| Author | Message | ||
     Jamil Abbasy (Jamooche) New Member Username: Jamooche Post Number: 19 Registered: 05-2003 |
So I went to Land Rover Metro West, just outside of Boston. I am planning to get a 2003 model but may wait for the 2004 to come out for the CDL. I asked the salesman (decked out in a hiking Ex-oficio land rover logo shirt and pants) whether the 2004 model would have the CDL back on it? He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "What's a CDL?" I explained it to him and he still seemed confused. Guess he has never been off road. I told him I would not want the 18" wheels and he tried to tell me that the 18" rims it comes with are just as good as 16" because they come with great off road tires. Aren't they supposed to know more about the disco than someone who hasn't even bought one yet? Jamil | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 129 Registered: 01-2003 |
Just so you know, 2004 WILL have CDL. And I'm a Sales Guide who *does* know more than someone who hasn't even bought one yet. Maybe you should come on down to Land Rover Main Line.  | ||
| David Seger (Croakus) New Member Username: Croakus Post Number: 9 Registered: 06-2003 |
Oooooooooo . . . A lady who loves the Rover's! Hey, if Ron ever lets you down let me know -G-. | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 132 Registered: 01-2003 |
No, I'm sorry, David. I could never be with someone who uses superfluous apostrophes. | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Senior Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 271 Registered: 10-2002 |
So Alyssa, how old are you? Sincerly, Daniel | ||
| Jamil Abbasy (Jamooche) New Member Username: Jamooche Post Number: 20 Registered: 05-2003 |
Thanks for the info Alyssa. Maybe I should come down to LR main line for your expertise. Too bad I live way up here. And, unlike David, we're the same age... Jamil | ||
| Justin (Vanroth) Member Username: Vanroth Post Number: 43 Registered: 02-2003 |
Hey Jamil, as someone who once trained to be a new car salesman in a former life (and thankfully refused the job), the dealers actually want salemen (and saleswomen) that know little about what they are selling and little about automobiles in general. I guess it empowers the customer that they know more than the salesman and improves sales. I guess they can't all be as knowledgeable as Alyssa ;). But sorry Alyssa, power to the superfluous apostrophes!!! Uh, I mean....... -justin | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 133 Registered: 01-2003 |
Justin, while I know I'm an optimist, I do like to think that Land Rover really tries to have well-trained employees. Of course, training takes time. When you are new to Land Rover, there is so much information available to you. There are great classes to take, and tons of videos to watch. You can't learn it all at once. While a basic understanding of 4wd is important, a freakish obsession with the minute details of the innerworkings of a Land Rover is not. While I may know a lot about these vehicles, I do it more for my own personal satisfaction than for use by my customers. My brain gets tapped by *maybe* one out of every hundred new sales customers. My customers couldn't care less about low range, let alone CDL. So, if you were trying to decide what to remember in your job, would you focus on what 99% of the people asked you about, or on what the other 1% asked? There is no way to know everything! I still learn things from my customers about these vehicles. Here's where the optimism kicks in: part of being a Land Rover Sales Guide is not so much being an abrasive car salesperson, but being a reasonably helpful, personable, easy-going individual with a spark of enthusiasm. That enthusiam could be for outdoor sports, for sailing, for riding, for SUVs, for British cars, or for Land Rovers. As a matter of fact, the few "car salespeople" we've hired have left in under a month. So, the Sales Guide you encounter at your Land Rover centre is most likely not going to have sold cars before. It's not, as you said, because "it empowers the customer that they know more than the salesman and improves sales," it's because they are trying to get people who haven't been biased by the business. Someone who is fresh does a better job of being friendly and not taking shortcuts with a customer. Those qualities sell more cars than overwhelming a customer with product knowledge. Now, god only knows if the salesperson Jamil encountered was new or not. Let us all just hope he was and call it a day. ...and David, sorry about the apostrophe thing... I was egged on by Ron to comment on a major pet peeve of mine. How exactly do you respond to a comment like that when your husband is standing right behind you??? | ||
| Monte Blumenfeld (Monteman71) Member Username: Monteman71 Post Number: 45 Registered: 11-2002 |
Jamil, that really didn't surprise me. I called there and was trying to find out some information on Old Man Emu and no one there know what it was. Monte | ||
| Justin (Vanroth) Member Username: Vanroth Post Number: 44 Registered: 02-2003 |
Alyssa, thanks for that insight! -justin | ||
| David Seger (Croakus) New Member Username: Croakus Post Number: 12 Registered: 06-2003 |
Jamil, how old (or better yet, young) do you thing I am? Alyssa, No need to apologize. I would have expected no less. Maybe I need to switch careers. I like to idea of selling Land Rovers a lot more than sitting in front of this computer all day. | ||
| Alan Yim (Alan) Senior Member Username: Alan Post Number: 554 Registered: 09-2002 |
I think it'd be more fun to run an off-road driving school...like those LR Experience centers. | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Senior Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 273 Registered: 10-2002 |
Alyssa, If you dont mind me asking, what kind of money does a starting Land Rover salersperson make? I've always wondered. Is it a strickly commission job or salary. Thanks, Dan | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 141 Registered: 01-2003 |
I think I would have a nervous breakdown if I ran an off-road driving school. There are all these new drivers driving YOUR car. The experiences I've had leading our dealership events has taught me one thing: NO ONE listens to instructions, no matter how many times you tell them! If they don't listen when they are driving their own car, how much do you think they'll listen when driving yours??? Nah. Waaaaay too much stress for me. | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 142 Registered: 01-2003 |
...besides, I like the opportunity to introduce my new customers to off-roading. Once I've got them hooked on all the fabulous soccer-mom properties of the Discovery, and they are picking up their new car, I can slip in how FUN it is to go off-road. I can explain that they can take the kids, and we have lots of families come to our events. | ||
| Corey (Discobro) Member Username: Discobro Post Number: 210 Registered: 12-2002 |
I would definitly buy a LR from you Alyssa! Check out your profile! How many Rovers have you owned, really! By age 24 even??!! Obviously a girl who knows a thing or two about LR's... | ||
| Jamil Abbasy (Jamooche) New Member Username: Jamooche Post Number: 21 Registered: 05-2003 |
Monte, Where did you end up going in MA for custom LR work? I found this place and am going to check them out. http://www.oerltd.com/ Jamil | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 145 Registered: 01-2003 |
Daniel, where I work, it's part salary, part commission, part bonus based on CSI, part bonus based on the number of cars you sell, and part bonus based on your gross. Other dealerships do it differently. You could make the same salary working at the Mega-lo-mart, so you really have to sell a lot of cars for it to be profitable. At my dealership, you have to sell 7 cars before any of the bonuses kick in. Once you pass the minimum, there are different levels that change your bonus income: 7, 10, 14, and 18. It's really complicated. Sometimes LRNA gives sales bonuses, too, but you usually don't get them for 2 months after you sell the car. Right now there's a "spin-to-win" program on Freelanders. It's similar to a slot machine. And as with all sales jobs, your income varies wildly. Some months I sell 5 cars, some months I sell 19 cars, but I usually average about 13 cars a month. When you take it on an annual basis, I make a very good living. The longer you are at any one dealership, the more cars you sell, just because of how many repeat customers you get. When you first start, you don't sell that many cars, because the only customer base you have are new people that walk on to the lot. Those are the most difficult people to sell. Once you've been there for a year or so, some of your first customers start trading in their cars for newer ones, or buying a second one. When you've been there for three years, leases start ending. You can see how the longer you stay, the easier it becomes to sell. It is a lot of hours, and those hours are generally very full and very busy. Your days off are never sacred, because that is inevitably the day your customer just HAS to pick up their new car. You don't get two days off in a row. You have to work EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN SATURDAY. Wonder why you don't see me at events? That's why! Overall, it's hard work, but it is fun and rewarding, and if you do a good job, you make a great living. | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Senior Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 275 Registered: 10-2002 |
Wow, every single friggin saturday? I forgot that the dealer is always open saturday. That sucks. Im an insurance agent. I can relate to the sometimes weird pay scheduale. I also work alot of hours, but I have never worked a saturday, and fridays Im usually gone by noon. Last friday I didnt work at all, went fishin instead. I need alot of time off so I could fix the rover. | ||
| Tyler Anderson (Anderstd) New Member Username: Anderstd Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2003 |
Selling cars is a painful job at best. At least it is in my case. I sell mostly Cadillac and GMC trucks, with the occasional Pontiac thrown into the mix. I must say I am interested to know what the mini on a Land Rover deal is. Most people think of car salesmen, and women as somewhat dishonest. For most of us honesty is policy. However I find myself torn. Almost daily I am forced to talk to customers about how the GMC Envoy can take them most place they want to go. I do however love it when they walk the lot and see my 96 Disco parked between the Envoys, and the Escalades, and ask how does it stack up next to one of those things. After all I cannot tell a lie. | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Senior Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 277 Registered: 10-2002 |
There are two kinds of car salesman. The guys selling cars for $700 POS beaters at the shaddy little lots and the proffesionals (usually) working at MB, BMW, LR dealers. My opinions of each are very diffrent. I would not mind working at Land Rover Portland. Except for the scheduale I guess. | ||
| Greg (Gparrish) Senior Member Username: Gparrish Post Number: 1258 Registered: 04-2002 |
Well, I'll vouch for Alyssa as a sales person. I bought my 2001 DII from her. I felt like I received great service, a very knowledgeable sales person, and an overall good experience. Also, I can vouch for the fact that she probably never gets a moment of peace. I'm one of those pesky customers that have had to call her and Ron on a weekend at home. However, I can't say enough, or come up with enough positive comments, to truly explain their dedication to Land Rover, and to offering a helpful hand both before and after a sale. I'm thankful to have made such wonderful friends, and am sorry to have moved away leaving them, and others behind. Thank you again Ron and Alyssa. | ||
| Alyssa Brown (Alyssa) Member Username: Alyssa Post Number: 149 Registered: 01-2003 |
Awww, Greg, that's so sweet! Of course I don't mind people like you calling me on the weekend... why would you have my home number if I did? We will always have the time to help out a friend. With you and Paul gone, our off-roading DII customer base just seems to have dried up! The two of you were great friends, and we miss you. | ||
| Monte Blumenfeld (Monteman71) Member Username: Monteman71 Post Number: 46 Registered: 11-2002 |
Jamil, I dont know them? I have been going to Cityside Garage for all my custom work. As a mater of face just got my Rovertym rock sliders install yeaterday. Talk to Alen up there, they are well known with the Bay State Rovers Association(BSRA). | ||
| Greg (Gparrish) Senior Member Username: Gparrish Post Number: 1260 Registered: 04-2002 |
Alyssa, careful now, or Ron's gonna start thinking I'm calling you all the time on the weekends. | ||
| Ron Brown (Ron) Senior Member Username: Ron Post Number: 412 Registered: 04-2001 |
You are welcome Greg. We miss you too, we will have to meet up at MAR again. Have to see the latest incarnation of the aux. wiring set up Happy to help as always, and good luck with the new gig. Ron | ||
| Greg (Gparrish) Senior Member Username: Gparrish Post Number: 1261 Registered: 04-2002 |
Thanks. I haven't spent much time on the rover though. With the new job, new place and new BOAT , my time has been pretty occupied. | ||
| Greg (Gparrish) Senior Member Username: Gparrish Post Number: 1262 Registered: 04-2002 |
I do plan to try to make it to MAR this year though, so I look forward to seeing you guys, and everyone else there too. | ||
| Greg (Gparrish) Senior Member Username: Gparrish Post Number: 1263 Registered: 04-2002 |
 Here is the new toy. Nothing major, just a little boston whaler. |
