Trials and Tribulations of a car broker

[Obleveonn]

I would like to share with my experiences of being a car broker. As much bad press as car dealers have been made to receive, there are many car buyers who are also not any angels.

 

I recently managed to broker two deals and boy, was it so different from 5 years ago.

 

1st customer:

 

Customer was looking for a car to buy and I brought him to see both cars that were from direct owners and dealers. After testing so many cars (20 to be exact), he finally choose a car that he liked. This was where the headache came in: he offered 10k below the listed selling price of the car. This is to be expected as everyone wanted a good deal. We finally managed to come to an initial agreement of a discount of 4k below the selling price and was on the verge of signing the deal. At the last minute, my customer wanted another 6 months road tax on top of the 3 months still available on the car! it worked out to be another 600 for the road tax. Never mind, being so close to the deal, we also managed to agree to give a further discount of 500 which meant that the deal came out to be 4.5k lesser then the original listed price. The icing of the cake was that owner wanted us to make sure that the car interior is devoid of any scratches and worn parts. To me, this is a used car! No matter how much we do up, if the mark cant be removed we cant remove!

 

2nd customer:

 

This customer is even better! He is looking for a conti car which has a dep around 10k and wants it to be in a super good condition ( accident free, low mileage, blah blah blah) I managed to find a car that he wanted with a very low mileage for a 3 year old car but the dep was about 13-14k. First question the customer asked was whether the odometer was tweaked since the mileage its unbelivably low. This really made me infuriated as I took so much time and effort to find a car that is in such a good condition for my customer.

 

Also, he wanted to trade in his car and I gave him a price that was higher then the market rate. However, he told me he still wanted to get a higher price on his own. After encountering such issues, I told him off that if you want t get a deal which is out of the world, please get out of this world to get such a deal! And I also told my customer if he wants to get a conti car for a dep of 10k, I will go to the scrap yard and get a total loss car to restore it and sell him at a dep of 10k per year.

 

To all bros and forummers here, car dealers and car brokers need to survive also. There is no such thing as a free lunch. No doubt there are many bad sheep in this industry, but when a sincere and hardworking car salesman or broker is helping you to source for the best deal, please do not assume that he is also out there to fleece a chunk of meat from you.

 

Honestly speaking, will anybody who owns a car here is willing to sell their car at 10k below the retail price when you know that you can get a better amount?

 

Sometimes, car buyers have to also look in the mirror to see and ask why they have gotten the bad end of the deal.

 

* I am also a person who has bought cars and sold cars on a personal level. I believe that as long as the car is in a good condition, dont ask for more.*

[Kelvingoh45]

Want to buy cheap cheap and trade in high high.

[Trafficwatch]

Hi, Bros

Agreed that above 30% or more bad sheep in used car industry and also more demanding clients in any industry not just auto industry alone.

 

My industry also having bad sheep too. (Try to think about the consequences prior to replying your clients in an rude manner and that's called "Salesman ship" & "Customer Relationship Management" - CRM of which is extremely important for Service Industry) Cheers.

[Gee]

 

Everywhere also like that.

Bad sheep, good sheep will always be around, housing, goods, etc. especially 2nd hand car dealers.

What to do?

 

Just be professional..

Need not be personal, customers always right but it's either possible or impossible to entertain only.

Only then, hopefully reputation is built.

[Obleveonn]

YA!

 

Ai Pi Ai Chee Ai tua liap liew lian

 

Haiz...

[Obleveonn]

  On 6/23/2012 at 6:24 AM, Trafficwatch said:

Hi, Bros

Agreed that above 30% or more bad sheep in used car industry and also more demanding clients in any industry not just auto industry alone.

 

My industry also having bad sheep too. (Try to think about the consequences prior to replying your clients in an rude manner and that's called "Salesman ship" & "Customer Relationship Management" - CRM of which is extremely important for Service Industry) Cheers.

 

haha.

 

sometimes CRM and salesmanship is non existince cos at the end of the day, the customer wont appreciate. they treat you as carrot. I dont understand, I used to be in an industry that deals with intangible assets and I did not meet such cheapo customers. Bargaining is part and parcel, but not to the expense of others mah! This kinda customers, I would rather not waste my time with them.

 

[Obleveonn]

I beg to differ.

 

Customer's aren't always right. If a customer wants a car and offers 10k below selling price, is he right? I do not think so. We call this customers fisherman. wanna fish around for prices only.

 

It like people who go to new car dealership to test drive when they know they wont want to buy a car. waste of time.

 

 

[Shanhz]

its a bit of chicken and egg. we all know dealers earn 10-20k per conti car. with that in mind, of coz bargain 10k down lor

[Kelvingoh45]

They need a huge margin especially on those with depreciation $20k and above per year.Every month the car will depreciate around $2K. I sold my car to a dealer 4 months ago at $52K, they market it for $59,800.Today the car is still on sale asking or $54,800. Even if they sell it at list price,they still dont make money.

Edited June 23, 2012 by Kelvingoh45

[Briansoh]

Yeah i understand how you feel as I am also in the sales industry. You should tell these kind of customers to screw off but obviously in a nice way. CRM is all about managing relationships. If the deal this time doesnt go through, dont worry, there is always a next time. But if you piss the customer off, all the hard work that you have done would be in vain as there would not be a next time. If the customer is really terrible, you should turn his offer down but do so in such a way that he doesnt have anything to complain about you.

[Maroon5]

there r f-up buyers and there r f-up sellers. but in perspective, the bargaining power is always in the hands of the corporate vs the individual buyer. im sure if the car is hot seller, the dealer would not even bother to entertain the buyer much. ie. $2k discount is my best, ai lai mai sua. and vice versa.

 

but so long as one performs honestly and in bona fide, be it seller or buyer, jus need to treat f-up people as one of those bad days and move on. no point complain no point angry.

 

frankly its much worse at work. that f-up person u stil hv to see and work with everyday!

[Ericongy]

Sori, but i think 99% of used car dealer are ccb. Period. There may be a few honest salesman but its as good as tio toto if u met one.

[Ericongy]

  On 6/23/2012 at 7:17 AM, Obleveonn said:

I beg to differ.

 

Customer's aren't always right. If a customer wants a car and offers 10k below selling price, is he right? I do not think so. We call this customers fisherman. wanna fish around for prices only.

 

It like people who go to new car dealership to test drive when they know they wont want to buy a car. waste of time.

 

If u can lower the price by 4.5k, can i say u over inflated the price in the first place? I am sure u going to cut is carrot head if he din lower the price by 10k.

 

Waste of time??? I tot u guys r there to provide a service? So test drive mux buy lar?

 

[Obleveonn]

this car that i gave a discount i made a loss. I did not earn. u say lei? over inflat. allo, u go look at sgcarmart. car prices are similar. what we used to earn was on agreement fee. now even i dont have agreement fee. pls think before u speak. zzzzz.

 

are you in the sales industry? if not, and if u have a boss, go and talk c--k to ur boss during work time okie. see he will fark you anot. or get ur worker to come and talk c--k with you, see u pissed off anot. easy for u people to say why test drive cannot. seriously.

[Obleveonn]

next time u buy a iphone. pls go and tell apple and the telco provider that they over inflated the price also since the cost of an ihpne is bloody cheap to make. ok?

[Lightbringer]

If you're not good enough to sell, don't whine and complain that the customer is unreasonable or have unreasonable expectations. It simply means you're not good enough at your good, and unable to manage your customers, as well as their expectations.

 

Typical ah-beng salesman mentality... no wonder you're stuck in a dead-end industry selling unwanted scrap metal.

[Lightbringer]

  On 6/23/2012 at 8:32 AM, Briansoh said:

Yeah i understand how you feel as I am also in the sales industry. You should tell these kind of customers to screw off but obviously in a nice way. CRM is all about managing relationships. If the deal this time doesnt go through, dont worry, there is always a next time. But if you piss the customer off, all the hard work that you have done would be in vain as there would not be a next time. If the customer is really terrible, you should turn his offer down but do so in such a way that he doesnt have anything to complain about you.

 

You can teach this small-time ah-beng "salesman" a lot. Good for you - you seem to know how to manage your customers, and more importantly, their expectations.

 

Obviously, this kid (the threadstarter, not you) have zero experience in corporate sales or relationship management. He'll never make the cut in any first-round interview for a sales position apart from the typical run-of-the-mill retail sales job.

[Lightbringer]

  On 6/23/2012 at 7:17 AM, Obleveonn said:

I beg to differ.

 

Customer's aren't always right. If a customer wants a car and offers 10k below selling price, is he right? I do not think so. We call this customers fisherman. wanna fish around for prices only.

 

It like people who go to new car dealership to test drive when they know they wont want to buy a car. waste of time.

 

Let me share what customers think of you:

 

1) Small-time wannabe; not worth the time or grief negotiating with;

2) Unprofessional with no decorum or service standards;

3) Why waste my time bothering such such low-life scums who are only out to make a quick buck;

4) My money is much better spent somewhere else with a fellow professional who takes pride in his/her job and the service provided.

 

It goes both ways, you know?

 

I for one, would not bother talking to you any further after listening to the first two sentences coming out from your uncouth mouth. I would go direct to your boss or your competitor instead.

 

Stay in the small-time town and rot away there, please. Cry me a river