Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Toys!
Yesterday it was slow, so we went outside and tossed the football around. We get in the mood to toss around the pigskin every fall. I have a drawer in my desk dedicated to toys. In it are many superballs of various sizes, the football, a magic kit, a remote controlled car, a toy Hummer, a couple MatchBox cars, and an Etch-A-Sketch. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Month to Month
In the car business, the only time period that matters is between the first and last day of the month. Not the day, week, season, year, or career.
Sales goals, store goals, Dollar goals, unit goals, etc., are all set for the month. At the end of the month, everything needs to be totalled and turned into the office. There they crunch the numbers and eventually issue the statement for the month. Then the monthly paychecks can be issued. Then you analyze everything to try to decipher what happened, and why. You compare to previous months and years. By the time you've figured out what happened last month, it's the 15th of the current month, and you haven't focused a bit on making sure it's going properly.
Sales managers across the country are saying, "OMG! It's already the 15th, and we only have 10 cars out? What are we going to do? Let's have a sale! If anyone has anything working, let me know, I'm ready to deal! We've got to get something going this month!" It's hilarious.
So what does this mean to you, the consumer? I'll share a trade secret with you:
By far, the best day of the month to purchase a car is the last day.
Chances are, your salesperson is one unit away from a bonus. Or the store is one unit away from their goal. Or they're only a couple units shy of breaking the record. But whatever the case is, they are far more excited about selling a car on the last day of the month than the first, which means you could get a much better deal.
In fact, with new cars, the manufacturer will set a unit goal for the dealer. They might call up on the first, and say, "Your goal is 15 trucks and vans." So what happens if they meet the goal? The manufacturer will retroactively pay the dealer extra money for each unit. Let's say it's 750 Dollars this particular month. Say the dealer has 14 trucks and vans out, and here you come looking at a van. If you buy it, the store will get 11250 Dollars. Do you think they'll cut you a deal? You bet! They'd be stupid to not lose 4 thousand Dollars on your deal to pocket 11250 Dollars, right? But that's a best-case-scenario, luck-of-the-draw type situation. But one thing is for certain, it can NEVER happen on the first of the month.
Happy shopping!
Sales goals, store goals, Dollar goals, unit goals, etc., are all set for the month. At the end of the month, everything needs to be totalled and turned into the office. There they crunch the numbers and eventually issue the statement for the month. Then the monthly paychecks can be issued. Then you analyze everything to try to decipher what happened, and why. You compare to previous months and years. By the time you've figured out what happened last month, it's the 15th of the current month, and you haven't focused a bit on making sure it's going properly.
Sales managers across the country are saying, "OMG! It's already the 15th, and we only have 10 cars out? What are we going to do? Let's have a sale! If anyone has anything working, let me know, I'm ready to deal! We've got to get something going this month!" It's hilarious.
So what does this mean to you, the consumer? I'll share a trade secret with you:
By far, the best day of the month to purchase a car is the last day.
Chances are, your salesperson is one unit away from a bonus. Or the store is one unit away from their goal. Or they're only a couple units shy of breaking the record. But whatever the case is, they are far more excited about selling a car on the last day of the month than the first, which means you could get a much better deal.
In fact, with new cars, the manufacturer will set a unit goal for the dealer. They might call up on the first, and say, "Your goal is 15 trucks and vans." So what happens if they meet the goal? The manufacturer will retroactively pay the dealer extra money for each unit. Let's say it's 750 Dollars this particular month. Say the dealer has 14 trucks and vans out, and here you come looking at a van. If you buy it, the store will get 11250 Dollars. Do you think they'll cut you a deal? You bet! They'd be stupid to not lose 4 thousand Dollars on your deal to pocket 11250 Dollars, right? But that's a best-case-scenario, luck-of-the-draw type situation. But one thing is for certain, it can NEVER happen on the first of the month.
Happy shopping!
Friday, September 5, 2008
I Am Optimistic About Humanity in General
Why, you ask? Because working at a car lot, I have access to a simple exercise to demonstrate the good in people: turn on a blinker.
You see, with so many cars out there on the pavement, chances are one or two of them have a dead battery because someone has left the key on, or the dome light, or whatever. What's the easiest way to charge a battery? Leave the vehicle run. And how do you remind yourself to not let it run all day or until it runs out of gas? Turn on the blinker.
Now for the amazing part. A guy pulls in, parks, gets out of the car, walks into the building, and says, "Hey just wanted to let you know you have a car out there with the turn signal on." Then the phone rings, "Yes, I just drove by your lot, and just wanted to let you know that you have a van out there with the turn signal on."
Happens every time! It's amazing to me. I can't imagine why people feel the need to tell us, but they seem completely willing to go totally out of their way to help us out by letting us know.
I can only come to one conclusion: there is hope for humanity after all!
You see, with so many cars out there on the pavement, chances are one or two of them have a dead battery because someone has left the key on, or the dome light, or whatever. What's the easiest way to charge a battery? Leave the vehicle run. And how do you remind yourself to not let it run all day or until it runs out of gas? Turn on the blinker.
Now for the amazing part. A guy pulls in, parks, gets out of the car, walks into the building, and says, "Hey just wanted to let you know you have a car out there with the turn signal on." Then the phone rings, "Yes, I just drove by your lot, and just wanted to let you know that you have a van out there with the turn signal on."
Happens every time! It's amazing to me. I can't imagine why people feel the need to tell us, but they seem completely willing to go totally out of their way to help us out by letting us know.
I can only come to one conclusion: there is hope for humanity after all!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Dealers Get Ripped Off By Customers
I'll bet you never gave a moment of thought to dealers getting taken by customers. They do. Not only do ordinary folks see fit to lie and cheat in an attempt to get a better deal, but criminals often target dealerships as well.
A few years ago a young man came in to look at our 98 Tahoe. The Tahoe was a hot vehicle then, especially this one with its 20" chrome wheels. He wanted to trade his 02 Cadillac Seville, which he just purchased only a couple weeks ago from our rivals down the road. That is an incredibly bad idea, and he was losing like 3 grand, but people do stupid things, and it's hardly our place to be financial counselors for people that just want to buy stuff from us.
I forget the exact numbers, but let's say the Caddy was worth $15,000, and the total of the Tahoe came to $11,000. So we owed him 4 grand. Now if someone gave us a check for more than we needed, we wouldn't give them a check back for the difference until it cleared. But in this case, even though it seemed suspicious, he had a free and clear title with no lien. So we gave him his check, and off he goes.
Two days later, we get a call from our competitor down the street. His check he wrote to them for the Cadillac bounced. Apparently, they were stupid enough to run the title and give it to him without waiting to see if the check cleared. We would have waited, they didn't, and now WE have a stolen car in our posession because of it.
Well long story short, after working with the detectives, eventually we got the Tahoe back. He spent the 4 grand on a stereo for it (that we took out and gave away, so the truck wouldn't get broken into so his buddies could steal it). The Caddy went back to the other dealer. But what of the 4 grand check? It was spent, no getting it back. So we split the loss with the other dealer.
Stuff like that happens all the time.
A few years ago a young man came in to look at our 98 Tahoe. The Tahoe was a hot vehicle then, especially this one with its 20" chrome wheels. He wanted to trade his 02 Cadillac Seville, which he just purchased only a couple weeks ago from our rivals down the road. That is an incredibly bad idea, and he was losing like 3 grand, but people do stupid things, and it's hardly our place to be financial counselors for people that just want to buy stuff from us.
I forget the exact numbers, but let's say the Caddy was worth $15,000, and the total of the Tahoe came to $11,000. So we owed him 4 grand. Now if someone gave us a check for more than we needed, we wouldn't give them a check back for the difference until it cleared. But in this case, even though it seemed suspicious, he had a free and clear title with no lien. So we gave him his check, and off he goes.
Two days later, we get a call from our competitor down the street. His check he wrote to them for the Cadillac bounced. Apparently, they were stupid enough to run the title and give it to him without waiting to see if the check cleared. We would have waited, they didn't, and now WE have a stolen car in our posession because of it.
Well long story short, after working with the detectives, eventually we got the Tahoe back. He spent the 4 grand on a stereo for it (that we took out and gave away, so the truck wouldn't get broken into so his buddies could steal it). The Caddy went back to the other dealer. But what of the 4 grand check? It was spent, no getting it back. So we split the loss with the other dealer.
Stuff like that happens all the time.
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