Well I'm getting my sleeves rolled up in this job hunt thing.

Just for kicks and giggles I called a local Ford dealer with a very good reputation. I didn't know who the manager was so I called and asked for him. Turns out it was a guy who has sold my family quite a few vehicles and said he really likes my Dad. Anyways, I explained my fascination with Ford vehicles and how it has always been in the back of my mind that selling cars or helping manage a dealership would be enjoyable. Said he really wasn't looking right now, but come to think of it he could use some help as things progress with selling and other things as the dealership grows. So what does everybody think? Am I asking for trouble?

 

When you are old and look back on your life, your biggest regrets will be the things you didn't attempt to do. I think it's great that you have an idea and are actually putting some motion into your effort to make it happen. Good luck with it, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dang Rocky, your a good encourager. I like you!

 

Go for it 3valve. I have been in the business 25 years this month and it has been quite a ride!!

 

Cool, do you sell? or manage?

 

Sold for about the first four years then got into management. Run the finance dept for 16yrs now at a really good Ford dealership.

 

i work with my dad at Fisher Vincent in belton.. but only when a extra hand is needed usually they aint been bussy enough to need my help so i been home posting on F150online:-p

 

Sounds great.

Hey, you'll probably be eligible for the Employee Discount

 

No way! I'd be so priviledged!

 

I work in service at a Lincoln-Mercury dealer, so I couldn't tell you how sales goes.

 

I worked at a dealership for about 3 months... the money is great and there are some perks, but the company I worked for made you work on your day off and everyday was a bell to bell. Our company was open seven days a week so free time to do anything was very limited. It was corporate so they had alot of restrictions in terms of breaks and getting time off for important things (they actually wanted me to come in for a few hours on my wedding day). If you can work at dealership that will allow you to see your family and not work you 65+ hours a week, than go for it.

It's a good challenge and I learned alot from it, but if you want to live a normal life and enjoy weekends or the company of family forget it. There are reasons why the industry has such high turnover, in all honesty I think there should be some type of Union for Car Salesmen (It will never happen though). I worked in car sales after graduating from college, and I figured that I would work a job where I felt I could get a return on my education, so I left the car biz. I love my fords but I wanted time to actually enjoy them. Out of about 10 people that go into car sales about 2-3 last a year, everyone I have ever known that has worked in the biz had to wait awhile to get into management, we all have to pay our dues.

 

I've been employed by the better of two local Ford dealerships here for going on 3 solid months now. My first month, I sold 14 cars, and made just under $5,000. In short, I love the car business. It's great fun, as long as you find a dealership that treats you fairly and realizes that its sales force is the number one reason they are in business. Without the sales department, there would be no cars to service, nor would there be any need for parts. I really enjoy my job, although I do work a lot of hours. As time progresses on, and I eventually head towards marriage, I am going to be probably moving into the finance department, if I can... where I will have a more regular schedule.

The downside of sales? You get paid on commissions. If you sell, you make money. If you're timid or shy, you had better come out of your shell before attempting to sell cars. I have seen 4 people come and go since I have been there, 3 of them for being too shy to speak up and "meet and greet" the customers. All in all, make sure that you always respect your direct supervisor, or "team leader" as they are called at our store. Resist the urge to get impatient with him or her, and ALWAYS keep your voice down in the sales office (where the "desk" managers pencil the deals). I remember I got yelled at a couple times in my first couple days for talking too loud.

Lastly, always treat the customer the way you want to be treated when you come in to buy a car, and make sure you always greet your bosses every morning with a "Good morning sir." They'll love you for it. I'll probably be in the car business for a while I hope. Oh yeah, one more thing...learn your product. Ford certification earns you spiffs and "spins" on certain cars, like the Focus and Mustang.

In a sentence, "Car sales is hours and hours of boredom followed by minutes of excitement."

Good luck!

 

I respectfully disagree with that statement. Yes, without the sales department selling cars, business would suffer, but that's depending on whether or not the service department has built a strong customer basis with people who own older cars who aren't ready or willing to trade their cars in on something new(er) yet. On the parts side, wholesale commercial customers typically don't care about the sales department or what they're doing. Neither do walk in retail customers who may have bought their car from another dealer but decide to buy parts from a different dealer. Something like 2/3rds of a dealership's revenue is generated by service and parts. Not to say that isn't related to the number of cars being sold, of course, but if sales , parts and service had bad months, I'll bet you dollars to donuts (good donuts too) that parts and service will come out on top of sales.

 

Very true Quintin, most owners try to use the parts and service income to cover the dealerships "nut" every month. That way the sales dept profit is just the "gravy".

 

You're both right, but didnt someone have to sell the customers those old cars that they dont wanna trade in yet? It's like the old argument of which onew came first, the chicken or the egg. Both are equally important, although our service department is where we make the big $$$ to cover expenses, overhead, insurance, etc...






EDIT: What are classified as "good donuts?" None of the crappy cake ones with that nasty fake chocolate topping I hope. More like Bavarian Cream filled ones...mmmm.