So I’ve been shopping for an EV the past few weeks, and the last 4 dealerships I went to, the dealers all said the exact same thing. Whichever vehicle I went in to look at, the sales person would say “Oh, I own that vehicle as well, and I love it! I’d show it to you, but my wife has it today.”
Is this just a sales tactic, or a legit coincidence? I suppose it’s not strictly an EV thing, but this is the subreddit I’ve been browsing recently.
20 years ago, as an early adult, I worked sales for several dealers. The sales staff is trained to use tactics like these, and others, to build rapport and overcome objections. During the training it’s never framed as lying, it’s just tactics, tips, and tricks.
While my experience tells me that there are salespeople that are above using these tactics, instead leaning on knowledge and a genuine desire to help someone get what they want, they are absolutely the outlier. At the end of the day the salespeople class are financially motivated to get you to buy something from their stock at a price that most benefits their commission and quota; every interaction is potentially more in their paycheck and handled as such.
It was a shit job, as many people are openly hostile before you even introduce yourself (not unfairly, frankly), and shit experience for buyers.
I bought my Tesla M3 online and it was dropped off to my house with paperwork ready to sign. The sooner legacy autos find a way to drop commission salespeople and dealer markups the sooner they’ll be able to compete with the likes of Tesla and Rivian when it comes to actually giving customers a sales experience that leaves a positive sentiment.