I've visited a few dealers recently and discussed Ducati with a few of their salesmen. One thing which is quite obvious is generally their lack of knowledge and/or interest in the brand, I'm not saying all but the ones I've visited. It frustrates the hell out of me that, for example, they don't know who Cal Crutchlow is, they ask you to refer to the website for info, they don't know how a quickshifter works, they don't know what a 916 is ........ Perhaps they don't need to sell the product, it sells itself, that the majority of buyers already own a Ducati and are simply trading up. Perhaps the buyer has already made his mind up before he gets to the showroom ? Surely if you sell motorbikes you need to have a general interest in the sport. What experience do you need to sell Ducati ? someone who's been in sales selling Ford or Peugeot who knows how to fill out a finance agreement or someone who has ridden bikes all his/her life, who shares the passion of owning a Ducati, knows the history of the brand, does the odd track day and probably has some mechanical experience, a bit like most of us on the forum. If I'm to part with £15k - £20k I want to share my love and interest in all things Ducati not how much my monthly payments are going to be.
I have been to a Ducati only dealer, who when I when I wanted to buy a 998 at the time was only interested in selling me the most expensive bike he had in the shop. He was only interested in the money and had little knowledge of the marque and showed no passion or even any real interest in anything other than getting me to part with cash. He was the owner\manager. They eventually went bust, I went elsewhere and ended up with a brand new 998 in the end. His loss.
I've sold cars for 12 years now so it guess I could sell them. I used to love cars and my life revolved around them. Now I couldn't care less. Cars are purely a method for me to earn a living and most successful car salesman feel the same. The key is having enough knowledge so you can share the customers excitement. Most of the sale isnt down to knowledge of a product but the ability to close the sale. If I sold bikes I'm worried it would kill my passion for that too. Plus every person I've spoken to who sells bikes says the money is rubbish and no company car so for a lot it's either a lifestyle choice or merely a stepping stone onto something better.
From my experience - a lot of the "salesmen" who work in big dealers are just that - salesmen. They don't know much about the product... Some are different, some are genuine bike enthusiasts - but they tend to be the smaller, family business type dealers. It's not just restricted to Ducati dealers though - I find a similar thing with most bike shops, car dealers, camera shops, pet shops, whatever... But, to answer the original question : could I sell them? Well, I reckon I know far more about Ducatis than the sales staff in my local dealer so yes, I could talk to customers about them and answer their questions. BUT the sales people know far more about actually process of selling stuff - the persuading people to buy stuff side of it - and that's the bit I probably couldn't do. I'm just not cynical enough to work the "hard sell" thing...
...and that's the problem, I can't remember the last time I bought a car from a salesman that was a proper enthusiast and really knew what he was selling. Trust me if you were to re-kindle some of your earlier passion about cars, you would sell more, selling is about enthusiasm, get the customer excited, show a sincere interest in them and they buy!
Big ding! Sold cars for something like 25 years, I can be enthuastic as far as the customer is concerned & yes I do know a little bit about them, I even own a couple (no company car either) of nice ones. However. They're just not a passion, just a means to an end... ...although the Ferrari 360 I got to go home in a couple of years ago, might have changed things if I could have brought myself to buy it!
Depends what you class as enthusiast. I sell ford , and I can tell you almost anything you would like to know about new ford cars. I've got a brilliant relationship with lots of customers and genuinely enjoy my job. I like selling , I like people and I like seeing folk happy with their new car. But do I like cars - nope. Am I enthusiast ? No , I don't go stand in a muddy field looking under the bonnet of a 10 year old fiesta. I went for a job interview about 8 years ago to sell bikes. It was a Yamaha franchise (Cmc) and I was told a good salesman would earn £20k a year. When i told them what i earn selling cars he understood why I looked so shocked. I guess a Ducati salesman would earn less as less volume of sales. This means that said salesman would probably struggle to buy a new Ducati probably hence their lack of onterest outside work ?
Doesn't this bring up the question of knowledge vs price ? I have heard over and over again about people getting advice from the place that knows what they are talking about to only go and buy from a big "superstore" or on the internet because it's cheaper. The true enthusiasts tend to work in smaller place where the product is more expensive, and most people would rather buy cheap than spend a bit more with someone who knows their subject...
One of the prime requirements for being a good salesman is 'know your product' ---- The other is 'know your customer' (That doesn't mean he's a mate; it means research the customer by asking the right questions and listening to what he says)
If a customer walks into a Ford showroom does he know what he/she wants ? presumably the sales person can offer lots of options ie estate, hatchback, saloon, petrol, diesel and then choose colours upholstery etc etc. If a customer walks into Ducati does he not already know he wants a Panigale ? therefore the sales person needs to share his interest in that bike, the history, the development, WSB, trackdays etc etc
Most customers have a very good idea what they want. We sometimes tweak this but most often they know. The internet had helped us over the last 5 years as people have knowledge at their finger tips. We sell 95% ka, petrol fiesta and focus. Most people just like to deal with someone normal who can talk a bit about cars, a bit about holidays , pets and stuff. People buy from people.
Or persuade a middle aged old crock like me with aching joints and a bad back to test ride a multi instead
Even with a car, I always know exactly what I want and what it costs. I only need the salesman to get the papers.
I could sale Ducati's I've been helping out in the shop for a long time and often enough the manager always say's you should quit your real job lol!! I could talk all day about Ducati's and yes I know alot about them aswell especially the newer models, plus I've ridden all of them so know quite a bit, Also I just generally like people and talking, I think I've proberly helped sell a few, it's always good when someone ask the manager about a bike, and he's occupied he will call me over and say Brad's owned this and ridden that blah blah blah lol, I think I would be p to the job, I LOVE IT!!
You would be classed as a "direct and determined" car buyer, I'm the same, however we are not in the majority, a study shows that 65% of car buyers are classed as "Cross-shoppers" which means salesmanship is key to successfully selling cars. Online Tracking Reveals Three Types of Car Shoppers | Dealerships content from WardsAuto
