Experiences with car salesmen

Warning this is a rant.

Car salesmen are dumb! Of course not all of them are, but the ones I have had to deal with lately certainly tend to prove my statement.

As part of my job I have to occasionally do some market research, or benchmarking to be specific. Say we’re about to design a cup holder for a vehicle. The first that we need to know is what’s out there in terms of quality, design, materials etc. After benchmarking we start brainstorming design ideas, and then actually start the design.

Long story short, I had to do some benchmarking today. So I picked some dealership which had cars that have certain features I was looking for. I took a pad of paper, a pen, and camera, all standard equipment for a benchmarking study. Here are some of my (more interesting) encounters:

Cadillac Dealership:

Me: “Hi, I’m here from…. Doing some benchmarking for Toyota…. And I was wondering if it was ok if I took a look at ….”

Salesman: “So you want to show Toyota our design so they can take it?”

Nissan Dealership:

Me: “Hi, I’m here from…. Doing some benchmarking for Toyota…. And I was wondering if it was ok if I took a look at ….”

Salesman: calls another salesman and says “listen to this guy, he’s here to benchmark for Toyota. Isn’t that another name for corporate espionage”

I have to wait for the manager to finish a phone a call before they take his opinion.

Manager: “Oh yeah that’s cool.” Tells salesman “this is pretty normal”

As I was leaving another salesman comes up to me and says “these guys don’t know shit, I’ve had tons of people come to benchmark when I worked at GM.”

So by now, figured maybe I should just say I’m benchmarking without the Toyota bit.

Chevy Dealership:

Me: “Hi, I’m here from…. Doing some benchmarking some interior parts…. And I was wondering if it was ok if I took a look at ….”

Salesman: “Sorry was this arranged ahead of time?”

Me: “No, I do all the work my self. I have been going to dealerships all afternoon without any arrangements.”

Salesman getting offensive “Oh!.. so you’re saying we have to let you do this”

Me: “No, I’m asking you if it’s ok”

Salesman: “Can I see a card?”

Me: “I have some in the car”

Salesman: “Can you get me one?.”

Two minutes later I was done benchmarking the incredibly ugly HHR. If you’re curious, it was probably the worst car I saw that day.

So why are these salesmen dumb? Well apart from being ignorant of the way business is done in the automotive industry, they seem to be incapable of using simple logic.

I could have gone into every car dealership, sat in any car I wanted, and even took some for a test drive and that would have been totally ok. Since everything I mentioned falls within the realm of their job description. But when I approach nicely, explain what I’m doing professionally, they all seem to get suspicious, as if I was a spy of some sort. What difference is it if I took pictures and made some written notes rather than taken mental pictures and notes?

Since when are car salesman the protectors of intellectual property?

Is it really corporate espionage to take pictures of a car that’s on the market? If Toyota really wanted to steal an idea from, say, a shitty Chevy, wouldn’t they just buy the car and disassemble it part by part?

For that “let-me-see-your-card-salesman” does he really think that a young guy like me, likes to go around to a Chevy dealership, ask to see a car that wasn’t even designed for my age group, and take notes and pictures, just for fun? Is taking pictures of cars in dealerships a new "bad ass" thing to do that I’m not aware of?

Having said all that, there were some really nice salesmen as well. Ironically enough, the BMW sales manager welcomed me in, and we even had a friendly short conversation. Out of all the car dealerships, I would have understood it if I wasn’t welcomed in a BMW dealership. After all who wouldn’t want to take a closer look at a BMW.

technorati tags: salesman, car, dealership, chevy, Nissan, Toyota, Automotive, Cadillac, stupidity