Costa (@costacreatescardeals) uses TikTok as a means of expanding his business’ reach, covering a wide variety of car salesman techniques and letting customers know what they can expect whenever they enter a dealership.
In a recent post, he explains why some car sales reps will involve a manager in the sales process. According to Costa, this isn’t a bad thing and folks shouldn’t get on an employee’s case for doing this.
“Have you ever been to a car dealership,” he starts, “where right before you’re about to part with your car salesman—of which you probably spend a good amount of time with—they bring the sales manager to come and speak to you?”
According to Costa, there’s a “method behind the madness.”
He explains how there is a cost associated with “every customer” who visits the dealership.
“These dealerships have massive campaigns and ads that cost a certain amount of money and at the end of the month,” he says, “the amount of customers that walk through the showroom floor, they take that cost and divide it by the amount of customers, and it spits out a number of how much they’re investing on every single customer.”
He says the reason managers involve themselves in your dealings with a salesperson is to make sure that a dealership’s “investment” is being protected. That is, that the money they’re spending on ad campaigns to bring folks in has the highest chance of resulting in a sale.
“I’ve closed many deals where a salesperson comes and tells me, ‘Hey can you come speak to this person before they leave?’” Costa shares. “And you go speak to them and you end up making it a deal.”
He concludes, “So it’s always about protecting the investment of the dealership. Tell me what y’all think and don’t be mad at your salesperson for getting a manager involved.”
@costacreatescardeals THATS WHY WE ASK HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US! #carsalesman #dealershiplife #financemanager #fypage #viral #sales #carsoftiktok #carsalesmanager ♬ original sound – costacreatescardeals
Customers aren’t fans of this approach
Several viewers said they weren’t exactly big fans of this method. One person wrote that they thought Costa’s breakdown of my sales reps enlisting the help of managers was “shady.”
Another wrote, “Some people genuinely like to explore options not buy from the 1st dealership they go to.”
One commenter assured Costa that they don’t get mad whenever a sales rep attempts to bring a sales manager into the situation.
“I don’t get mad, but I tell them point blank, and politely, that if we aren’t able to make the deal happen I’m not talking to the manager,” they said. “It’s why I ensure I have my keys and ID.”
Someone else said that they aren’t exactly happy with the entire-holding-a-customers-keys-hostage strategy either: “Yeah and they have your keys and you ask them and they just look at you. It’s pisses me off.”
While another user on the app echoed this sentiment, writing: “I’ve seen customers closed by sales managers just because the customer felt like they are being taken more serious because they are ‘dealing with the boss’.”
Another person on the app broke down Costa’s speech, writing, “To give you the ‘I respect you want to buy it at a low price but the dealership has bills to pay and we have to make a bit of money’ speech. That’s why I buy online.”
The Daily Dot has reached out Costa via TikTok comment.
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