Was talking to the missus yesterday on the following scenario:

Old biddy goes into the local Skoda shop and says "I want the basic Fabia in a plain colour with no extras". The price of this in the brochure is about £9835.

Is the salesman obliged morally or legally to say "but you could have a better car with metal paint for £900 cheaper" (ie, the latest 25% off SE model)?

This all assumes that the old biddy has not seen the many adverts for the 25%, and that she does not try to chip away at the price. My missus finds it really strange that the OTR prices are basically maximum prices which, depending on your skills at haggling and the needs of the dealer, might go down by quite a bit.

Anyway, look forward to the replies!

SR

I'd have thought that morally a good salesperson would offer the customer the option of the better car pointing out the various items that are of a higher specification than in the customer's original request.

With the amount of OAPs I see bimbling around in brand new base model hatchbacks, I doubt it. Let's not forget many of the older generation are reluctant when offered new and additional tech and just want to 'keep things simple'. At the end of the day if the dealer has an E on the forecourt to shift, she will be the one being handed the keys.

I thought the Salemans did right offering a better deal , more for her money

There's certainly no legal obligation on him to offer a different spec to one explicitly asked for.

Well this is what being a salesman is all about. The original question related to the customer saying that she wanted a basic model with no extras and in a plain colour.

The salesman will assess this person, who has made a very deliberate request, and might decide that they know exactly what they want and sell it to them. In other words, his focus was giving the customer what they asked for, and this person may well be perfectly happy with that.

Another person might be assessed differently. If they look like they're after a deal, or perhaps they think they can only afford a base model, he could turn out to be a hero for pointing out a better offer.

It's horses for courses, but with the ultimate goal of happy customers and therefore money in your pocket.

The salesman will assess this person, who has made a very deliberate request, and might decide that they know exactly what they want and sell it to them. In other words, his focus was giving the customer what they asked for, and this person may well be perfectly happy with that.

I suppose it depends on the salesman but I'd guess most of them wouldn't look a gift horse in the house. If the old 'un knows what she wants who is he to tell her different. You'll get some customers who'd kick off at him if he tried to help her get a better deal.

Edited 19 March, 201313 yr by Aspman

It's horses for courses, but with the ultimate goal of happy customers and therefore money in your pocket.

Absolutely - the salesman's goal is to balance maximising his profit on the sale with giving the customer a great experience such that they tell or their friends and secure repeat business in the future. Shame there are so many out there who don't appreciate that and just focus on their bottom line ... imho!

Chris

I would offer her the better specced car. It is usually a no brainer as companies have them readily available. A poverty spec car is not popular and would probably be a factory order whereas there are probably dozens of SEs sitting at Bristol and Felixstowe.

I used to be a salesman and bottom line is get as much as you can from the customer and making them feel as if they've had a great deal

I'm also in Sales and would probably tell the customer - It's only fair and gives them a choice. Perhaps they never considered it? Do they really know what they want? Why not try it as a passing comment?

Have you ever thought about this option? Do you like this colour paint instead? Then try a good old, if I can get you that spec/colour for less money that the other option do we have a deal?

In my experience people would always then go away say to others - 'Go to Rob, he was honest and gave me a great choice & deal'.