are the most helpfull.

User groups online for autos can be very helpfull. I do find the folks who go on them and totally flip out ranting that their car is the worst car ever made and then post a 3 page rant with every last flaw totally annoying. I mean, you can easily spot the unreasonable people when 45 people post about one/a couple of flaws but overall are happy with XYZ auto and then 2 lunitics have nothing but problems and freak out. Maybe they got the two lemons ever built, but sometimes I get the fealing they are the types of customer who wouldn't be happy if the car was a gift to them.

[westofyou]

So you aren't really avoiding the salesmen experience, you are avoiding the negotating experience. You still had to engage the salesman, unless you wrote your request to test drive out on paper and pretended to be mute.

No, actually I scheduled the test drive via email and I went and drove it, and then went home and bought it off the web from them, didn't have to hem and haw with anyone, nor pretend to be mute, or say the word "No" more then 1 time. I didn't have to discuss a thing until I signed the papers and that was me requesting a bike rack for it.

Buying cars is not something I do yearly, nor every 5 years, so I knew what I wanted and I wasn't interested in anything else, and I still drive it 7 years later.

My father bought a BMW on EBay, it's a great car, just great.

Easiest big transaction he ever made.

[Ltlabner]

Story unrelated to telemarkerts.

Had a customer call up wanting a particular bearing type. Swore up and down he wanted a type of material I knew wouldn't work in his application. I asked him enough questions to know that it was going to fail dramatically. After pointing out that the material wouldn't work, and recommending a different bearing material (which coinidentley was a cost savings) he still wanted what he wanted.

I finally sent him samples of the product he requested, along with a letter reiterating that the bearings would not work but that as a good will gesture we were providing testing samples, tech data, etc. I also went ahead and sent a few samples of the material that I knew would work. I fully documented everything in our CRM package.

Sure enough, they burst into flames. Then he called up hotter than a wet hen that our bearings had failed.

But he knew exactly what he wanted and found it by reading our website.

I'm not trying to make a sly point with this story (I know theres a world of difference between a technical machine component and a DVD player). Just all of this talk about customers knowing exactly what they want reminded me of what is now a pretty humrous "stupid customer trick" story.

[Dom Heffner]

I'm not trying to make a sly point with this story (I know theres a world of difference between a technical machine component and a DVD player). Just all of this talk about customers knowing exactly what they want reminded me of what is now a pretty humrous "stupid customer trick" story.

You are preaching to the choir with me. My whole business revolves around sales and if we let the customer decide, they'd always have the cheapest thing and be putting themselves at substantial risk.

As with everything, it comes down to distinctions. You may be smarter than the sales person, and you may not be. If he knows more than you, you need him. If not, then you don't.

To say that you don't need a salesperson, ever- that's a pretty bold statement. There's no way you can be that smart on every single line of goods in the world.

Take insurance for example. They let people buy this on the internet. Are you kidding me? People have no idea what they are giving up when they go for the low price. I've talked with hundreds of people who don't even understand what their policies cover.

I can usually walk into Best Buy and have a 50% chance of knowing more than the sales person. I've had some educate me and I've had some who, if I listened to their advice, would have blown some money on something I didn't need.

I normally just say, "There's a television (Or any other product) that all of you talk about having for yourself...which one is it?"

[SteelSD]

Similarly, I made my point of saying that salesmen in the consumer industry are, in the vast majority of instances, not necessary. We live in an era of generally uniform pricing. Every Best Buy across the country sells at, generally, the same price -- a salesman there isn't going to let you haggle about a TV or try to get a better price than is being advertised.

Actually, Best Buy will negotiate price on higher-dollar items. They know that online options as well as brick-and-mortar "warehousing" options exist (see: Sam's Club). In fact, I've already purchased a TV as a company contest prize at our local Best Buy and got it for $150 less than the advertised and listed price with no "price matching" ad needed. You just have to know who to talk to and what to say.

And I certainly can't hold it against anyone if they choose to avoid salespeople altogether. To each his own. But I feel I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't at least attempt to find out what a salesperson could do for me prior to making a purchase.

[Caveat Emperor]

I'm currious CE, do you like the process of talking to sales people and negotiating a price for a car? Or do you prefer the Saturn model where you walk in, the price is the price and you pick out the car as if it was a walkman on a shelf?

Depends.

On a new car, I'd rather just have the price be on the sticker and pay it. Mostly thats because the dealer's pay a certain amount in invoice for the car and there's usually a basement price that he is absolutely unwilling to go beneath.

On a used car, I'd much rather haggle over price. Generally speaking, there is a lot more flexibility on price and the dealers are as concerned with turning the lot over as they are with getting the best price for every used car that comes in.

When I bought my car new last year, I basically just went around town asking each dealer to quote me their best price. I asked each salesman "You're certain this is the lowest price you can give me? Because I'm going to take this as your final offer, if you can go lower, now is the time." and when they affirmed that, I walked away if I had a better deal on the table elsewhere. Any dealer that called back to continue dealing, I politely declined and referred back to their agreeing that they'd already cut me the best deal they could. I let that sit, then asked for their final figure. I ended up going with the dealer whose sales manager called back, apologizing, and coming in under everyone else.

The process took about a month, but I think it was well worth it and I ended up with the exact car I wanted at a price that I think was more than fair.