Car Salesman Hours and Selling Cars
One of the first things that people ask about when they are thinking about working in car sales are the car salesman hours. There are plenty of stories of working ridiculous hours and not having a personal life, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Granted you will never hear of a car salesman working a three-day week or selling cars part-time and becoming a successful salesman earning six-figures, but you don’t have to work bell-to-bell (open to close) seven days a week either.
I have talked to many people that said they quit working as a car salesman because of the car salesman hours. However after further research, discussion and conversation I have determined that it was about more than the working hours of these former salespeople that caused them to throw in the towel. Typically the real reasons for their departure often came down to lack of training, salary, coworkers, attitude, management and lack of success.
Unconventional Car Salesman Hours Common Complaint
One of the major objections that I have discovered about car salesman hours is not so much the number of hours, but the unconventional hours. Unless you came from a retail sales environment or started at a young age in the car business the car salesman hours aren’t what most people consider normal working hours. Most think that normal work hours are 9 to 5 Monday through Friday with weekends off. If you came from a profession where you worked 9 to 5 it can be a difficult transition to start working the typical car salesman schedule and hours
When it comes to being a car salesman having weekends off is not an option and it’s not going to happen unless you are the owner or General Manager of the dealership. If you’re going to be a car salesman you can count on working evenings and weekends or at least Saturdays unless your state allows car dealers to be open on Sundays. In which case you will probably be working on Sunday or at least a couple Sundays a month.
Typical Car Salesman Hours Don’t Fit
The typical car salesman hours and work schedule is different from what the rest of the world considers normal working hours. Evenings and weekends are the norm and forget about most holidays because you will be working. If you can make the mental adjustment you can easily work the hours required to become a successful car salesman. Granted 40 hours a week as a car salesman is rare, but then again is there any career where you can make over $100,000 a year and not work more than 40 hours. Even if you work what many call normal hours with weekends off you will usually be coming in early and leaving late. Not to mention working some Saturdays from time to time.
Car Sales Hours and Location
Where you sell cars often has a big impact on your car salesman hours. I have found that salespeople in major metropolitan areas typically work more hours and those that work in rural areas work less. Some of the car salesmen that I have talked to around the country work more hours than their schedule requires, but typically these salesmen are the most successful. I am a firmer believer in working 5 days a week with 2 days off. I think everyone should have 2 days off a week in order to maintain a good attitude and be productive when they are working. Car salesmen that work 6 or more days a week usually get burnt out in short order and their family life suffers and eventually their life of car salesman.
Car Salesman Hours vs. Conventional Hours
Take an objective look at most other professions where you can earn six figures a year and you’ll discover that the total number of hours worked per week is very similar
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by steven chessin on
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Mike - "Work smarter not harder"
Last week a clean trade came-in. A salesman came to be to produce a pro video. He sent an e-blast to about 30 and I put it on Youtube. A lead from Youtube bought it. I don't know what the others did except that they didn't come to me and they didn't sell it.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Elliott on
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Steven,
That's a great use of new media. How is it that the buyer found it on YouTube?
I could understand if the videos were put on a dealer's site then people in the community might see them. But when it is on YouTube how does/did the buyer in that community even find the video? Can you explain the process?
Mike
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Mike, you ask the right questions.
Actually - the customer found the car on Google - by searching - year - make - model - city - used car for sale. Came-up 3rd on the page with a photo icon.
There is a gap you can drive-a-truck-through between how high inventory marketing efforts take you - and how high sales presentation efforts need to be. Consider this Mike, the showroom selling process has not changed in 100 years but the shopping process has completely changed since mobile in the past 5 years. When customers go online for info they demand full-disclosure or will go somewhere else. Why should a customer need to ask for KBB retail as a price comparison ? Tell me how much below the car is before I ask because I won't ask I will bounce.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Elliott on
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Steven.
You mentioned that the showroom selling process hasn't changed in 100 years.... so what is your opinion or advice as to how selling needs to change? Given that technology has changed consumer behavior, what can dealerships and salespeople do differently to be more effective?
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Mike
99.999% of dealers use the same business model. And it works fine for showroom sales from the 100 years of polishing. But then there is the .001 that uses a different biz model and quickly becomes the # 1 internet auto dealer in the world.
In 2009 I was doing CPO Corvettes on Ebay for a rural dealer. Each car got my A+ presentation with multiple videos, dozens of showroom pics, lots of info on warranty, build sheet, shipping, market value pricing info and 'Why Buy Here'.
One day I was surprised to see no bids or questions. I looked at the auction pages and saw that ebay had reverted to the default GM presentations with stock photos and VIN decoded specs. A glitch was fixed but it underscored the "Night-and-Day" difference in results.
This is how to learn how to sell non-showroom, non-appointment sales. Unlike the auto sales process of 100 years this pure internet sale is based on a sales effort that occurs before the customer ever sees the car and without ever actually meeting the customer in-person. It begins where marketing ends. Some marketing ends at '3' some at '5' ... it doesn't matter. Now it gets upgraded to '8' or higher.The presentation is a front not a listing. If anyone else is given the deal it will kill the program as all salesmen will know the effort is for nothing.
And I would not recommend doing this by guessing what to do and how. DO NOT under-estimate the skills, tools and specific experience needed. Even after reading the instruction-manual and learning every ebay best practice it took me years to make it perfect -- and still I make mistakes. Not tech / creative but understanding people.
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