Being polite in the car business

Your mother always told you to mind your manners, be polite, and to say thank you. Little did she know, that advice can save you quite a bit of money on your next purchase.

There have been surveys released by the NADA stating that customers would rather go to the dentist than to shop for a new or used car. The car buying process can be extremely stressful for some consumers. The problem arises when that stress turns into aggravation and annoyance that is released towards the dealership and their staff.

Dealers have thick skins, it's just the name of the game. The abuse an average dealer puts up with in the name of sales and profit are sometimes unreal. I've seen everything from customers jumping up and down on the hood of their own car screaming obscenities (over not qualifying for a loan), to old ladies throwing a used diaper (yes, theirs) at a service writer because her oil change was taking too long. You cannot affect change inside of a dealership at any point with negative behavior, they are immune to it.

On the reverse of that, most dealers are suckers for a thank you and a smile. Even customers who get great deals and customer service leave with a sour taste in their mouth assuming they missed something and still were taken advantage of. So a genuinely polite and appreciative customer cuts through a dealer employee's defenses like a laser.

I've personally been involved with hundreds of cases where a customer was upset with something that was a simple fix. But because of their abusive, vulgar and dehumanizing behavior they were thrown out and told never to return. I've also seen cases on the other end of things where a customer that is truly in trouble and is asking for help gets what they need even if it costs the dealer thousands of dollars.

Your manners in the negotiation of the deal can get the salesman on your side. I've heard the quote "c'mon man, these people are really nice" used to close more than one desk manager in my days.

I recently had a conversation with a customer on the phone. She was upset because a car she bought a year ago had a blend door go bad, a small $40 dollar part. I answer the phone and the first words out of her mouth, before I even finished saying hello, were curse words insulting me, my mother, wishing I died, hoping we burned etc. It was amazing, and again, dealers have thick skins. I calmly asked the lady "what did you expect to accomplish? Make yourself feel better or to get your car fixed?". She answered she wanted her car fixed. I then asked what she would do if I called her, said the things she said and then asked for help? There was a long silence on the other end.

Be prepared when you go to the car dealership and try and make it as positive as an experience as you can for yourself. If you do this and keep a smile on your face, you might save yourself quite a bit of money or get your problems fixed with very little hassle.