Everything I Needed to Know About Buying Cars, I Learned From Schlocky Car Salesmen
December 10, 2009
Years ago when I was single and had to buy my first car on my own, I realized that I had enormous trepidation about car salesmen, particularly since I am a woman. Gee I wonder why? The reason is because I should have good reason to be afraid of fear them. They are very scary!
But thanks to my training in the blessed field of NLP (which is the structure of the mastery of everything), I decided that before I could buy a car, I need to study the structure of how salesmen sell cars. Boy was that a riot!
This way of thinking however changed the situation from being freaked out to having fun in an instant. Instead of feeling like prey to predatory car salesman, I took on the role of secret agent. I decided that I was going to let them work their shtick on me and that way I would know what they were up to.
Definition: Shtick (Yiddish) (שטיק) comic theme or gimmick. Sounds like a car salesman right?
So off I went to car land ready to be mauled by the big bad car selling bears. First stop on my tour was the Philly Auto Mall. This place is known for both the best prices AND the most sleezy salesman – a two-for-one bargain! If I wanted to see great shticks in action, this was the place. I was not disappointed.
One of them was so good he almost had me buy a car that I didn’t even want! His trick phrase was, “I’m pretty sure this great car is going to be gone by this afternoon. You’re not gonna find another deal like this.” Now I’m no dummy but this stupid trick almost worked on me. I realized later that his dumb suggestion had gone right into my unconscious mind.
I found myself driving home thinking, “Hmm, maybe I better go back there.” Then it hit me, WHAM, this was one of those shady tricks that salesmen use to get you to buy. It wasn’t a great car. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t like him or the car dealership. It wasn’t even the best deal. There was no real reason I should have bought that car. But he used the famous scarcity principle of act now or it won’t be here later and it almost worked on me. Me who usually knows what I want and is not a pushover. DAMN!
This made me mad enough that I decided to up the ante on them. Now I was determined that not only were they not going to work their tricks on me, but I was going to learn their tricks and then work them back on them!
So here’s what I did. I realized that I needed to find the one key thing that gets car a salesman down on his knees practically begging you to buy his car while giving you the best price.
In other words what is the real secret to their negotiations? What has them bargaining to win you as sale, not just pretending to? By going to yet one more car dealer and focusing on just this aspect of the deal, I discovered the trick to getting a trul amazing car deal.
Want the secret? Here it is.
Car salesmen get down on their knees when they think that you are going to buy the car right now. Timing is everything. You can’t be looking around, can’t be fact gathering, can’t be comparing prices etc. If they think you’re still shopping around, they will play with you like a cat bats around a mouse but doesn’t kill it.
But if you walk in and are ready to buy right now they will jump in for the kill. My key phrase was, “I am ready to buy a car right now. What can you do for me?” When you use this phrase car salesmen will:
1. start salivating
2. not be able to stop salivating
3. go for the kill
And in the car world, the kill means getting a good deal. They will be so eager to sell you a car that they won’t even notice that you are working a deal on them! Because they believe you are truly ready to shell out your hard earned cash, they will do everything they can to help you with that. And they won’t even notice (tee hee) that you are forcing them to the drawing table.
When you are ready to buy, they are ready to sell. Before that they are basically taking a nap while pretending to walk around awake.
I tried this out at a Kia Dealer. I had absolutely no intention of buying a Kia, but boy did I generate a good deal for one. When the deal was finally on the table and I was able to see how far they would go, I simply said, “Oops, I changed my mind,” and walked out. Boy were they pissed. But what could they do? I figured it was their own karma boomeranging back on them. Because they in fact taught me everything I needed to know about buying cars. Thanks gentlemen!
After that I went straight to the Honda dealer and bought my fab new car with nearly no effort. Woo-hoo! And I’ve had her for over six years and she’s still driving strong.
Later after I had bought it a male friend said to me, “You got the car for that price??? How did you do that!” And that’s how I knew I had hit the bullseye.
So if there is anything you want to do better or learn the secrets of then study, study, study. Then go out and use it and report back!
Yours in learning from everything life has to offer, Annie
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The (beautifully) simple underlying factor in the case of dealing with car salesmen (or anyone else for that matter) is to understand where they are coming from. If you can work out what drives them (in the particular situation you’re dealing with them in), what motivates them, and what their world looks and feels like, you stand a much, much better chance of being able to deal with them successfully.
Your solution is right on. When I moved into my apartment a few years ago I read a New York Magazine article that said the price of EVERYTHING is negotiable. So I went back to the antique store where I had spotted a dresser that I really loved. I told the salesman take $xxx now in cash on the spot and you’ve got a deal (this was 25% below the asking price). After his initial shock, he conferred with the manager — done. I have friend who regularly negotiates prices with Saks and other stores — even high-end department stores will deal.
Very interesting article. I have always taken male friends to buy cars. Not one car I bought all by myself.
How come these car salesmen intimidate women but not men? A friend of mine went with her husband and the car salesman asked her … and what color would you like Mam? That was the only decision she was eligible for?
Thank you for sharing this story Annie! I can think of a lot of ways where NLP can help here (-;