Car salesman used to spend hours on the showroom floor convincing customers of the benefits of a particular car in order to expedite purchases.  However, the Internet has completely changed the way most car sales people do business.  The success of today’s car sales person depends largely on his/her interpersonal skills and ability to facilitate a sale rather than coerce a sale.

Historically, customers used to arrive at a dealership unprepared and it was up to the salesperson to convince the customer of the benefits of one automobile over another.  Today, the process is flip-flopped.  Customers arrive at the dealership armed with information, finding the car first, and then the dealership.

The new face of auto sales involves agents that act more as “product specialists” that help customers find the right car and make the right choice, rather than giving customers the hard sell.

With websites like Edmunds.com and TrueCar.com, customers can learn the price of a car before arriving at a dealership.  In addition, customers can get updates and competing offers on their smartphones while standing in the dealership.  The average customer spends 11 hours online researching cars and over three hours offline researching.  This research has led to a profit drop in new-car sales from $1,531 per car in 2002 to $1,283 in 2012.

Many dealerships are now paying their employees a flat rate with a bonus for hitting sales targets.   This has allowed many dealerships to incorporate a no-haggle policy that customers really appreciate.  Many dealerships lost sales associates when they switched from no-commission.

Discussion Questions:

How and why has the role of the automobile salesperson changed?

 

Source: Christina Rogers, Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2013