I recently read an article in Businessweek dated back in late 2006 entitled “Death of The Car Salesman“. So I went online to try and find it by googling the term “death of the car salesman”. Of course I made the mistake and typed in “death of a salesman”, and there are lot’s of links pertaining to the latter.
This article states some pretty uneasy things regarding Car Sales. The future looks rather disheartening if you take this article to be true, if you are in fact a Car Salesman, like myself.
It mentions a time when selling cars for a living was such a glamourous life, and the salesman lived a life “on the town”.
Not so long ago selling cars was one of the best ways to make a living without a college degree. Talk to a car-lot veteran, and chances are he’ll rhapsodize about the go-go 1980s, when earning $100,000 a year wasn’t uncommon and tooling around in Cadillacs and Porsches de rigueur. The hours were long, but those willing to work into the evening were richly rewarded. At some dealerships, cash bonuses were handed out every day–and often spent that night at local hot spots. Bert Sadler was 19 when he began selling Lincolns in the ’80s. “I made $7,500 my first month,” says Sadler, who until recently ran a Ford store in Wichita. “I had a pretty wild lifestyle. The life of a car salesman was glamorous.” (read more about “Death of The Car SalesMan“)
If you get the chance, click the link to this article and tell me what you think once you read it. I left my comments in the comments section. But my comments were directed toward other people in the car business.
There are those who believe that the internet will get rid of the “Car Salesman” and be replaced by a salaried customer service representative.
In recent years thousands of travel agents have gone under in the face of online competition. While the franchise laws preclude such a far-reaching revolution in the car business, industry watchers expect the Web to play a larger role over time. Under one scenario, says Edmunds.com Inc. analyst Jesse Toprak, buyers would work out the numbers online, then visit the dealer, where a salaried customer service agent would arrange financing and close the deal. (read more about “Death of The Car SalesMan”)
What do you think? Will this eventually happen? Is my job in danger of becoming extinct?
