The Makings of a Good Car Salesperson

I have bought a lot of cars in my day, and I have worked with good and bad salesmen alike. I say salesmen instead of salespeople because I have never actually had a good experienced with a female in this industry. I'm not saying that it is impossible for women to do well in this industry. I actually think I would make a damn good saleswoman myself. For all intensive purposes though, you just need to forgive me if I write salesman more often than not. If you have been thinking about becoming one of these workers that I have been rambling about, you need to know whether or not this is the job for you. Here is a brief look at the makings of a good car salesperson.

A General Knowledge of Cars

This should be pretty obvious, but a lot of people just assume that they can sell a car if they know how to sell stuff in general. That is not the case. You may be able to reel in an unknowledgeable buyer that way, but you aren't going to convince someone who knows what he or she is looking for. The second that your customer realizes he or she knows more about a car than you, you have lost the sale. I guarantee it.

I have owned four Mustangs over the last few years, and I have looked at many others. When I went shopping for one about a year and a half ago, the salesperson was trying to figure out which cars were GTs and which ones were base models. I was immediately able to point that put from the back because of the differing exhaust pipes and faux gas caps. The salesman was impressed by my knowledge of cars, and I was disappointed with his. He worked at a Ford dealership, and he should have easily been able to tell one Mustang from the next. Needless to say, I didn't buy a car from him.

The Ability to Assess What Someone Wants and Needs

As a car salesman, you have to be able to find the right car for every customer. This will depend on the amount of power, luxury, and fuel economy a person may be looking for. You wouldn't want to put a 70 year old woman in a Corvette Z06 unless she asked for it, just like you wouldn't want to put a millionaire in a base model Honda Civic. You can't always judge a customer by the way he or she comes across, but you should be able to ask the right questions to understand what someone is looking for in a car. Then you have to do whatever it takes to find that car for the person.

A Set of Quick Learning Skills

The cars on your lot are going to change from day to day, and in some cases, they will even change by the hour. You have to be able to learn about the features of a vehicle the second it comes in so you can try to sell it to one of your customers. If you just want a job that you can repeat over and over again, this is not the line of work for you. You have to constantly learn about new products and sales pitches so you can be as successful at your job as possible. You might as well learn how to become an elementary school teacher if monotony is what you are looking for.

If you possess the skills above, you may do quite well in car sales. Talk to a dealership in your area and see if they have any positions available for you.