Its not a 9-5 job M-F. Thats why.

 

Time=Sales

 

Its fun to go out on test drives, but some days it gets old too.

 

Of course not. I was 100% comission based. You have to work weekends if you intend to make any money. Weekends is the best time of the week for sales.

I used to work about 65 hours per week. While I could swallow working on saturdays, I really hated working on sundays. Selling cars is pretty much governed by the rules of retail sales. If you have worked in retail before and don't mind putting 3-4 weekends a month, this job is for you

For those of you considering becoming MA's, I say...Do it! It is a very cool experience overall and the money is good depending on how good of a "listener" you are

At the interview, the "keyword" sales managers want to hear is "I want to make lots of money!"

That will get you in.

Loving the car and have vast first hand knowledge about it is all nice and good that alone won't get you a job in MINI sales.

 

OMG! That's insane!!!

 

Yep. I worked at a high traffic store. BTW, hi Christina I talked to you a lot right before I became a MA

 

I'd be an MA, but I'd force every customer to order PW because EVERYONE knows that it's the coolest color!!!

 

I would force Hot Orange and JCW kits...

 

Haha

We had a brand new 2005 MCSC in hot orange and with the JCW kit. MSRP was like $47K and the car would not sell. My sales manager marked it down to $42K and no takers. Most people when it saw it in the showroom were turned off by the color

Very beautiful car, but pricey as heck and with every option from the sales brochure.

Hot Orange is a very difficult color to sell...be warned!

This car is over a year and a half old and had not been sold by the time I left


On the other hand... Chili Red convertibles = easy sale.

 

Like I said loved the job and for a first time ever sales job, i think I did pretty good. But in the end I could not hack the long hours

Went right back into my "real" profession (Information Technology)

Now I have a 9-5 job, with no overtime requirements and free weekends

Maybe when I retire or decide to completely get away from the IT field, I may probably do it again. I left the doors open. My sales manager is a fantastic guy to work for.

 

Yea, about the hot orange sales, well they are low, and I think alot of dealerships ordered one loaded, most dealers could not sell them, because of the price. Most sat.

 

I like Hot Orange personally. Except, when Hot Orange convertibles are ordered with either GREEN or BLUE tops...eeeeek!!

 

Yo C4 ...

I would imagine the "worst" nightmare for any car salesperson would be knowledeable buyers. In other words, I think many MINI owners now do the research, know all the problems with the cars (e.g., yo yo, cold start stumble, etc). read the countless thread on the issues and the good parts ...

Then they come to a saleperson and if the salesperson isn't as knowledgable ... I would imagine that would be an issue? If you can't argue the different pros/cons of bigger rear sway bars, RFs/non-RFs, etc. I think it might a problem?

 

I am a MA, and have been since Feb of 02.
I love the job, and look for those knowledgeable customers. Like those who come in with print outs from website that show how to install certain tricky options - like bluetooth! HA !
Like Cy Syms said : "An educated customer is our best customer."
chows4us - we have friends with 2 chows who breed Maine Coon Cats!

 

I want to be a MA but... dont think I would let some people buy from me, which would prolly get me fired quickly. That and I have a career with a good retirement plan and health care benifits for me and the family. Not great but good.

 

Maine Coon Cats are COOL!!!

BTW, you really do like knowledgable customers or are you blowing smoke here?

Some of the people on this forum are "VERY" knowledgable

 

I'd love to be an MA, but it would be just as bad as when I worked at the Animal Emergency Hospital. Every unclaimed dog or cat came home with me. I just know I'd feel "sorry" for the MINIs that might not sell right away, I'd think about how they needed a loving home with lots of mods and a nice warm garage and BAM, I'd be signing papers!
I also buy the beat up "Charlie Brown" trees on the lot at Christmas .
Annette

 

Most of the customers I had were fairly knowledgeable about the car but not many were interested (apparently) into modding the car right away. I did have my share of SUV owners wanting to dump the gas guzzlers for MINIs. The last SUV customer I had wanted to get rid of a black 2004 Hummer H2.

 

I call BS. There is no way good MAs makes $144-180K a year while "lesser" ones only pull down $72-96K a year. If your going to lie at least make it believable...

 

That might not be too farfetched. About 15 years ago, I briefly worked as a salesman at "the world's largest Oldsmobile dealership" in Houston (they also sold Sterlings (remember them?) and Isuzus - talk about a hot lineup!) I sold a Cutlass Ciera and took home 1/2 the commission (I split with the other salesman who was training me) and it was about $250, if I remember right. At that time, the Ciera was the 2nd cheapest Olds available so I imagine Toronado or 98 Regency commissions would have been towards $800 or so. 10 cars a month (not much in a place with that kind of floor traffic) would have been probably $5K-8K/month. And again, that was 15 years ago . .

BTW - I quit the next day. Far, far too slimy for my comfort . .

 

My dealership, Long Beach MINI in SoCal, is not opened on Sundays so the MAs can go motoring! And yes, both of them own MINIs. The married one's wife also has a MINI now! (They all drove BMWs before.)

I want to be a MA but it would interfere with posting on NAM!

 

I agree that Hot Orange doesn't enjoy the widespread appeal of some of the other colours, but I think the bigger factor is that once you're talking about $40k-plus for a MINI, there are several other makes/models out there that start looking like pretty attractive alternatives to a potential buyer that doesn't have his heart set on a MINI.

I would think that even a Chili Red convertible would be a tough sale at $47k.

Scott

 

I would love 2 be a MA....but...I live 2 hours from my dealership..!!!
!!!

 

I'd do it. But I don't wanna step on Jarid's toes at Rasmussen MINI. Plus they are not open on Sundays either. They also close at 6PM every day. No late nights either.

I'd also have to give up my day job. Architecture.

 

My MA didn't seem like the happiest person in the world but I sensed it to be more of a clinical thing than working hours, etcetera... he did have almost exactly the same MINI that I placed an order for. He told me so. Good man! :-)
Work hours... I'm not sure about being an MA either but I wake at 4:30am and get home at 7:45pm on the days I work and I work every other Sat, Sun, Mon, regardless of holidays. It pays well but my job can be somewhat depressing. I've missed a lot of MINI events thanks to IBM's non-stop chip making business...