Why do they WANT TO NEGOTIATE before they buy?
Confession:
I am rather new to this biz (2002) and when I got an offer to become the marketing director for a local Chevy Store, I pushed back on the offer. What would I tell my friends?… What would they say? “Look at Joe, he’s stepped down to working for a car dealer, the poor guy.”
I was self-employed, that’s cool! I was living the life, I was pretty damn good at Golf (but never as good as Jerry Thibeau :-). Working for a Car Dealer was never on my radar. If the offer wasn’t eye-popping, I’d NEVER bring myself to “step down” into the den of wolves who devour the meek.
Wow, was I wrong!
I listen to the calls, the emails, the dialogue on the floor and at the desks. The consumer expects and wants a NEGOTIATED discount to purchase a vehicle. Many (but not all) shoppers are out for blood and will “bend the truth” (aka lie cheat and steal) to improve their position.
It didn’t take me long to realize the public perception of the evil dealer and the slaughter of the innocent buyer was totally an Urban Legend. The Internet has blown that into million pixels and has arguably tipped the scales in the buyers favor.
But… the legend persists, we’ve see it all the time. Bloggers and journalists writing about the Evil Car Dealer and how they want to eat your children.
To all these pandering and lazy wordsmiths, I tell you all look around, this is 2011, not 1981. Information is now universal. If a shopper needs to find the lowest price all it takes is a few keystrokes and the shopper can shop every single dealership within 200 miles. Shoppers know dealer invoice. Dealer profits are compressed by the internet. A $35,000 transaction hovers between .0028% over or under invoice. If the shopper has a trade-in, they have 3 different independent valuation guides plus services that can offer them cash on the spot.
If car shoppers have all the tools needed to find the car at the best price, then why do they WANT TO NEGOTIATE before they buy?
Because they are programmed to, because they want to and lastly because they are buyers. Buyers have a task and that task is to work the seller.
Here is a video that sums it all up.
What if car shoppers used car shopper tactics when renting a movie?
(All you vendors out there will like this video too)
I am here to tell the world that BUYERS ARE NOT INNOCENT LITTLE LAMBS, THEY ARE GRINDERS.
What do you think?