Friday, June 25, 2010

My Illustrious Career...Part Eighteen

It was early in 1986, and being pretty new in town, and not
having a stellar work history, I needed to get a job quickly.
I applied as a car salesman, even though I had no experience
doing this. They took me on anyway.

I worked for a Toyota dealer, and our job was to hang around
'The Point'...a small concrete walkway where customers would
first arrive when heading towards the new car lot.

The job was commission-only, and with several of us salesmen
working at the same time, we would take turns approaching
customers.

My job was not so much selling, negotiating, or closing as it
was just getting the customer interested enough to go inside,
sit down with a closer, and talk about it. I was the one who
got to take them out on test drives, demonstrate the car, and
find out what their interest level was.

Once I got them to go inside the dealership and talk with a
manager, my part was done...and that was fine with me. I had
done enough sales so far to know that I really wasn't in the
mood to try to talk them into a sale or discuss pricing.

Once the deal was closed, I did get my little commission for
getting things started, I think it was about seventy-five
dollars to me if it turned into a sale. That wasn't really too
bad of a deal, I was able to get a few turns done per week,
the people I worked with were all pretty cool, and I didn't
have to do any hard labor for a change.

I did find out a few things about car dealerships, though.
Amazingly, I learned that they really don't make that much
profit on a new car...whatever they have on the sticker is
what you are going to pay, even with that sticker price, the
profit they make on the car after buying it from the factory
is only a few hundred dollars. That's not a lot of profit when
you are talking about a price tag of 20-40 thousand dollars.

They don't go inside the dealership and start haggling about
the price of the car...what they are discussing is financing.
As you probably know if you have ever bought a car from a
dealer, they are going to make their money on interest, length
of loan, and whatever kind of 'extras' and maintenance
contracts they can load onto the deal.

If I had stuck with the dealer, I could have eventually become
one of these pro 'closers' and made the real money...but I had
no desire to do that, nor did I agree with the morality of it.

So when one of my past buyers offered me a job with his
company as a Real Estate Appraiser, I accepted the offer. It
was normal daytime work, weekends off, and since I had a little
bit of real estate knowledge, I figured this would help me.

After I quit the car salesman job, I found out that this person
had only just started his company, and was still building it up.
He wasn't really in a position to pay anything as yet.
(I guess I should have discussed all this before I jumped in,
but the guy was pretty persuasive with what he promised me).

But it all worked out in the end, because there was a liquor
distribution company I had been trying to get into for some
time, and one day, out of the blue, I finally got a call from
them!

So near the end of 1986, at the age of 30, I secured what was
going to be for me one of the best jobs I have ever had!

Peace be with you.

11 comments:

  1. Liquor distribution... that should be really interesting!

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  2. Wow! This was a three job post! You have really gotten around my friend!

    I've known a few car salesman also. The poor guy working the lot is not making a lot of money. They are generally okay guys, but being a "closer" is not my idea of making an honest living.

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  3. i always feel so bad for those greeters at the car dealerships. I mean they are hounds because that is their job but they can be annoying at the same time. Often you just want to be a looky-loo and not have someone desperate to sell. But I have always been courteous to these people because it is their job. Like Pat said this is really a three part job expose...you should really re-title it my illustrious career part 18.19 and 20.

    Thanks for you kind words on my blog. I could really use all the good thoughts I can get right now...it has been a really rough two years for me!

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  4. Exciting! So many jobs! That means such a great experience, Joe :)
    ~B :)

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  5. Yes, perhaps I should combine these...but then the posts would be too long, and I don't think people really like to read long posts. But I think I may be right at the half-way point now in the jobs I have had.

    Susie...good luck next week, it should go OK. My bride had that done, and it is a lot easier than it used to be. She was only down about a week.

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  6. again, i am so impressed at the detail you can remember these things.
    its wonderful.

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  7. It feels good to finally get a call from one you have been wanting, the real estate license came in handy again I see and the Car Sales is one I would not want, I have actually known a couple and they were either doing really well or starving to death depending on the market.

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  8. Joe, sitting here wishing someone, anyone would offer me a job, I am jealous of your different ventures and enjoying your employment tales so much. Part of me wonders if all of these opportunities came your way due to where you lived or just a different economy.

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  9. Wait, I don't mean you're worthy, I just mean like you make it sound so easy to get a new job!

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  10. oops, I meant "not worthy" - I swear I'm not drunk blog commenting, I'm just overtired.

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  11. Ally...drunk blogging again?
    I don't know if 'opportunities' is the right word...when you don't have any skills, all you can do is pick up the newspaper and find something in the want ads. Believe me, it was not by choice that I ran through all these jobs, it was the only way to make a living.

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