Sales Knowlege!

Re: Experience with dealers:
"AAAargggh!"...
Nuff said?

 

The sales guy i'm working with knows little to nothing about the 2010s and he says so & doesn't mind saying I don't know but will try to find out which is a lot better than the snow job lots in sales do so I depend on you good folks to help me out - according to cars.com the 2009s have a "battery" (the 12 volt one) the 2010 has a battery with run down protection, does that mean no more (ok less) too low to use 12 volters !? - if so that is big news cause I routenely leave my car in my garage for days at a time

 

The saleswoman at Mossy Toyota Pacific Beach CA knew a lot about the 2010 Prius. She came fresh out of a class that had taught her a lot about the 2010 Prius models. When I was talking to her, she had her Toyota Prius class book in her hand, telling me about what she had learn in class. She was very much inform about the 2010 Prius models and explain things in detail. Talking with her was very delightful.

 

HI I sale t Toyota too.. I love this chat and tell customers about too.. I think most information you can get about a Prius is here.., as I tell customers I do not come on here to sell, but to learn..thanks stefcat:rockon:

 

My favorite two are:

The sales guy who, when I pointed out the 2010 Prius and asked if I could look at it said, "How'd you know it was a 2010? They look just like the 09."

The sales guy when I inquired when they would get in their first 2010 said, "Are you considering any other brands of cars other than Toyota? We sell many other brands."

 

Thanks for the kind words Blindguy.

Unfortunately, Toyota is a little slow on getting salespeople the info on this car. For instance, my "official" training on the Prius doesn't happen until the 15th. By then, I will have delivered off 6 of them. As far as pricing goes, I actually found the info on here by doing a google search before it was released to us through our traditional channels.

90% of the salespeople won't try and do a little homework beforehand, they would rather wait until it is furnished by Toyota. I don't agree with that philosophy. The least I can do if you are going to spend north of $25K with me is to have a little knowledge. In other words, I better know more about the product than the customer does. Maybe it is just that one thing, but at least it is more.

But, it is time to return the thanks. Believe it or not, I have learned many things from this site. Danny, the mods, and the many members have also taught me a thing or two about hypermiling, common problems to look for on trade ins, and to make a concerted effort to keep my customers more informed about where and when their cars are coming in.

Group hug anyone?

 

I also work at the dealership and just decided to get the 2010. I walked out of our 5 hour class and ordered one that day. I agree that we should /could be more educated about our products. What happens is a lot of the info is held back from us and our classes usually finish days before the release of the vehicle. :embarassed:
For example, a few of our guys just finished class yesterday when the Gen III was officially released here last Friday... :noidea:
The other thing is that if someone is studying a single particular car for a few months, you would expect that they know exact measurements in cubic feet for storage area, exact turning circle, etc... The salespeople on the other hand have to know a lot about every single car that we sell. Just something to keep in mind.

 

Having used Jabber as a saleperson ('use'd is the wrong word here, 'worked with' may be better), I an vouch for his in depth knowledge.

When I first started reading the posts here, about a month before joining and posting for the first time, I had already spoken, in person with a salesperson from about 10 local dealers. I was very leery at that point about trying to work with anyone new, as each one I spoke with seemed to know less than the guy before him, or simply make stuff up.

Speaking with Jabber was a breath of fresh air. He was the first to seem to have a good grasp about the car, and the ordering process. Some questions he did not know, which is fine, since he is human (no matter what you may have read here from other posts...)That said, the fact that he was able to admit to not knowing stuff, and would get back to me was a great sign...

Over the coming weeks, I built up a great feeling for him, and finally told him that I would like to get a car from him. He let me know what was happening every step of the way. Additionally, I know that from our offline conversations that some other salefolks on the bog were making up stuff that they claimed to be fact (about large incoming shipments, etc...) and even though he literally showed me on Dealer Daily that they were lying, he quietly kepy his mouth shut so as not to appear to picking on other salespeople.

This is something that is hard for many of us to do on this blog, and made me really respect Jabber. As a result, he has made a new lifetime customer, and I have already given his information to several people off the blog, and responded positively to every PM inquiry on him.

I know that there are many other salespeople out there who are very knowledgeable, and are also worthy of this level of trust. Those who take the time to learn their products can best asses the needs of their clients, and this is evident in the way they do businness.

To the rest of them, and the dealers that employ them... This is one additional reason that the car industry is failing... Learn from the best of the best, (like Jabber, and a few others here... Deadphish...), and your sales will increase as the people come to be as informed as your best salespeople.

An informed customer is your best customer. (while the shadier dealers will say any customer willing to pau additional fees and markups are the best.. they will usually never return.) Good customers bring repeat business and referrals.

bottom line = educated sellers = happy buyers

Off all the

 

My sales guy was new (only a few months at the dealership) and I was teaching him. Of about 6 Toyota sales guys I've dealt with, all 6 either don't have the knowledge, cannot spell/use correct grammar, or they couldn't speak without me having to say "what?" 10 times over. My experience tells me that Toyota just hires cheap labor without giving them proper training (or without timely training). I do not mean every Toyota sales guy isn't good, just those that I've worked with. It's easy to see that the sales guys and managers are only about the quick money and not about long term business. The only way Toyota will get my business again will be based on their product. I've had very good (not great) service with Honda and will look their way first the next time I purchase a car.

 

I've been reading everything I could find online about the 2010. I was check out here too. But just joined so I can post... we had not had a class on it yet.. when the first one arrived I was checking it out... I love the changes.. the only thing I do not like is that the backup camera is not available in all packages..... thanks stefcat

 

Ouch! It's unfortunate that you've had those types of experiences and unfortunate that some of the dealerships have treated you this way. Here in Hawaii where everyone is related or knows each other somehow, long term sales relationships are our goal. I hope that your new prius is good enough to keep you coming back to Toyota. Have a great day!

 

I have to give my sales rep points for being knowledgeable about the car. He mentioned he frequents sites like PC and has learned a lot from the posts here. We test drove an '09 and had some issues with it to which he promptly said "then the 2010 is the car for you!" and told us about the differences. I have to give him another half-point for the smooth transition from selling the benefits of one car to promoting the features of another! I was a purchasing agent and my husband was in sales, so we both recognized this move and had to grin. To top it off, the dealership got 2010 in a week before his training so he didn't get as much out of the class as others might have.

At the other end of the spectrum: I spoke to a sales rep at another area dealer who knew nothing about the car, didn't know when they'd get one and was looking forward to his training in 2 weeks. He was a nice guy, but useless.

 

My wife and I put down our $500 refundable deposit in early Feb for the 2010 at Jordan Toyota in Mishawaka, IN... mostly because it was closer to our house. Our saleswoman didn't seem overly knowledgeable about the Prius, but at least she admitted it and said she would help get us answers to questions. She rubbed my wife the wrong way from the beginning. In April, after the pricing had been released I assumed she would call us and ask what package we prefered. Never did. I emailed her, asking for conformation that we were still on her list... she never responded. I went into the dealership a few days later, she said "Oh, got your email but haven't had a chance to reply to it yet." I told her what package/color we were interested in (PriusIV+SLR, white) and she took note. That was in late april. After not hearing anything from her as of last weekend, I went back to the dealership two days ago to learn that she had quit over a month ago! And noone had contacted me. The new salesman was very appologetic about it and seemed nice enough and much more knowlegable about the 2010. He quickly told me what was coming in and how long, roughly, I could expect to wait. Terrible ediqute on the dealers behaf... right?

The other Toyoda dealership in town (Gates Toyoda, South Bend, IN) has a salesman that claimed to be the #1 Prius seller in the Chicagoland region. He was very knowlegable about the 2010. Only problem is that he doesn't take a waiting list. Needless to say... right now I don't know who I should give my business to.

As a side note: A few days ago I stopped by a ford dealership in town to see if I could test drive a Fusion Hybrid. One of the salesman told me that they didn't have any at the time, but they did have a mercury something or other that featured the same hybrid system and the same user interface. I sat in it, and was playing around with the system, and the dealer was bragging that "this hybrid system can go 47 mph on electric mode alone... below that speed you are only using battery and above it the engine kicks in." So to be clear, I asked "say I was going 40mph, how far could I travel before the battery ran out and the gas engine was used" His reply??? "You could drive forever." I am sure at that point my face had an aweful look of disbelief on it (disbelief that this salesman was so clueless), and he added "no, it's true... this system uses the heat generated by the battery and the brakes to re-charge the battery." I said "but the system is not 100% efficent, nothing is, eventually the battery will run out of juice." His reply: "no, it won't." At that point I thanked him for his time and said I would be on my way.

Is this not borderline illegal? If this guy sells a car to someone leaving them with the impression that it will never use any gas as long as they travel below 47mph, he may have a lawsuit on his hands!!!

 

I emailed a young lady last night at a Toyota dealer not far from here and told her I was looking for a IV with NAV. and would consider a sun roof.

She email me back and said she could not find any version III or IV's with sun roof's because they were all being put on the V's. She may learn in time.

As many people have said priuschat.com is the best place to learn about the car but not everyone knows to come here.

 

I would think that those who don't take the initiative to learn about new products, especially those that have a lot of buzz, are likely to miss a great deal of opportunities. To me, waiting for the class is just laziness and a sign of inexperience. Afterall, information has been rather abundant as there have been many reviews/test drives that were posted on the Internet far in advance of the G3 being released. Simply knowing the top major 5 or 6 improvements in the G3 is often enough to get one started.

So I'd say that you have a leg up on your sales competition, as you're on PC keeping abreast of what's going on with those who have purchased Prii or considering do so.

 

Hope so too! :rockon: