A Note From A Leaf Salesman

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

megger5963

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2014
Messages
17
(Excuse the long-winded-ness, there is a lot to cover...)

First off, I would like to make everyone aware that I am a Leaf Salesman in the Texas market. This is considered to be in Nissan's Central Region. Next, I would like to thank everyone on this site for educating Leaf consumers and making my job much easier by sharing their experience among the community. (And lastly, I would like to apologize if this is posted in the wrong place, as I am new to the site).

That all being said, I want to make sure that one other thing is clear: I love my job. We all do. Anyone who sells the Leaf willingly has a love and admiration for the car and knows that it is the future of our industry and is proud to be on the front lines selling these things.

However, I would like to give everyone here an idea of what it is like to be a Leaf Salesman.

For the most part, Leaf Salesmen are the same people that handle internet traffic for any given Nissan dealership. At my particular dealership we have 4 certified Leaf Salesmen, for example. In order to be Leaf certified, we must have a Leaf Sales Staff, a Leaf Service Adviser, a Leaf Technician, and a Leaf-Certified General Manager. As well, the dealerships have spent a lot of money in order to carry the brand and be provided with the latest models and certifications necessary to sell and service the car.

All in all, the process is pretty straightforward. At least at my dealership, the majority of Leaf traffic is internet-based, meaning that we receive an inquiry that reads similarly to "I am interested in a Leaf, please quote me on stock number ABCDE12345." This is where the process begins. A vast majority of these "leads" come in with no phone number and therefore we are forced to correspond via email. Now, there are two sides to that coin -- yes, we cannot "bug" you with phone calls for days and days -- but we also cannot do our job in the most efficient manner if you are truly interested in making a purchase. A reason that many people think that the buying process on these cars is tedious is simply because we are unable to do our jobs -- for the most part I can answer all of your questions about the Leaf in a 10 minute phone call rather than in 30 emails back and forth. We legitimately just want to help.

Our job at this point is to go to our managers and price out our car to you (whether you have chosen to purchase or lease) with all of the rebates and incentives that you are entitled to. If you have reached an efficient salesman who is genuinely interested in earning your business, you will receive a response to your inquiry within 30 minutes of making it. On another car (say maybe an Altima, Pathfinder, Versa, etc), we would price you at about $500 above invoice (depending on your local dealers pay plan set-up, a salesman is making anywhere from $100-$150 commission at that price) on an initial inquiry response. However, on these Leafs we are FORCED to price these cars at least $750 below invoice in order to compete in a market that has made these cars nearly worthless. Within about 30 minutes, this salesman is making what we commonly refer to as a "mini" which is whatever the minimum commission is on a unit. (Normally this is about $50-$100.)

This is how vehicle pricing works (for those of you not familiar):
MSRP -- this is the price that we would like to sell every car for in order to make a good amount of money. It is what Nissan suggests we sell the car for - "the sticker". :twisted:
Invoice -- this is the cost that Nissan shows the dealer to own the car for.
Holdback -- this is the difference between invoice and what the dealer actually owns the car for (usually about $500). A salesperson does not generally get paid on this.

Now, as a salesperson, if you have a buyer, the email we send out at $750 below invoice elicits a response at some point within the next 24 hours. To be honest with you, this response is normally "I've found a lower price elsewhere. Thanks." (or something along these lines). Which puts us in a tough position -- we do not want to be annoying, but we need to sell cars to make a living. So we persist and proceed to play the haggling game with you over the course of 10-15 emails.

Over these emails we field questions from range on the Leaf to the reason for disposition fees, from mileage caps on a Leaf to exact pricing on an in-home charger. Now, while this is our job and we happily do it, you must understand that this is not the norm with a non-Leaf customer. Normal cars illicit a response like, "Okay, when can I come in and test drive this ________?"

After many hours of explaining and negotiating -- if we are lucky -- we will schedule an appointment to test drive with about 10% of our Leaf "leads". Of those, about half will show up for their appointments. Of those, less than half will buy the car. So for example, if we receive 50 leads per month for Leafs, about 10 will respond to any form of communication we try. Of those 10, we MIGHT get an appointment with 5, and 2-3 will actually show up, leaving 1-2 to buy the car. That is a 2% closing rate. An Altima/Pathfinder/Sentra/etc. lead will close at about 15-20%.

So before you even walk in the door to a dealership a Leaf Salesman has spent three times as much time trying to earn your business as he would on any other car.

Now, once you arrive, it is generally our job and good customer service to have the car fully charged, detailed, and ready for you to drive and maybe purchase. A standard test drive is about 15-20 minutes -- a Leaf test drive is about 35-45 after we have explained every bell and whistle and eased your concern about going fully electric.

So, if all goes well, you are ready to buy. If I have done my job correctly, you have driven the exact Leaf you want to own, already have an idea of exact pricing due to our emails and you are ready to pull the trigger.

This is where it gets hairy.

After all our our previously mentioned negotiation and deliberation via email, we bring you all of your numbers to sign off on. That is our job. To get you to sign the dotted line. Remember, by this point, the dealer has lost all of our holdback and is generally losing money to get that $199/mo lease payment you asked for and said that Joe's Nissan can do down the street.

(Let me pause here....... A lot of people will tell you that dealers never lose money. You would be both right and wrong. Dealers don't lose money. Salespeople do. Nissan issues dealers money for hitting huge volume goals that are about 120% of the previous year's same month. For instance, if you sold 300 cars in March of 2013, Nissan would pay you a bonus as a dealer if you were to clear 360 units in March of 2014. This is the logic dealers have for selling these Leafs for a loss. But this is not about the dealer. As a salesman, I don't see a dime of the "dealer bonus" I am speaking of, I only get paid on the commission that I can make, and after all the negotiations, it makes no difference to me whether you get $250/mo. or $199/mo., I just have to beg my boss to take your deal hoping that I can at least get the unit out.)

Now, let's say you are one of the select customers that signs up at whatever payment, term, etc and you agree to buy. My job, though I have already spent several hours on this deal, has just begun.

After you sign a buyer's worksheet, it is my job to:
-Get your new car detailed and ready to deliver
-Make sure your Leaf is fully charged
-Go over your Leaf Disclosure Form with you (which is about 1200 words)
-Follow Nissan's strict delivery process in order to make sure you understand the bells and whistles on the Leaf
-Contact an Electric Charger Provider (like eVgo) in order to set up your home charger evaluation and get any promotional keyfobs, chargecards, etc activated.
-If you bought a Leaf equipped with Carwings, contact Nissan and active that telematics system for you.
-Create a Nissan Owner's Portal Log-In and Password for your access
-Program your Leaf with your unique Carwings information
-Complete standard titling paperwork and licensing forms
-Complete any forms that are required by your state or region to receive any additional state rebates for purchasing an electric vehicle
-Obtain proof of employment if you fall under the VPP discount umbrella
-And anything else that may make life easier for you as a Leaf owner down the road

All of this must be completed in a manner that is accurate, but also quickly. Because your part is done. You've won. You got the deal you wanted. Which is absolutely 100% your right as a consumer, but naturally, your first instinct is to hurry up and get in your new Leaf and go home. This is where I have to create a perception that I am going to complete all of this in a timely fashion, which leads me to my next point.

THE SURVEY.
Literally one of the only reason selling cars for Nissan is worth it.

Though I won't dive into grand detail, Nissan surveys all new car customers. On anything from the salesperson to the variety of a dealer's inventory. No matter what it asks, the dealer isn't penalized for your answers, but the salesman is. Anything less than a perfect score can cost us THOUSANDS of dollars. Not the dealer. The individual salesperson. We are paid directly on these survey scores and have to maintain a very high customer satisfaction score in lieu of being paid a TON of money on cars like salespeople were WAY back in the day.

It's like this:
Imagine getting a paycheck on Friday, tearing open the envelope and expecting $5,000 to get all your bills paid and your family to live for the next month and to your shock and panic, it is only $1,500 because Leaf Customer X gave you an "excellent" (6) rating on a survey where 10 is "Truly Exceptional". :cry:

So for those of you that have bought a Leaf recently... did you cross paths with a dealer that after an hour of negotiation decided they would NOT sell you a car -- that is the reason.

So after this paperwork is complete, you go to finance. And we take a deep breath, sit down, take a coffee break, throw your temporary license plates on the back of the vehicle and deliver the car to you hoping that everything is "clean and problem free." We have done all that we can do, your livelihood is in our hands. We wave goodbye to you and watch you drive away with our commission, our survey, and our time.

This is the last way a Leaf Salesman gets paid -- the "spin". Nissan has a training site for us that gives us quick access to all of our proprietary information and helps us to quickly refer to product knowledge as well as participate in contest and communication between dealers. Within this site, there is a program that pays us bonuses after selling Leafs. They are structured as follows:
--If a customer LEASES a Leaf, we can press a button, spin a virtual wheel, and be paid anywhere from $200-$500 (although you can imagine that $200's are far more common than the latter.)
--If a customer PURCHASES a Leaf, we can press a button, spin a virtual wheel, and be paid anywhere from $400-$750. (the same rule applies as above)

So, in total, we are looking at making $300-$500 on every single Leaf deal we close, sometimes a little more. Now, you may be saying to yourself, "$300 for just selling a car???? That's awesome. Easy work!". Wrong. Because while that $300 is nice, it comes right back out of our pocket when your survey gets back and we lose $1200-$2250 that month. (Leaf surveys are almost GUARANTEED to come back with a lower score) Plus, a normal Leaf sale takes at least 2-3 full shifts. In that time, an average salesman can sell 4-5 cars and make $1,000-$2,000. In the time it takes to sell ONE Leaf.

I love the Leaf. I love Leaf customers. I really do. But in the same way you all educate each other about the car, the pricing, and the deals; I want to educate you on our side of the desk and how hard it is to do this job and try to help any way that we can with very little to look forward to. I write all this so that the next time someone from this forum tries to beat up a Leaf salesman at their local dealer for less than $10/month, please try to remember that we are on your side. The next time a survey comes to your inbox, maybe you'll just check all 10's and use the comments' box to vent anything else for the sake of the salesman. We want to help -- but we need help in return.

This is the car of the future. We understand that just like you do. We are just disappointed that this car has gone from having value and loyal customers that understood that you NEVER NEED TO PAY FOR GAS/MAINTENANCE AGAIN and the government gives you $7,500-$8,250 to buy it to having customers who will only drive it if they can get it for $199 or $149 or $99 or whatever the newest "best deal" is. Everyone wants the best deal -- me included, but not at the expense or the livelihood of a salesman.
 
I can appreciate your desire to share your side of the transaction. And you definitely put a lot into writing that post up. I have worked in retail though not commission based retail. I feel for you that the system is screwed up but that is just it. It is the system, the dealers and the car makers that make it that way not the customers. As a customer I would rather not have to deal with all the back and forth and hours of wasted time. From my experience your finance guys are the ones screwing over most sales guys. They quite honestly are the low of the low. I ripped the Hyundai dealership finance guy a new one in the survey we received after purchasing the wife's vehicle there. Did the sales guy get punished and not the finance guy? Probably but that is something sales guys/gals should be doing something about. I as the customer am asked a question and I am going to answer it truthfully.

I wish you luck and hope things improve as the market for these vehicles grows.
 
Thanks for your reply. You would be right, that sales guy was punished for that survey.

Finance guys are our "managers", as in, it is a promotion to be in finance. They are above a salesman's wrath unfortunately. And finance managers do not really give two craps about that survey. Doesn't make a difference to them. They hardly read them.

You're right. It's the system that is broken. There's nothing WE can do about it but hope and pray. I just want you guys to know how it works. It probably makes no difference to the average consumer, but just one would be nice. :)
 
couldn't of been said any better


megger5963 said:
(Excuse the long-winded-ness, there is a lot to cover...)

First off, I would like to make everyone aware that I am a Leaf Salesman in the Texas market. This is considered to be in Nissan's Central Region. Next, I would like to thank everyone on this site for educating Leaf consumers and making my job much easier by sharing their experience among the community. (And lastly, I would like to apologize if this is posted in the wrong place, as I am new to the site).

That all being said, I want to make sure that one other thing is clear: I love my job. We all do. Anyone who sells the Leaf willingly has a love and admiration for the car and knows that it is the future of our industry and is proud to be on the front lines selling these things.

However, I would like to give everyone here an idea of what it is like to be a Leaf Salesman.

For the most part, Leaf Salesmen are the same people that handle internet traffic for any given Nissan dealership. At my particular dealership we have 4 certified Leaf Salesmen, for example. In order to be Leaf certified, we must have a Leaf Sales Staff, a Leaf Service Adviser, a Leaf Technician, and a Leaf-Certified General Manager. As well, the dealerships have spent a lot of money in order to carry the brand and be provided with the latest models and certifications necessary to sell and service the car.

All in all, the process is pretty straightforward. At least at my dealership, the majority of Leaf traffic is internet-based, meaning that we receive an inquiry that reads similarly to "I am interested in a Leaf, please quote me on stock number ABCDE12345." This is where the process begins. A vast majority of these "leads" come in with no phone number and therefore we are forced to correspond via email. Now, there are two sides to that coin -- yes, we cannot "bug" you with phone calls for days and days -- but we also cannot do our job in the most efficient manner if you are truly interested in making a purchase. A reason that many people think that the buying process on these cars is tedious is simply because we are unable to do our jobs -- for the most part I can answer all of your questions about the Leaf in a 10 minute phone call rather than in 30 emails back and forth. We legitimately just want to help.

Our job at this point is to go to our managers and price out our car to you (whether you have chosen to purchase or lease) with all of the rebates and incentives that you are entitled to. If you have reached an efficient salesman who is genuinely interested in earning your business, you will receive a response to your inquiry within 30 minutes of making it. On another car (say maybe an Altima, Pathfinder, Versa, etc), we would price you at about $500 above invoice (depending on your local dealers pay plan set-up, a salesman is making anywhere from $100-$150 commission at that price) on an initial inquiry response. However, on these Leafs we are FORCED to price these cars at least $750 below invoice in order to compete in a market that has made these cars nearly worthless. Within about 30 minutes, this salesman is making what we commonly refer to as a "mini" which is whatever the minimum commission is on a unit. (Normally this is about $50-$100.)

This is how vehicle pricing works (for those of you not familiar):
MSRP -- this is the price that we would like to sell every car for in order to make a good amount of money. It is what Nissan suggests we sell the car for - "the sticker". :twisted:
Invoice -- this is the cost that Nissan shows the dealer to own the car for.
Holdback -- this is the difference between invoice and what the dealer actually owns the car for (usually about $500). A salesperson does not generally get paid on this.

Now, as a salesperson, if you have a buyer, the email we send out at $750 below invoice elicits a response at some point within the next 24 hours. To be honest with you, this response is normally "I've found a lower price elsewhere. Thanks." (or something along these lines). Which puts us in a tough position -- we do not want to be annoying, but we need to sell cars to make a living. So we persist and proceed to play the haggling game with you over the course of 10-15 emails.

Over these emails we field questions from range on the Leaf to the reason for disposition fees, from mileage caps on a Leaf to exact pricing on an in-home charger. Now, while this is our job and we happily do it, you must understand that this is not the norm with a non-Leaf customer. Normal cars illicit a response like, "Okay, when can I come in and test drive this ________?"

After many hours of explaining and negotiating -- if we are lucky -- we will schedule an appointment to test drive with about 10% of our Leaf "leads". Of those, about half will show up for their appointments. Of those, less than half will buy the car. So for example, if we receive 50 leads per month for Leafs, about 10 will respond to any form of communication we try. Of those 10, we MIGHT get an appointment with 5, and 2-3 will actually show up, leaving 1-2 to buy the car. That is a 2% closing rate. An Altima/Pathfinder/Sentra/etc. lead will close at about 15-20%.

So before you even walk in the door to a dealership a Leaf Salesman has spent three times as much time trying to earn your business as he would on any other car.

Now, once you arrive, it is generally our job and good customer service to have the car fully charged, detailed, and ready for you to drive and maybe purchase. A standard test drive is about 15-20 minutes -- a Leaf test drive is about 35-45 after we have explained every bell and whistle and eased your concern about going fully electric.

So, if all goes well, you are ready to buy. If I have done my job correctly, you have driven the exact Leaf you want to own, already have an idea of exact pricing due to our emails and you are ready to pull the trigger.

This is where it gets hairy.

After all our our previously mentioned negotiation and deliberation via email, we bring you all of your numbers to sign off on. That is our job. To get you to sign the dotted line. Remember, by this point, the dealer has lost all of our holdback and is generally losing money to get that $199/mo lease payment you asked for and said that Joe's Nissan can do down the street.

(Let me pause here....... A lot of people will tell you that dealers never lose money. You would be both right and wrong. Dealers don't lose money. Salespeople do. Nissan issues dealers money for hitting huge volume goals that are about 120% of the previous year's same month. For instance, if you sold 300 cars in March of 2013, Nissan would pay you a bonus as a dealer if you were to clear 360 units in March of 2014. This is the logic dealers have for selling these Leafs for a loss. But this is not about the dealer. As a salesman, I don't see a dime of the "dealer bonus" I am speaking of, I only get paid on the commission that I can make, and after all the negotiations, it makes no difference to me whether you get $250/mo. or $199/mo., I just have to beg my boss to take your deal hoping that I can at least get the unit out.)

Now, let's say you are one of the select customers that signs up at whatever payment, term, etc and you agree to buy. My job, though I have already spent several hours on this deal, has just begun.

After you sign a buyer's worksheet, it is my job to:
-Get your new car detailed and ready to deliver
-Make sure your Leaf is fully charged
-Go over your Leaf Disclosure Form with you (which is about 1200 words)
-Follow Nissan's strict delivery process in order to make sure you understand the bells and whistles on the Leaf
-Contact an Electric Charger Provider (like eVgo) in order to set up your home charger evaluation and get any promotional keyfobs, chargecards, etc activated.
-If you bought a Leaf equipped with Carwings, contact Nissan and active that telematics system for you.
-Create a Nissan Owner's Portal Log-In and Password for your access
-Program your Leaf with your unique Carwings information
-Complete standard titling paperwork and licensing forms
-Complete any forms that are required by your state or region to receive any additional state rebates for purchasing an electric vehicle
-Obtain proof of employment if you fall under the VPP discount umbrella
-And anything else that may make life easier for you as a Leaf owner down the road

All of this must be completed in a manner that is accurate, but also quickly. Because your part is done. You've won. You got the deal you wanted. Which is absolutely 100% your right as a consumer, but naturally, your first instinct is to hurry up and get in your new Leaf and go home. This is where I have to create a perception that I am going to complete all of this in a timely fashion, which leads me to my next point.

THE SURVEY.
Literally one of the only reason selling cars for Nissan is worth it.

Though I won't dive into grand detail, Nissan surveys all new car customers. On anything from the salesperson to the variety of a dealer's inventory. No matter what it asks, the dealer isn't penalized for your answers, but the salesman is. Anything less than a perfect score can cost us THOUSANDS of dollars. Not the dealer. The individual salesperson. We are paid directly on these survey scores and have to maintain a very high customer satisfaction score in lieu of being paid a TON of money on cars like salespeople were WAY back in the day.

It's like this:
Imagine getting a paycheck on Friday, tearing open the envelope and expecting $5,000 to get all your bills paid and your family to live for the next month and to your shock and panic, it is only $1,500 because Leaf Customer X gave you an "excellent" (6) rating on a survey where 10 is "Truly Exceptional". :cry:

So for those of you that have bought a Leaf recently... did you cross paths with a dealer that after an hour of negotiation decided they would NOT sell you a car -- that is the reason.

So after this paperwork is complete, you go to finance. And we take a deep breath, sit down, take a coffee break, throw your temporary license plates on the back of the vehicle and deliver the car to you hoping that everything is "clean and problem free." We have done all that we can do, your livelihood is in our hands. We wave goodbye to you and watch you drive away with our commission, our survey, and our time.

This is the last way a Leaf Salesman gets paid -- the "spin". Nissan has a training site for us that gives us quick access to all of our proprietary information and helps us to quickly refer to product knowledge as well as participate in contest and communication between dealers. Within this site, there is a program that pays us bonuses after selling Leafs. They are structured as follows:
--If a customer LEASES a Leaf, we can press a button, spin a virtual wheel, and be paid anywhere from $200-$500 (although you can imagine that $200's are far more common than the latter.)
--If a customer PURCHASES a Leaf, we can press a button, spin a virtual wheel, and be paid anywhere from $400-$750. (the same rule applies as above)

So, in total, we are looking at making $300-$500 on every single Leaf deal we close, sometimes a little more. Now, you may be saying to yourself, "$300 for just selling a car???? That's awesome. Easy work!". Wrong. Because while that $300 is nice, it comes right back out of our pocket when your survey gets back and we lose $1200-$2250 that month. (Leaf surveys are almost GUARANTEED to come back with a lower score) Plus, a normal Leaf sale takes at least 2-3 full shifts. In that time, an average salesman can sell 4-5 cars and make $1,000-$2,000. In the time it takes to sell ONE Leaf.

I love the Leaf. I love Leaf customers. I really do. But in the same way you all educate each other about the car, the pricing, and the deals; I want to educate you on our side of the desk and how hard it is to do this job and try to help any way that we can with very little to look forward to. I write all this so that the next time someone from this forum tries to beat up a Leaf salesman at their local dealer for less than $10/month, please try to remember that we are on your side. The next time a survey comes to your inbox, maybe you'll just check all 10's and use the comments' box to vent anything else for the sake of the salesman. We want to help -- but we need help in return.

This is the car of the future. We understand that just like you do. We are just disappointed that this car has gone from having value and loyal customers that understood that you NEVER NEED TO PAY FOR GAS/MAINTENANCE AGAIN and the government gives you $7,500-$8,250 to buy it to having customers who will only drive it if they can get it for $199 or $149 or $99 or whatever the newest "best deal" is. Everyone wants the best deal -- me included, but not at the expense or the livelihood of a salesman.
 
Thanks very much for a look inside that side of the business.

It truly is the car of the future. Shame the business model is 50 years old.
 
Indeed.

That's why the Leaf is going to fail. Unfortunately. If you lose money on every one you sell, why keep selling them?

Tesla might not sell nearly as many... but they've got the right idea.
 
Thank you for the information and education, megger.

I think that much of what you describe points to why the dealership model may have its days numbered. It also exposes yet another disincentive for Nissan -- primarily an ICE manufacturer -- to talk up and sell EVs, in spite of knowing how much better they are, and how much you and we love them.

And I guess the above facts can be considered part of the broken system. :(
 
Thanks! That was actually quite interesting and informative... I do have to agree with the others that it does sound like a terribly broken and dysfunctional system, however... And, unfortunately, you guys take the brunt of it.

megger5963 said:
(Excuse the long-winded-ness, there is a lot to cover...)
 
Thanks for the effort and patience it took to describe Leaf sales. I didn't know those surveys were that skewed. Maybe that is why a great local salesman moved on or was pushed out. Kind of extreme (sick) to require such high ratings and for all the fallout of that extreme to fall on one part of the dealerships.
 
Great post, thanks! Reminds me of this I heard a few months back:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/513/129-cars" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of the best TAMs I've ever listened to. But I'll tell you, it doesn't make it sound like being a car dealer is all that much fun!
 
Great post and very descriptive of what car salesmen have to go thru to make a living. But there is more to it, or at least there can be. Most dealerships also pay out random cash bonuses or spiffs. This is based on a lot of things and all the examples below may not pertain to you but are simply what I have seen but they we got bonuses like

selling two or more cars in one day including $500 if we sold 4 in a day. obviously that does not happen much

we also had bonuses for selling the car that has sat on the lot the longest. we also had bonuses for selling cars that had been on the lot at least a year (ya, it was Ford...)

most sales in a month

biggest margin (profit) in the month (obviously you probably not in the running for this)

and so on and the survey thing?

ya, I agree that is broken mostly because if your survey score is below "nearly perfect" you don't qualify for spiffs of any kind no matter what.

were spiffs important? we had a sales meeting every Friday or Sat morning and there was $1500 to $2500 in cash handed out every week.

so the dealer you work for is not totally blameless either
 
Yeah. Spiffs exist. Absolutely.

We get paid a couple of hundred dollars for selling the most cars over the weekend or $25 per sold appointment. Or something to that effect.

But at the end of the day, and what many people fail to understand:

If a "mini" (or minimum commission on a car) is $100, and I sell 12-15 units, I make $12-1500/month. Minus 30% tax.

When was the last time you heard of feeding a family on $12-1500/month? That's why surveys are crucial. That can be an extra $1200-$5000 we wouldn't get otherwise.

No they aren't all "mini's", but Leafs tend to be. That's the point. Get your good deal -- just take care of salespeople on the survey. It's a broken system... agreed... but we can't fix it. And we love our jobs (well, some of us anyway). Sometimes it's just the little things that make it hard.

In these markets like ATL and California, salesman can sell more Leafs than any other car because the incentives are so good. So they really get hurt.

Food for thought while you guys shop (or look to replace your current Leaf). :)
 
It would be nice if this was explained by the salesman during the delivery process. I really liked my salesman and knew that she was doing all she could to not just make the sale, but make me happy. Luckily I did give all "10"s. I'm glad I did now.
Just to let you know, I was as you described an internet customer. I received most of my information from the Nissan website concerning rebates, incentives, and the VPP program. All I wanted for a "deal" was that the dealer at least give the same information that the Company was giving. I walked out of a dealer that was only giving me 750 off on the VPP program when the VPP site said it should have been 1000. The dealer I bought from matched the web site to the dollar on the complete deal. Refreshing!
 
Thanks for the great post megger5963 :!:
Till now I thought only the purchasers that were tired of being lied to by Nissan for four years were really pi**ed off :!:

What happens when Nissan short response deadline surveys with no stated deadlines never get filled out :?:
I completed my first irate Nissan survey after three years of ownership.
Wasted multiple hours on Nissan surveys in the past that turned out to be already closed.

My salesman was great.
Only problem with the vehicle I advised him about on missing options he told me Nissan would have to address. Nissan insinuated I might be lieing and told me to go pound sand.
Not a good result.

Nissan is the problem.
Not the customers or the salesmen. :cry: :cry: :cry:
 
Good post megger5963. It was frank and a good read.

There has to be a better way to play this game where both the salesperson and the buyer get by with fair deals and the dealership still has its thirst for the blood quenched...

Is your commission tier dependent on customer survey results? Better surveys = higher tier = more commission per unit sold? Or is it more than that?

If I came to the table as a no-nonsense buyer and said, "you get me x deal on a LEAF, I'll get you a perfect survey", (where x deal gets you crap for commission) would that be an acceptable agreement? Could you make money that way? Or what about, "you get us x deal, and we will get you 5 sales in one day and 5 perfect survey" (group lease), would that work for you?

Is it possible to make money on back channel agreements for favorable surveys and volume sales alone? I know it's kind of playing the system that way, but is it doable? Would a Nissan salesperson laugh in my face if I suggested such an offer?
 
this post is not a reflection on the OP.
the whole auto dealer/car selling format stinks. the consumer almost always comes out of the deal poorly.
it is time to evolve to a system that Tesla has, and that one isn't perfect either.
in this day and age people can do their car shopping online like almost any other product.
All the manufacturer needs is to provide a place to actually view the car and an adviser to assist in completion of the transaction.
People really despise the current way new cars are sold.
 
Although you may be one of the "good" ones working hard for the customer for a beggar's salary, I would say you are the exception rather than the rule. That incredibly complicated process you detailed is exactly why most salesman waste the buyers time trying to extract maximum profit. You mention never needing to pay for maintenance again, but then why are there reports of dealers selling expensive maintenance plans to unsuspecting customers? Why did the first dealer I talked to regarding my Leaf play the "four square" game with me trying to figure out which detail of the transaction I cared about and then screw me on the rest? Sadly for him I found a salesman more like you at another dealership. He indeed was in charge of internet sales. He was the only one out of 10+ dealers I contacted to quote a reasonable price over the internet.

Regarding emails vs phone, please admit the real reason you are told to communicate over phone is because your only goal in communicating with the customer is to get them in to the dealership. Over the phone, lies can be told then once the customer is in, it is bait and switch time. Over email? Oh look the customer brought a written copy of the email in and now you have to honor your promises.

My suggestion to you would be to quit your job if you do not like it and apply to work at Tesla. You can avoid all of the garbage you described and help everyone have a more positive car buying experience. I love my LEAF but I hated the process of leasing it. I am much looking forward to my next vehicle, the Tesla Model X.
 
CARMAX has a good model. No haggle sales and no haggle trade-in offer. I have used them twice and both times they gave me more for my trade-in than any other dealer, and the car I bought was cheaper than most other dealers.

The last time I used them I just sold them my vehicle and didn't buy from them. It was a great experience. I know that when they sold it they made 5000 over what they gave me. I have no problem with that. Talking to the salesman, she loved not having to "play the game" with customers. I don't know their compensation package.

I agree Thor, there are better models for selling cars. Especially with the information available to customers. Most do their homework!
 
Good post megger5963. It was frank and a good read.

There has to be a better way to play this game where both the salesperson and the buyer get by with fair deals and the dealership still has its thirst for the blood quenched...

Is your commission tier dependent on customer survey results? Better surveys = higher tier = more commission per unit sold? Or is it more than that?

If I came to the table as a no-nonsense buyer and said, "you get me x deal on a LEAF, I'll get you a perfect survey", (where x deal gets you crap for commission) would that be an acceptable agreement? Could you make money that way? Or what about, "you get us x deal, and we will get you 5 sales in one day and 5 perfect survey" (group lease), would that work for you?

Is it possible to make money on back channel agreements for favorable surveys and volume sales alone? I know it's kind of playing the system that way, but is it doable? Would a Nissan salesperson laugh in my face if I suggested such an offer?

This is pretty much the exact opposite of the point of my OP. But yes. Essentially, you could say, "I want my deal and in exchange I won't screw you on the survey". Sure. This post is meant to say -- don't hold the survey over salesmen's heads. It's the only reason we do it - let's be honest - You're going to get your deal anyway. The survey need not be a factor.

A lot of people are talking about VPP on here. It sounds like there are some dealers out there who aren't honoring VPP. VPP is a contract between your employer and Nissan. It has to be adhered to if you have proof of your employment there. And the dealer gets paid back a few sheckels for it anyway, so they might as well do it. The problem comes in when people try to negotiate FROM VPP as a starting point. That breaches your employer's contract with Nissan. If we reported all of you, there would be no more VPP.

You mention never needing to pay for maintenance again, but then why are there reports of dealers selling expensive maintenance plans to unsuspecting customers?

So we aren't even allowed to tryto make money is basically what you are saying? You are a free thinking human being, you can buy what you want. We don't need phone insurance, but we all pay the $10/mo. and forget about it just in case. Same principle.

Regarding emails vs phone, please admit the real reason you are told to communicate over phone is because your only goal in communicating with the customer is to get them in to the dealership. Over the phone, lies can be told then once the customer is in, it is bait and switch time. Over email? Oh look the customer brought a written copy of the email in and now you have to honor your promises.

Any Nissan dealer is REQUIRED to record all incoming and outgoing phone calls with customers. Do I want you to come in? Absolutely. I can't sell you a car over the phone. And bait and switch gets me NOWHERE on the Leaf. You've got three offers in your back pocket for around the same price anyway. Leaf customers have the ultimate buying power. I'm more than happy to communicate over email and put everything I say in writing - after we have discussed it on the phone. It takes me all day to draft emails that ask you what color, features, packages, etc you want on your new Leaf when I could just ask you a few questions on the phone.

All we're trying to do is save you time. If something seems fishy, don't buy there. It's a free market. Pretty simple stuff. It would cost you just a few hundred dollars more to buy from a dealer a little farther away, even if you are remote and they have to transport the car to you. And save you a lot of headache.

My suggestion to you would be to quit your job if you do not like it and apply to work at Tesla. You can avoid all of the garbage you described and help everyone have a more positive car buying experience. I love my LEAF but I hated the process of leasing it. I am much looking forward to my next vehicle, the Tesla Model X.

I love my job. I said that several times. I don't want to work for Tesla. Their business model demotivates salesman and leaves no room for growth. The "positive car buying experience" is a two-way street. We need your help to provide that.

I agree with all of you. 90% of customers have done enough research to know more about the Leaf than I do. Do your homework before, when we ask what you want, just tell us, don't play shopping games. We will try our best to get you the deal you want. We know damn good and well what we are getting into when we sit down with a Leaf customer.

If you have a bad experience, SHOP ELSEWHERE. We respect that. Trust me, we know when we f**k up.
 
Back
Top