The famous car salesman – is it possible to still make a decent car salesman salary?
A Car Salesman Smiles As He Recommends A Vehicle
While car salesmen get a bad rap, with 98% of the world thinking they are slime balls, some car salespeople are honest and hard working.
That’s not to say the future is bright for car salesmen…the prospects from the car company failure, the bailouts, the financial crisis, it all means the domestic car industry is under pressure, and that means car salesmen are having a harder time to sell cars and thus earn a decent car salesman salary. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is estimating that the entire employment in the car dealerships around the country will decline, except for jobs in customer service.
The two main points to remember about the car salesman salary jobs are:
- Workers who have a college degree and previous sales experience will have the best opportunities for sales jobs.
- Average weekly earnings are higher than in other retail industries
US Car Salesman Salary Average
Anyways, what IS a decent car salesman salary anyways?
Well, the gov’t says the median salary is $18.91/hour. And the funny thing is most car salesmen work largely on commission (normally, a good dealership will start you off with a salary you can live on for the first few months, and then put you onto a commission structure that will require you to sell cars to get enough money to live on).
At $18.91/hour, the average annual salary for a retail car salesman salary in a dealership is $39,332/year as of May, 2010. Many car salesmen work more than 40 hours to earn a good wage, since they are paid for performance. Car salesmen that work in a high traffic dealership will earn more than those that work in a sleepy town.
Personal ability will affect income more than anything. Some people can sell stuff, and most people can’t. That’s why the turnover for the car salesman salary jobs is high. Lots of people give up after a month or two, because they can’t sell the cars.
The Top End – Car Salesman Salary BMW Jobs
I’m not going to cream coat this job opportunity, but one thing that is true is income is all over the map…from begging for food, to living like a doctor, it’s that broad.
One place where things can be extremely good is getting a car salesman salary at a BMW dealership. BMW are premium cars, and the dealerships tend to be ideally situated to get lots of qualified clientele. If you are a top end salesperson at a top end BMW dealership, here’s how one discusssion put it:
I think it is safe to say that most average BMW sales people are in the $50-70k range, with the better sales people in the $70-120k range, an the all-stars are $120k+. This last category of [All Star] people is small, and it consists of people that are usually in the larger dealerships in major markets.
When they say major markets, it means southern California, or downtown Manhattan…
Non-Dealership Car Salesman Salary Average
There is a huge difference in income between car salesman jobs in dealerships and in non-dealerships. Where car salesmen are not working in a dealership, the average hourly wage drops to just $9.86/hour, or $20,508/year for a car salesman job. That’s barely enough to house and feed a young family. You honestly could do better as a garbage man.
Customer Service And The Car Salesman Salary
With the Internet and the ability for everyone to exchange information, it is making it harder for poor dealerships to survive. People research their purchase before they go in, and when they find information about bad experiences, they steer clear of that dealership, or even that make of car!
So nowadays, hip dealerships are getting really cool with customer service…making sure the customers leave happy, get what they want, and don’t fill the forums with complaints…and it is in those dealerships, where customer service is taken highly, that a new trend is growing – the non commission car salesman salary jobs. It seems completely counter-intuitive, but some dealerships are now putting their salesmen on fixed salary income, and adding benefits like sick leave, dental, and more.
This slow transition to the fixed income car salesman salary jobs means that wages will stabilize. It still means you’ll need to sell cars…probably there is a fixed quota to sell, if you want to keep your job, but the income you make with a full salary job is generally better than a pure commission arrangement.
If a car salesman salary doesn’t seem ideal for you, you may want to consider other incomes such as an EKG technician salary, a sonographer salary, or even a paramedic job.
Car Salesman Salary in Canada
Things in Canada, and especially Ontario, are pretty much identical to the USA market. You can starve pretty easy. It’s the “many are called but few are chosen” thing…same situation. Some better dealerships are quicker to put salespersons on a fixed salary, to make sure they don’t starve. But just like America, if you can’t move 7+ cars a month, it’s out the door you go.
What You Need
To get into the better dealerships, you should have a college degree of some sort (arts, science, anything, really)…and some previous sales experience.
Car Salesman And Automotive Associations
National Automobile Dealers Association
8400 Westpark Drive
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 821-7000 or (800) 252-6232
nadainfo@nada.org
http://www.nada.org/
Car Salesman Salary Stories
The world is full of stories about car salesmen that failed miserably, and other stories about car salesman that had little gigs that did $200k per year…so if you have an interesting story about our car salesman salary report here, why not share it with our community?
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•how much do car salesmen make in canada
I have been selling Ford vehicle for just less than 20 years in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Income really depends on the dealership you are working at. If they are willing to train a new salesperson properly and give you the time to build your own selling style. Find a dealership that follow you standards and morals, I hate to say but each dealership has its own standards, some high, some very low. I was fortunate I worked for a family owned dealership and created my own style of selling. I am much more laid back than most. I will not “convince” someone into a vehicle that does not suit them, and I will tell them my opinion if I have reserves about a certain used vehicles that I know will not be in there best interest. In other words I can go home and feel good about myself. In my opinion the vehicle sales I have lost due too doing the right thing have been outwieghed by these customers that have came back after and bought off me due to being level and fair with them. As for income I am in the middle of the road, I am a good closer when I have the right vehicle for them and do my best to get them into it. That being said income wise I have been consistantly been in the 65k – 75k per year earning. I find a increase each year. The last 3 years have far been the best for me. Also I only average 35-50 hours a week at work. There are only a handful of people that can handle the stress of unknown income, management pressures and customer fears of dealerships. Belive me most people are completely different when they come, they have a wall up that needs to be taken down. They are afraid of being taken advantage of. In a way I dont blame them. I have heard some horror stories. Your major income will usually come from Superduty trucks, halftons, and sport utilities. Used is another really good source of income, hopefully you are at a dealership that takes the time to fully recondition the vehicle before it hits the lot. Nothing worse than having a customer with mechanical problems after you sell it. It makes you look bad for selling it, (if it was a issue that should have been dealt with at reconditioning) and your customer will lose confidence in the dealership and spread that around.
To sum it up, if you feel you can spend a good amount of time with a customer. Be able to ask them to spend 10-90k with you because of the relationship you have built with him or her and ask for there business. You will stand a good chance of selling. Also a huge thing is to be able to handle the stress the management wil place apon you to get the sale done and the pressure the customer will place upon you.
This is a great business if you can handle the downfalls. People over all are fantastic and it is never dull and boring. I find it great a great job to be in.