How NOT to get new buyers to the brand.
 

So today I take my buddy out to check out the Stingray. After all the videos, hype and pics he had to see one for himself - Says the Stingray makes his GT-R look outdated.

Only 2 dealers in Houston had them on the floor this week, Only one dealer had one in the showroom at this point. We go down, They see us pull up in a GT-R and the entire sales floor swamps us before we can get out of the damned car.

They are trying to sell us everything under the sun, We told them we're only here to look at the Stingray. One salesman in particular rubbed me the wrong way.

How are you going to have the audacity to walk up to me and ask me flat out blunt as hell "So how much did you pay for the GT-R"

I looked at the salesman like he was effing crazy, then this arrogant son of a bitch has the nerve to think I'm a new fool and tell me some crap like "Well if you don't tell me - I can look it up anyways see how much you paid for it so, you might as well be honest"

Needless to say I was a little....disturbed by this - This is not how you bring fresh faces to the brand.

Some sales people have no clue.. Failures at life.

You should have 'played his game' and told him some wild price - either really high or way low . . . . :D

The personality of one particular car salesman that works for a Chevy franchised dealership owned by someone else entirely is no reflection on GM.

Survival of the fittest will come in to play here. That sales guy will anger enough people that he'll make less money and he'll either change professions, change tactics, or be relegated to one of the crappy sales people that can't make a good living at it.

I am a salesguy and frankly, I don't like salespeople in general. Many sales jobs don't depend on repeat business and referals so they are in the position of just having to get whatever they can right now. But I've met some good ones too. My Dad became best friends with the guy that sold him his Landcruiser many years ago.

You are absolutely correct.

The Brand can't control who individual dealerships hire... I'm sure most are decent people... And obviously some are idiots. I could see many Nissan dealerships being very similar.

Please don't take this wrong, as I mean no disrespect, but showing up at a Chevy dealership in a GT-R to look at a Corvette? You knew you were going to get some "attention" from the sales staff, right?

Although this guy seemed to lack any tact or filters, I agree with that.

A lot of the salesmen walking around dealerships of all varieties around where I live are young (20-25) men wearing a short sleeve white shirt and tie---- almost as though there is a picture of same in the "Handbook". Seem to move from dealership to dealership. It is what it is.

Sorry but this story had absolutely nothing to do with getting new buyers to the Corvette brand. What it did contain is that car salesman can be douchey. Color me surprised.

That said, lets go about the right way to get new buyers to the brand new Stingray.

Show them this car in person. Absolutely anywhere. Doesnt need to be at a dealership. It could be in a McDonalds parking lot.

http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5948770f.jpg

Say absolutely nothing else.

That's a bizarre story. Some people are just crazy.
I drove my blue pearl '13 Premium to Kerbeck on Saturday to look at the C7's they got in on Friday night. While there were people looking at it in the lot and taking pictures, nobody asked me any dumb questions like that guy. :lol:
S.

Must of been that Vernon guy there I talked to this am. He was clueless. With the Nissan GTR's at least Nissan makes the salesman usually the manager and the techs go to school before they can even sell them. This made my purchase with the GTR a lot better because the guy knew the car more than I did and I study them a lot. That's the answer have a certified corvette salesman program. If your not certified you cant sell them.

why would someone ask what you paid. they go from 55-105... depending on year, if he wasn't an idiot he would know the value without asking based on year.

^ Oh believe me, that are far too many Corvette sales persons who are Certifiable . . . . . err . . . . wait . . . . . . you said Certified - Never Mind :eek:

I really feel that a lot of salesmen only view the C7 as a way to sell more Cruzes, Camaro's, Impala's, and trucks. That's the impression I got from my dealer when asking about buying a C7 months ago.

We expected to be taken seriously and with respect, I'm not mad they tried to sell us stuff - it's what they are paid to do.....but can we get out the car first? lol

:iagree:

It has alot to do with the brand. You pull up to a chevy place and swamped by
cruze and silverado salesmen. Corvette wants to be upscale. No not gonna happen
if have to deal with the likes of those kinds.

When a person want to talk corvette, all lower salesmen should be instructed to
just say will get someone in that dept. Than shut the F up.

I've run into this several times. They spout BS that does not pertain to the
corvette. I just tell them have read up on the car and no it does not. Or
I have a corvette and no it does not.

Have even reported salesmen to the manager for being blowhards. That
would not talk to one who does not deal with the car. Sure a molly maid
will be in shortly to look at a cruze.

Always make your first visit to a car lot when its closed. Then go in right before they close. They want to go home so they won't try to get you inside to spend another 1 to 2 hours to sell a car and do paperwork.

You will get short answers and not bloated non-sense.

"another shirt off the rack"
 

To most sales-people, selling a car is about feeding their family. The Corvette is just another shirt off the rack for sale.

We're the nuts who stay up late dreaming about these toys.....:D

color me surprised. lol

There is one thing that the large forum dealers have in common. They segregate the vettes from the other chevy's. Whether it be a separate showroom or an area of their facilities/showroom or lot. They put vette specialists in charge of handling the vette customer. They market to our specific group which is in a league by itself. This sets them apart from the guy selling impalas in between wolfing down his whopper and fries. Specializing in your field works wonders in many industries and professions. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why the forum dealers can sell hundreds and the local chevy store in east bumf**ck doesn't have a clue.

Thanks for the tip.

Makes nothing but sense.