Interviews at the Toyota dealer
Posted 03-18-2008 at 09:04 PM by occupant
The names will be protected in this for now, I'm not sure how to start this blog out but we'll go with my interviews today and try to describe the dealer and the other salespeople. So far, on a rainy stormy north Texas day, this dealer seems pretty slow but there were customers coming in on appointments so they must have a good base of customers.
Before my interview, I spoke with a guy on the phone and he set up a time for me to come in, asked about my previous sales experience, and tried to be sure that I wouldn't have a problem with working until 9 or 10 each night.
My first interview was with the pre-owned sales manager, we'll call him the PSM. He is new at this pre-owned lot but not new to the north Texas car sales industry. He is looking to build a strong team of salespeople, each of which has various attributes which will combine to form a team that can handle any customer in any situation. He seemed concerned about my work history (I have held many jobs in many different fields in the last eight years) but was pleased with everything else. "This is a family-oriented dealer, we want you to have plenty of time with the family," he said, and with Sundays off and one full day off per week plus a couple mornings here and there, I think I'll be very comfortable with the hours. He claims most of his staff are working 45-50 hours a week, which is far less than I had to handle as a repo agent, tow truck driver, cabbie, or courier. It's even a shorter workweek than I had waiting tables at IHOP. He handled the paperwork and sent me to a drug test.
My second interview was with the general manager, we'll call him the GSM. He has been working at this dealership for over 16 years and has seen it start up from a portable trailer on a bare concrete lot during construction to a very successful and expansive dealership on several acres. He is proud of the excellence in service that his dealership provides, and also of the great reputable name this dealer has brought to the area over many years through all the dealers they own. He was surprised to find that I had few questions for him and was happy to tell the PSM to go ahead and bring me on.
My third (I didn't know there would be three interviews) interview will be with the internet manager, we'll call him the ISM. I expect to work in pre-owned but I hope to have a lot of internet-based deals. I know the internet holds a vast mostly untapped customer base and there are literally thousands of car shoppers who may visit a dealer's website and never set foot through the door. The ISM's job is very substantial, he bridges the gap between the online website(s) that this dealership runs and the physical property where the cars are located. He must be able to target and bring in those who are ready to buy, whether they know it or not. I am looking forward to meeting him and seeing exactly what he can do with the tools he has.
The dealership is not very large compared to some I have visited, but there are several vehicles in the showroom including a vintage Land Cruiser in mustard yellow. They don't seem to have many vehicles located on the property but I am told there is a satellite lot where vehicles can be found in other colors and trim levels. The women's restroom in the pre-owned lot is out of order as my wife found out the hard way, but everything else seems in good order, if a little dated. They do seem to try and keep the buildings looking nice but it is easy to find work that could be done. I would not be surprised if some code violations could be found here, especially dealing with electrical and plumbing.
There are helium tanks for balloons in a back closet. This is one of the things I never liked about working at car lots, was filling and attaching balloons to the cars. It seems like a silly thing to do, especially when the dealership is very visible from the highway as it is. I would be more comfortable with sandwich boards under the hoods of the vehicles with various messages or even (gasp) sale prices. But as I have learned in many other industries, the extra little bit of work you HAVE to do that you don't WANT to do, sometimes makes the difference between success and failure.
Anyway, I took my drug test and went home. The results were instantly e-mailed to PSM and they asked me to return first thing in the morning to meet with the ISM and get started on training. In pre-owned, I won't need to extensively study the 2008-2009 Toyota lineup, but I will be expected to know a lot about the late model Toyotas (Yaris, Camry, Corolla, Tundra, Tacoma, plus the various SUV and sports models). I already do, so this will be a simple memorization exercise for me on the details I didn't already know.
I'll continue to update this as close to daily as possible and see how much I can learn before I'm sent out to sell, sell, sell.
Before my interview, I spoke with a guy on the phone and he set up a time for me to come in, asked about my previous sales experience, and tried to be sure that I wouldn't have a problem with working until 9 or 10 each night.
My first interview was with the pre-owned sales manager, we'll call him the PSM. He is new at this pre-owned lot but not new to the north Texas car sales industry. He is looking to build a strong team of salespeople, each of which has various attributes which will combine to form a team that can handle any customer in any situation. He seemed concerned about my work history (I have held many jobs in many different fields in the last eight years) but was pleased with everything else. "This is a family-oriented dealer, we want you to have plenty of time with the family," he said, and with Sundays off and one full day off per week plus a couple mornings here and there, I think I'll be very comfortable with the hours. He claims most of his staff are working 45-50 hours a week, which is far less than I had to handle as a repo agent, tow truck driver, cabbie, or courier. It's even a shorter workweek than I had waiting tables at IHOP. He handled the paperwork and sent me to a drug test.
My second interview was with the general manager, we'll call him the GSM. He has been working at this dealership for over 16 years and has seen it start up from a portable trailer on a bare concrete lot during construction to a very successful and expansive dealership on several acres. He is proud of the excellence in service that his dealership provides, and also of the great reputable name this dealer has brought to the area over many years through all the dealers they own. He was surprised to find that I had few questions for him and was happy to tell the PSM to go ahead and bring me on.
My third (I didn't know there would be three interviews) interview will be with the internet manager, we'll call him the ISM. I expect to work in pre-owned but I hope to have a lot of internet-based deals. I know the internet holds a vast mostly untapped customer base and there are literally thousands of car shoppers who may visit a dealer's website and never set foot through the door. The ISM's job is very substantial, he bridges the gap between the online website(s) that this dealership runs and the physical property where the cars are located. He must be able to target and bring in those who are ready to buy, whether they know it or not. I am looking forward to meeting him and seeing exactly what he can do with the tools he has.
The dealership is not very large compared to some I have visited, but there are several vehicles in the showroom including a vintage Land Cruiser in mustard yellow. They don't seem to have many vehicles located on the property but I am told there is a satellite lot where vehicles can be found in other colors and trim levels. The women's restroom in the pre-owned lot is out of order as my wife found out the hard way, but everything else seems in good order, if a little dated. They do seem to try and keep the buildings looking nice but it is easy to find work that could be done. I would not be surprised if some code violations could be found here, especially dealing with electrical and plumbing.
There are helium tanks for balloons in a back closet. This is one of the things I never liked about working at car lots, was filling and attaching balloons to the cars. It seems like a silly thing to do, especially when the dealership is very visible from the highway as it is. I would be more comfortable with sandwich boards under the hoods of the vehicles with various messages or even (gasp) sale prices. But as I have learned in many other industries, the extra little bit of work you HAVE to do that you don't WANT to do, sometimes makes the difference between success and failure.
Anyway, I took my drug test and went home. The results were instantly e-mailed to PSM and they asked me to return first thing in the morning to meet with the ISM and get started on training. In pre-owned, I won't need to extensively study the 2008-2009 Toyota lineup, but I will be expected to know a lot about the late model Toyotas (Yaris, Camry, Corolla, Tundra, Tacoma, plus the various SUV and sports models). I already do, so this will be a simple memorization exercise for me on the details I didn't already know.
I'll continue to update this as close to daily as possible and see how much I can learn before I'm sent out to sell, sell, sell.
Total Comments 0
Comments
Recent Blog Entries by occupant
- Interviews at the Toyota dealer (03-18-2008)
