I drag my skateboard with me on the bus and train every day as I commute to work. It's been just over 2 years since I started doing this, and I can definitely say there has been a noticeable growth in the popularity of people now carrying these things around.
Before I started skating, there only be one or two occassions where I'd spot someone carrying a board. But now it has risen in popularity to the point where I now regularly see a couple of people a week, at least.
When I used to ride a motorcycle, most riders would nod to each other as they passed in traffic. It was some sort of acknowledgement that we were a minority and only seconds away from a terrifying accident or death. But here is my question: Should skateboards do a 'nod' to each other when they pass on public transport? There are moments where we make eye contact and it seems as though the quesiton is floating through their mind as well.
My conclusion: .... I don't think so. They've all got a reputation as ratbags for a reason! ha ha ha ha.
P.S. It's not called a "wheely plank"!
Friday, 17 January 2014
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Bogan fashion
First time I'd seen the 'recession collection'. Fashion just rolls on, leaving me tearful in its relentless wake.
Ice Queen
One particular experience that sticks in my mind, from my car yard days, was a particular encounter with a young lady. Amusingly enough, I never encountered her in person, only over the phone.
In this yard, we had a hotline phone, so for our online and paper adverts, the number that was dialed would come through to the hotline phone that sat on a lecturn with some notepads, separate from the our desks. The rule was to take turns in answering calls that came through. If a caller enquired about an advertised vehicle, it was the responsibility of the salesperson answering the call to set an appointment, and to make sure that the caller asked for them by name so they could continue the sale.
On this occassion, the lady who called had seen an advert for a Chrysler Sebring convertible that she liked, but it turned out she had already been into the yard, and found out that the car was not available due to some mechanical issues that were being fixed. She had called through to the hotline to see if any other options were available. It seemed odd that the sales staff from that side of the yard (the Chryslers were handle by a different division) hadn't taken care of her properly, but I was happy at any opportunity presented.
Now this lady was interesting. She was a fairly high powered HR executive, and had recently bought a Holden Captiva SUV brand new. It had been a great deal at the time, but now, 6 months later, she just wanted to have the feel of the wind in her hair, and hence a convertible was now what she wanted. Knowing what Holden Captivas really were (re-badged models from when GM had bought out failing Korean car maker Daewoo), I also suspected there may have been other reasons she wanted out of that car.
Anyway, digging through the stock, I mentioned to the lady that we didn't have anymore Sebring convertibles available, however we had a nifty Astra convertible available at one of our other yards and that I could bring it down for her to look at. She seemed pretty sweet on the idea, so I was going to call her back when I found out when I could get it there.
Many car yards are actually part of a chain, and not in the sense of "all Toyota yards are owned by Toyota", but more along the lines of a company that owns several yards of different manufacturers spread across town, and mixed with new and used vehicles. Even though all the yards are part of the same company behind the scenes, they are all still competitors in a tough business, so it can be hard to convince another yard to pass a car from their stock to us, as it means we found a buyer and the sale will be recorded to us, instead of them. This all means that it takes time and some effort to get a vehicle from a sister yard.
It was the next day when I was able to call back my customer, and it turned out that she was rather enterprising, as befitting of her executive background. She'd dug around online, found the yard that actually had this car, and had been there to look it over.
Now I don't know how her conversation with the sales staff there went, but as she told it to me, they were rude, not very understanding, wouldn't let her test drive the car, and also wouldn't tell her how low they'd go on the car.
It seemed odd to me that these sales staff would treat a customer so poorly, but their loss was going to make an even better opportunity for me. So looking to work a silver tongue, I sought to sooth her frustrations and assure her that she would be treated as a queen at our yard. Now, still on the phone, she enquired as to what ballpark she'd be looking at if she traded in her Captiva for the Astra. She didn't want to come in, she wanted that answer now.
Over the phone she told me all the details of her car, Holden Captiva LX auto 5 seater and just under 10,000km. The car was basically new. But this was where things got interesting. Relaying the information to the yard manager, I got a shock with what he was prepared to offer. The car was a 2009 model, even though it'd been bought in 2010, and she'd gotten it during the first round of sales prior to the next model of the Captiva that was coming out as the true 2010 model. Her car, in 6 months, had dropped $9,000 dollars just because Holden yards were dumping these things to make way for the new model.
The switch from pleasant and curious to the venom and fury this lady now expressed at this news, was not something I can adequately describe, but it also made me think that perhaps there was more to the story of what happened between her and the staff at the other yard. It just conjured images of the White Witch.
Needless to say, I did not sell a Holden Astra that day.
In this yard, we had a hotline phone, so for our online and paper adverts, the number that was dialed would come through to the hotline phone that sat on a lecturn with some notepads, separate from the our desks. The rule was to take turns in answering calls that came through. If a caller enquired about an advertised vehicle, it was the responsibility of the salesperson answering the call to set an appointment, and to make sure that the caller asked for them by name so they could continue the sale.
On this occassion, the lady who called had seen an advert for a Chrysler Sebring convertible that she liked, but it turned out she had already been into the yard, and found out that the car was not available due to some mechanical issues that were being fixed. She had called through to the hotline to see if any other options were available. It seemed odd that the sales staff from that side of the yard (the Chryslers were handle by a different division) hadn't taken care of her properly, but I was happy at any opportunity presented.
Now this lady was interesting. She was a fairly high powered HR executive, and had recently bought a Holden Captiva SUV brand new. It had been a great deal at the time, but now, 6 months later, she just wanted to have the feel of the wind in her hair, and hence a convertible was now what she wanted. Knowing what Holden Captivas really were (re-badged models from when GM had bought out failing Korean car maker Daewoo), I also suspected there may have been other reasons she wanted out of that car.
Anyway, digging through the stock, I mentioned to the lady that we didn't have anymore Sebring convertibles available, however we had a nifty Astra convertible available at one of our other yards and that I could bring it down for her to look at. She seemed pretty sweet on the idea, so I was going to call her back when I found out when I could get it there.
Many car yards are actually part of a chain, and not in the sense of "all Toyota yards are owned by Toyota", but more along the lines of a company that owns several yards of different manufacturers spread across town, and mixed with new and used vehicles. Even though all the yards are part of the same company behind the scenes, they are all still competitors in a tough business, so it can be hard to convince another yard to pass a car from their stock to us, as it means we found a buyer and the sale will be recorded to us, instead of them. This all means that it takes time and some effort to get a vehicle from a sister yard.
It was the next day when I was able to call back my customer, and it turned out that she was rather enterprising, as befitting of her executive background. She'd dug around online, found the yard that actually had this car, and had been there to look it over.
Now I don't know how her conversation with the sales staff there went, but as she told it to me, they were rude, not very understanding, wouldn't let her test drive the car, and also wouldn't tell her how low they'd go on the car.
It seemed odd to me that these sales staff would treat a customer so poorly, but their loss was going to make an even better opportunity for me. So looking to work a silver tongue, I sought to sooth her frustrations and assure her that she would be treated as a queen at our yard. Now, still on the phone, she enquired as to what ballpark she'd be looking at if she traded in her Captiva for the Astra. She didn't want to come in, she wanted that answer now.
Over the phone she told me all the details of her car, Holden Captiva LX auto 5 seater and just under 10,000km. The car was basically new. But this was where things got interesting. Relaying the information to the yard manager, I got a shock with what he was prepared to offer. The car was a 2009 model, even though it'd been bought in 2010, and she'd gotten it during the first round of sales prior to the next model of the Captiva that was coming out as the true 2010 model. Her car, in 6 months, had dropped $9,000 dollars just because Holden yards were dumping these things to make way for the new model.
The switch from pleasant and curious to the venom and fury this lady now expressed at this news, was not something I can adequately describe, but it also made me think that perhaps there was more to the story of what happened between her and the staff at the other yard. It just conjured images of the White Witch.
Needless to say, I did not sell a Holden Astra that day.
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
No way....
I'd mentioned in the past that I love watching the Japanese game show: Ninja Warrior. Of course, with many things of rising popularity, other countries take on their own variant. Malaysia has theirs, and USA has American Ninja Warrior. There are most likely other countries that have their own branch too.
Occassionally competitors from those other countries show up at the Japanese course, but they rarely seem to do well. The one American I saw do quite well, though he fell out on the 3rd stage due to a technicality, was a massive US Navy Diver. A bit too much brute force in his approach, but I was quite impressed.
Anyway, I have watched a couple of episodes of the American Ninja Warrior, and you can see the differences immediately in terms of the character of competitors, and also how you get alot more sports professionals appearing.
The thing is, they generally don't seem to do as well, as more strength and muscle also means more weight and that almost always wipes out the larger competitors. So when I read that in the first formal team Ninja Warrior competition of Japan versus USA, it was a complete whitewash with the USA team winning everything (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/game-of-secrets-the-conspiracy-the-controversy-and-the-ninja-warrior-cover-up/).
I find myself thinking that it may not have been entirely legitimate either.
Occassionally competitors from those other countries show up at the Japanese course, but they rarely seem to do well. The one American I saw do quite well, though he fell out on the 3rd stage due to a technicality, was a massive US Navy Diver. A bit too much brute force in his approach, but I was quite impressed.
Anyway, I have watched a couple of episodes of the American Ninja Warrior, and you can see the differences immediately in terms of the character of competitors, and also how you get alot more sports professionals appearing.
The thing is, they generally don't seem to do as well, as more strength and muscle also means more weight and that almost always wipes out the larger competitors. So when I read that in the first formal team Ninja Warrior competition of Japan versus USA, it was a complete whitewash with the USA team winning everything (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/game-of-secrets-the-conspiracy-the-controversy-and-the-ninja-warrior-cover-up/).
I find myself thinking that it may not have been entirely legitimate either.
Persistence can pay off
There's more to that story with the lad looking at having a Ford as his first car. We did get him back a week later.
Most yards have a purchaser, or the yard manager may also take on this role. A purchaser is a person who is constantly scouring the private market and auctions to look for vehicles which can be bought cheaply and then resold through the yard. Their qualifications are simply experience in recognising a serviceable vehicle and negotiating skills in getting a good price to suit the vehicle's condition.
Our purchaser dropped in 2004 Ford Fairlane Ghia, and this car was in really good condition, complete with headset mounted television screens, and a pair of wired Bose headphones. If I was in the position to buy a car myself, and had the money, I would have bought this thing too.
Sometimes its just a matter of having the right combination of features, and as a result the young fellow was all over it even before the test drive. Occassionally, you get a car that sells itself, and it makes the job easy. I wished that had happened more than just the once...
Most yards have a purchaser, or the yard manager may also take on this role. A purchaser is a person who is constantly scouring the private market and auctions to look for vehicles which can be bought cheaply and then resold through the yard. Their qualifications are simply experience in recognising a serviceable vehicle and negotiating skills in getting a good price to suit the vehicle's condition.
Our purchaser dropped in 2004 Ford Fairlane Ghia, and this car was in really good condition, complete with headset mounted television screens, and a pair of wired Bose headphones. If I was in the position to buy a car myself, and had the money, I would have bought this thing too.
Sometimes its just a matter of having the right combination of features, and as a result the young fellow was all over it even before the test drive. Occassionally, you get a car that sells itself, and it makes the job easy. I wished that had happened more than just the once...
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
The sweet smell of desperation
The thing I hated about being a car salesperson was the constant pressure. You have monthly sales targets to hit, and your progress towards these are charted weekly. So even if you had a great month and hit your numbers, the next month you're starting from zero again.
The yard I worked in was not a very good yard (bad location and some slightly sad stock), so I soon learned that you had to leap on any whiff of interest and also recognise the cars in the yard that appeal.
One friday, we had a family come in looking for a first car for their son who'd just gotten his license. The young lad, much like many other young men, wanted a car with a bit of shove but also communicated that they were inclined towards Fords.
We only had two Ford Falcons in stock at the time, one being a FPV that was only a couple of years old, and way out of budget, and the other being a much older XR6 that was a little tired. They left their details, but went to look further afield.
The next day, early on a saturday morning, one of our trade-ins got delivered after the customer collected their new car. It was Purple Falcon XR8, and would fall into the ballpark that this young man claimed to be looking for. Problem is that customers rarely clean their trade-in when they collect their new car, and cleaners don't work saturdays. So after calling the young man to confirm that he could come in that day, I was off into the cleaning bay with the trade-in, rolling up my sleeves and trying not to get the dirt, grease, old burgers and other junk on me, while scrubbing this car inside and out.
It wasn't as grand as a professional detail from the cleaners, but the car was presentable and the nasty stink on the inside was gone.
Didn't sell him the XR8 though. I think the dad had an unfortunate moment of clarity realising that his son behind the wheel a 5L powerplant was a bad mix, and it was his money funding the deal. I also managed to annoy the other salesmen, as the yard manager was now asking why they didn't clean cars too. Bad day, that one.
The yard I worked in was not a very good yard (bad location and some slightly sad stock), so I soon learned that you had to leap on any whiff of interest and also recognise the cars in the yard that appeal.
One friday, we had a family come in looking for a first car for their son who'd just gotten his license. The young lad, much like many other young men, wanted a car with a bit of shove but also communicated that they were inclined towards Fords.
We only had two Ford Falcons in stock at the time, one being a FPV that was only a couple of years old, and way out of budget, and the other being a much older XR6 that was a little tired. They left their details, but went to look further afield.
The next day, early on a saturday morning, one of our trade-ins got delivered after the customer collected their new car. It was Purple Falcon XR8, and would fall into the ballpark that this young man claimed to be looking for. Problem is that customers rarely clean their trade-in when they collect their new car, and cleaners don't work saturdays. So after calling the young man to confirm that he could come in that day, I was off into the cleaning bay with the trade-in, rolling up my sleeves and trying not to get the dirt, grease, old burgers and other junk on me, while scrubbing this car inside and out.
It wasn't as grand as a professional detail from the cleaners, but the car was presentable and the nasty stink on the inside was gone.
Didn't sell him the XR8 though. I think the dad had an unfortunate moment of clarity realising that his son behind the wheel a 5L powerplant was a bad mix, and it was his money funding the deal. I also managed to annoy the other salesmen, as the yard manager was now asking why they didn't clean cars too. Bad day, that one.
Monday, 13 January 2014
Getting a bargain
On quite a few occassions, when people find out that I worked as car salesperson for a time, they will then ask what can they do to ensure they get the best price. Its actually quite a silly question, but I do understand where they're coming from. The answer actually isn't something most people want to hear though, as it is the same answer for any purchase you make:
Basically, if you want to do minimal effort and just show up and buy something, then you need to be prepared that most of the time, you wouldn't have gotten the best deal around. When it comes to thinks like milk, or a pair of sneakers, then it isn't a big deal. But when it comes to the bigger things in life, such as cars, a little bit of effort goes a long way.
It surprises me that people don't accept this for cars. Instead they want some magic keyword, like a secret masonic handshake, that unlocks the wholesale price without haggling. Or they can't understand why, when they ring the dealership and ask for the "best price", the sales person just laughs them off.
Ultimately, the salesperson wants you in the yard, as they make money by making a sale. Selling a car cheaper than anyone else, means that they aren't making as much money as they should. And as I've mentioned in a past post, they're still a business and bills need to get paid.
But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything you can do. There may be some tricks to torture and put the screws on the salesperson, but ultimately that is both inconsiderate and hypocritical for the buyer.
Just do your research. This means:
Bottom line; if you don't do your research and don't know what the best price is, then its pretty silly to ask the salesperson to give it to you.
Do your research.
Basically, if you want to do minimal effort and just show up and buy something, then you need to be prepared that most of the time, you wouldn't have gotten the best deal around. When it comes to thinks like milk, or a pair of sneakers, then it isn't a big deal. But when it comes to the bigger things in life, such as cars, a little bit of effort goes a long way.
It surprises me that people don't accept this for cars. Instead they want some magic keyword, like a secret masonic handshake, that unlocks the wholesale price without haggling. Or they can't understand why, when they ring the dealership and ask for the "best price", the sales person just laughs them off.
Ultimately, the salesperson wants you in the yard, as they make money by making a sale. Selling a car cheaper than anyone else, means that they aren't making as much money as they should. And as I've mentioned in a past post, they're still a business and bills need to get paid.
But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything you can do. There may be some tricks to torture and put the screws on the salesperson, but ultimately that is both inconsiderate and hypocritical for the buyer.
Just do your research. This means:
- Get to know what you want. You can't know what a good price to pay for a car is, if you don't know what car you want. You need to invest time in writing down your needs, then looking at different cars to see what fulfils those needs.
- Once you have a shortlist of cars you want, or ideally have even identified just the one car you want, you can then start utilising the internet to see what price this car is going for in different dealerships across your city. If the car is not brand new, then you can even start looking at the private market to see the prices there.
- When it comes to new cars, not all dealerships will list the price of what they have in stock. But there are many that will, and this will give you an idea on what to expect. Some yards will be cheaper and they can achieve that as perhaps they focus on getting more of their profit through finance or accessories, and they won't have room left on the price to haggle. Generally the cheapest price on a new car that you find online, is going to be the lowest price you can haggle to. If that dealership is not close to you, you can take their advert to your closest dealer, and see if they'll match it.
NOTE: Occassionally you'll get a yard who has a new vehicle ridiculously cheap. This is because they have allocated 1 or 2 vehicles to be sold at cost but to serve as a legitimate headline to pull customers into the yard. Once those 1 or two specific vehicles are sold though, you won't be able to get that price. So if you want to use their advert to beat another yard down, you need to know if that first yard still has those headline vehicles still available. - Ultimately, be prepared to walk. Just because Dealership A has the car at $20,000, doesn't mean that Dealership B (closer to your house) can beat it, or even match it. Every dealership has different margins and may have different amounts owing on their stock that they need to recover, so if they can't (or won't) get to the price you want, then just politely thank them and bid them good day. Sometimes the price they are offering you, really may be the lowest that that yard can go to.
- Just a reminder that a used vehicle dealership can't match the prices you see in the private market. This is because any business has overheads, and you're getting a warranty (however limited), whereas in the private market its 'caveat emptor'.
Bottom line; if you don't do your research and don't know what the best price is, then its pretty silly to ask the salesperson to give it to you.
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