Rumor: dealers reluctant to sell plug-ins?

you must not be in sales.

 

Anyone considering a major purchase should research the item for at least basic information. Question statements that don't make sense. Before I visited a dealer, I spent several days here. I was fortunate with the sales person I first spoke to. He was very knowledgable and spent considerable time providing information and answering my questions. I'm not a impulse buyer, but I was ready to place a deposit on a vehicle inbound.

 

but the time he spent with you, a fast talking salesman could have sold 5 cars.

 

Consumer Reports sent 20 secret shoppers to 85 dealerships in four states. They asked salespeople specific questions about EV ownership to gauge their knowledge. They found that many of the salespeople provided incorrect info

For my .02 cents worth, my local dealer either did not know, or did not care to mention that there was a price difference and package differences between the 2013's and 2014's. None of the dealers I spoke to was willing to charge up the plug in battery so I could actually try driving in electric.

 

I rented a Plug-in for a weekend. Charged it, used it, loved it.

 

Totally disagree.
A good salesperson will have knowledge of the product they are selling. Being a good sales person AND knowing the product you are selling are not mutually exclusive states.

 

well, it's just my opinion. in 30+ years of being connected to the sales business, i have yet to meet a top notch salesperson who gives a hoot about what product they are selling. they are all about selling, period. they are people persons, they love to entertain, they have a need for love and they live for the next sale. there are even psychological tests for hiring great salespeople. of course, this has little to do with car salespeople who are mostly drifters looking for employment.

 

Same thing with me, not a single PiP charged at the dealer.

 

same here, but that was over two years ago. i'm sure things are much different now!

 

It certainly can be.

But I think there is some minutia to explore here.

Dealerships are in the business of selling cars. In mass.
But salesmen are in the business of selling YOU one individual car.

And I think things have changed and are changing.

It really wasn't so long ago, that when a person ventured onto a dealership lot, they were very much at the mercy of the sales person as to knowledge about a vehicle. Sales people could just about tell you anything, and there wasn't a whole lot of avenues for alternative information.

Today? With just a few hours of internet investigation, anyone can be totally versed and aware of nearly everything about a vehicle, from TONS of owner reviews, Youtube videos, to things as necessary and mundane as option packages and even as primary as cost.

When I was initially researching Prius, I had spent hours here reading numerous threads. I also had gone to youtube and watched everything from "Homemade" videos and walk throughs and "test drives". Not to mention the usual mainstream outlets such as Toyota's website itself. But by the time I walked on the Toyota lot, I knew I was there to look at Prius.

It wasn't so long ago that customers, might walk onto a dealership lot not even 100% convinced what they wanted. I think that happens far, far less today. I think most people now, are so well exposed and educated to the product, that once they arrive at a dealership, if they aren't sold on the vehicle, they at least are pretty convinced as to what they want.

Today? I don't think most sales people can afford to NOT sell you the vehicle you want.

In my case? Which is individual and specific, I can tell you the sales persons attempt to move me from Prius to "Yaris"....was an absolute failure for the sales person and thus the dealership.

The Yaris was a cheaper vehicle, and I'm imagining probably with a smaller profit margin. But in any case, I had spent literally months researching hybrids and Prius, and I wasn't there to buy a Yaris.

I can't say I would of bought that day, as I eventually ended up in a Honda Fit...and it was an additional 3 years before I returned to Prius and purchased my Prius. BUT I can tell you that the salesman's lack of knowledge about Prius, and his rather "lame" attempt to sway me towards a vehicle I think, he simply was more familiar with, was a total deal killer on that day.

No I think your best sales people ARE attentive to what the purchaser wants. If there is some vagueness or question in this area, they can help. But IMO in this day and age, a good sales person can NOT afford to not be attentive to what the buyer desires. There is just too much competition.

This isn't the decades of yesteryear, where often the genesis, life, and end of a car deal all happened primarily on the dealership lot. Today, customers are afforded many, many avenues of information and discovery about a vehicle, as well as numerous options as far as how to purchase a vehicle. Infact today, it's possible to nearly bypass interaction with a sales person at all.

Sell me what I want...or you aren't going to get the sale.

 

this really sums it up, well said.

 

It very much depends on what you are selling and who you are selling to. In the broadcast television equipment business you are selling to engineers and if you don't know your product in great detail you won't make any sales. I'm sure there are other similar business.

 

agreed. what i always found surprising was how little software salespeople knew about their product. for a cursory overview, they would bring in their 'expert'. but if the customer was large enough to have their own evaluation experts, then the vendor would have to bring in the big guns, the software engineers. but they were there for explanation only, they couldn't sell ice in the desert.

 

I've never been involved in pure software products. Our sales guys were often engineers them selves and were involved in related professional society activities. Of course selling to the "public" is a whole different game.

 

The thing about profit is that a sale has to take place.

A salesperson can probably recommend one GM car over another if the commission is higher, but the salesperson who cannot distinguish a PiP or *EV shopper from a Yaris shopper might as well hold the door for the exiting customer, and then walk out as well before they are fired.

 

i'm sure a lot of people going into dealerships, mildly inquisitive about hybrids and etc., can be successfully discouraged and sold on something else.

 

I agree, but I suspect the overwhelming majority of those buyers would not buy a hybrid anyway. It is not by chance that Prius buyers know gads more about the car than salespeople: they have already chosen the car they want; all that is left is to choose features and argue about price.

Same deal with *EVs. Mild curiosity is a waste of time for the sales-dweeb.

 

we have a skewed perspective because of our keen interest in all things energy, and what we discuss here and elsewhere. but we have no way of knowing what the uninitiated think or are contemplating.

 

My wife and I recently bought a Honda Fit for her use. We walked on to the lot, said hello, and then I said "we are only interested in the Fit. If we like the test drive we will make an offer." The fellow said "great," and went to get the keys. We agreed on a price within an hour.

The salesguy was an old timer who was very interesting to talk with. He told me that his job is to figure out what car the person *really* is going to buy, and steer them that way. He said it usually takes him 15 - 30 minutes to read a person accurately. He had me and my wife laughing after the test drive when he looked me in the eye and said "you are not a car guy. You want simple, inexpensive, reliable transportation from A to B." My first thought was that he was just extrapolating from our car pick, but I had to respect his confidence in knowing that I would not take offense. He knew that our choice was a preference and not a compromise.

That said, people come in different shades and stripes. You have the

1. Show me car X types
2. Put me in a 'nice' car my monthly payment will allow types
3. A show car types
4. A van/wagon/SUV types
5. A 'fast' car type
6. And the rather rare 'value' types