Author: Alinda Tian
Photo Credit: Alinda Tian
12/10/2023 Today, we have customers from Taiwan, and really want to buy a car. They want to know the cash and finance price, so we run their credit, They want to pay 10K down to drop down the interest. They are not first time buyers, they think a close 800 credit score should not get 11%, it is too high and unbelievable.
When we showed them the number, they were shocked, because our dealership marked up too much. msrp is $27195, our pencil paper display $37195+$995+$995+$995, finally otd over $44K. When customers see that, they are sad, customer not stupid, they lose confidence in us at that moment. Even if we told them we made a mistake, they feel we are not honest, not respecting them. We should know they are not first time buyers and good credit, we can give 5%-6%, but we don't give them before they leave.
Because the interest rate is too high, they don't want to consider finance, they consider cash deals. Finally we give them $30K, the otd price is $27195+tax+85+500=30600, but we give them 30K, the number we still lose some money and lower msrp, but customers do not trust us anymore, they also don't want to buy. So if we give them a good interest rate at the beginning, they will definitely consider finance. but they leave.
Think about it, if we give them a proper number and a good interest at the beginning , they will buy and be a happy customer. We definitely will close the deal. But today we did a very bad action.
I just want to say: we should change our strategy for Chinese customers, not be too greedy. People and people are different, I know how they think, their concern is interest rate too high, so I try to help them and hope manager give them a lower interest, but manager stop me, said you are our side. Yes, I know I am company side, but as a Mandarin speaker salesperson, customer hope me can help them.
As a sales, I know we should stand on the manager's side, business is business, it's right, we need to make money for the company. But at the same time, if we only stand on the manager's side, it is wrong. Because If we don't stand on the customer's side, we will lose a deal from them. Sometimes we sell a unit better than nothing. We helped them for 3 hours, all our efforts were naught.
It is a real example of bad history. We don't get any money from customers today. We lost the deal because we were too greedy, so hopefully it won't happen again. Everyone may make mistakes, but we should try our best to do better.
