House Of Cars - BBC1NI

Atlantic Dawn

Anyone watching this on BBC1 NI? It's about Charles Hurst up North and the sales team. Interesting how very pressurized the sales team are to make targets, especially the Toyota side of the business.

colm_mcm

Is it on again tonight. my DVR recorded the last one on the 8th

Brought back memories selling Toyotas!
Thought it was well done, theyre not shy about admitting they want to sell cars.


Theres a very good series called the Dealership - from C4. Its selling used cars in Essex. and it's hilarious in parts.

Atlantic Dawn

colm_mcm wrote: »

Is it on again tonight

Yes BBC2NI at 11.45pm

colm_mcm

Cool it's on series link so there's a good chance it'll record

tanko

Just saw a bit of last nights programme, would it be common practice for main dealers to ring past customers and try to get them to change their cars?
I thought this seemed like desperation. The lad complaining about the newer sales fella getting to bring a demo home if he met his targets came across as a right tit. Another lad looked like he overdosed on the fake tan.

colm_mcm

Yeah, I used to call back past customers. sometimes you wouldn't see a prospect from one end of the day till the next.
Even if the customer only calls in and gets the car serviced as a result it's good for business. Sometimes you'd be stuck for used versions of certain cars so you'd do good deals to get them in, You'd also know what they pay per month on HP so in a lot of cases the customer wouldn't pay much more for a new one once they refinanced.
Even if you got an extra few sales a month out of it, it's better than sitting in the showroom looking out the window.

Atlantic Dawn

If there was issues with the car post sale would the customer come back looking for the salesperson and give you agro or would they go direct to the service dept? Could be either warranty or say mpg performance or car not exactly as advised in sale.

colm_mcm

Being honest, warranty issues post sale would have been rare enough on new cars. I would have chatted with them alright if they came in. The garage I worked in had a very conservative approach to used cars in that they would only retail the very best stuff. To be fair the after sales dept had their own job to do, but sometimes you'd act as a middleman between them and the customer.
In a larger garage it'd be a different story.
With mpg/performance etc - I would have been very thorough in recommending a car based on their requirements, sometimes to my detriment I'd say. I honestly never had someone come back saying they were unhappy with the choice of car.

carsfan

I found this programme very entertaining.
I was amazed however how the managers had to speak to the staff to gee them up and generally motivate them. I would have thought they would know themselves to get out there and help customers. Then again the sales people seemed very young.
Also, the push for numbers was relentless. I wonder are dealers in the Republic as focused?
The way they tried to get people to make a decision straight away on buying would put me off big time too. People need space and time to decide on spending large amounts.

Terrontress

I didn't feel that there were any people working there that I would trust. I'd stay well away from Toyota in particular, given the lad running the sales team.

Drummerboy08

There's a few places in the Republic run like Hurst. There are a few the complete opposite too!

coylemj

carsfan wrote: »

I found this programme very entertaining.
I was amazed however how the managers had to speak to the staff to gee them up and generally motivate them. I would have thought they would know themselves to get out there and help customers. Then again the sales people seemed very young.
Also, the push for numbers was relentless. I wonder are dealers in the Republic as focused?
The way they tried to get people to make a decision straight away on buying would put me off big time too. People need space and time to decide on spending large amounts.

The issues you highlight are common across all sales organisations, regardless of the product they're selling. Watch Alec Baldwin here 'motivating' a team of (some not so young) lads selling real estate.

NSFW (Language) ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9XW6P0tiVc

George Dalton

I LOVE Glengarry Glen Ross, never thought I'd see a clip from it posted in the Motors Forum :pac:

colm_mcm

My first day selling cars, the senior salesman instructed me to watch that film

goochy

Dont see why Hursts did this programme, it really doesnt show them in a good light. i know most dealers are the same but it just doesnt look ood on camera. The toyota manager admitted toyota had become complacent in recent years , we then saw how quiet the showroom was compared to Renault . Not a good advertisement for Toyota.

Atlantic Dawn

goochy wrote: »

Dont see why Hursts did this programme, it really doesnt show them in a good light. i know most dealers are the same but it just doesnt look ood on camera. The toyota manager admitted toyota had become complacent in recent years , we then saw how quiet the showroom was compared to Renault . Not a good advertisement for Toyota.

Yes Toyota have dropped the ball in recent years, perhaps the only strength they have over the competion right now is hybrid technology. The main sellers like the Auris/Corolla and Avensis are not in the same league in design as the competition. A dealer no matter how good they are can only sell desireable models. I suppose Nissan would be a company to look for inspiration, they were dead in the water before the Quasquai and Leaf.

knifey_spoonie

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I suppose Nissan would be a company to look for inspiration, they were dead in the water before the Quasquai and Leaf.

Ha, all 350 Leaf's sold this year, id say Nissan dealers are made up with those numbers, What has served Nissan well is the fact that they repositioned there pricing towards the lower end of the market, they have done this by lower RRP and massive advertised discounts.

colm_mcm

Renault did that a few years ago too

mahoganygas

I haven't seen it yet.

I was in their Toyota garage before. Nice lads working there.
They knew I wasn't there to buy, and was unlikely to return any time soon - but they were still happy to chat away.

carsfan

I wonder do the sales people have any automony to do deals in these showrooms?
It seemed like every thing had to be shown to the manager. If that was me I would say let me deal with the boss direct as the sales person was only a go between. The way he hovered around leaning over cars etc. earwigging on the sales people with the customers was comical.
I can't see what the hurst group have to gain from this programme.

colm_mcm

I reckon usedirect price the trade ins and they know how much margin they have to retain. below that figure they'd probably need manager approval.
you see it in their meetings where they're being urges to do deals. reading between the lines I'd say that means don't let a deal go.

must get boring get only selling new cars though. I used to love selling my own trade ins.

Tea 1000

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Yes Toyota have dropped the ball in recent years, perhaps the only strength they have over the competion right now is hybrid technology. The main sellers like the Auris/Corolla and Avensis are not in the same league in design as the competition. A dealer no matter how good they are can only sell desireable models. I suppose Nissan would be a company to look for inspiration, they were dead in the water before the Quasquai and Leaf.

Ah Toyota are coming back a little now. The new (heavy facelift) Avensis is leagues ahead of the outgoing one. Same with the Auris. Yaris always fitted the bill, and the Aygo always was decent. Rav4 was as good or better than the Korean offerings.
But in general they need to keep going. The Carina E was a fine car. The Avensis only now manages to beat the i40, the Passat/Mazda 6/Mondeo/Superb have moved well ahead.

Atlantic Dawn

I see they have a dealers in Ireland too http://www.usedirectireland.ie/ anyone got any experience what the setup is there?

goochy

they have had to slash prices ! picked bad time to open with rise in value of sterling ! i would say they are also selling some of the prestige trade ins from their Dublin Audi centre garage . they should also sell some used older astons/ bentleys /maseratis the type that are being exported as its not good for their specialist car workshop to have these cars leaving the island

delly

I haven't seen the program yet, but if you are intrigued by car sales, check the below podcast titled '129 Cars'. It's set in America, but high pressure sales are very similar worldwide. Well worth a listen.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/513/129-cars

colm_mcm

They seem to sell a lot of aygos...

tanko

colm_mcm wrote: »

They seem to sell a lot of aygos...

Was is on last nite?
Feckin missed it again if it was.

colm_mcm

Yeah. Wasn't that great, the new fella finally sold a car.

C.K Dexter Haven

tanko wrote: »

Was is on last nite?
Feckin missed it again if it was.

Yep- usually these things are repeated though.

It was certainly "fly on the wall" which is the best i can say about the programme

the negatives were:

1. Very old fashioned sales processes and tactics
2. Very demotivating sales manager, again demonstrating very out-dated leadership and coaching behaviours (in fact, you couldn't in any way call him a coach)

On last nights programme, towards the end, one of the sales guys said something like- "customers are much more informed about cars these days, so it's much harder to do the "smoke and mirrors" with them"- that said it all to me.
caveat emptor:pac:

Drummerboy08

Having sold cars fo almost 10 years at this stage.......It made me cringe.

However I've worked in places where the pressure is like that, and I've worked in the opposite.

Have to say that I agree with the comments about the Toyota sales manager, everything was always negative towards his sales team.

colm_mcm

tanko wrote: »

Was is on last nite?
Feckin missed it again if it was.

It's on dailymotion

carsfan

I thought it was funny that after dressing in t shirts and shades to supposedly attract the young people to the showroom for an aygo they sold one to a middle aged couple on the basis it was only a few pounds more a week and another to an elderly lady!
Also the comment re smoke and mirrors completely illustrated the way they operated in a nutshell. I imagine he must have regretted saying that as it was cringeworthy .
I can't see how the programme benefitted hurst but the narrator did say at the end they recorded record profits so the techniques must work to some extent.

Atlantic Dawn

I felt the sale to the old woman looked a tad exploitative, she appeared to be away with the fairies when he was telling her the price. That said she could possibly be a multi millionaire and the price of the car is nothing to her.

ba_barabus

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I felt the sale to the old woman looked a tad exploitative, she appeared to be away with the fairies when he was telling her the price. That said she could possibly be a multi millionaire and the price of the car is nothing to her.

My experience of old people is that if they are in the showroom buying a new car they can afford the new car in cash. It's a case of which one do they want.

Just my experience of course.......

Donne

colm_mcm wrote: »

It's on dailymotion

All the episodes are here http://tinyurl.com/noxxd67.