A class of their own

For as long as I can remember, car salesmen have been painted as being untrustworthy. They smile just a little too wide and their teeth sparkle just a little too bright.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of accompanying mum and dad to an auto dealership. They finally settled on a 2003 Toyota Corolla. I love Toyotas. My first car was one, actually. We (the family) then got a Mazda which was a horrid green. Glad to have gotten rid of it. This new one is a nice silver. Personally, I would have preffered something more unconventional but it does belong to my parents. Funny that cars should cost so little here compared to Malaysia. For the same price we sold our '02 Proton Waja, we could buy 2003 Toyota Corolla. Awesome, isn't it? But some of what we gained from the purchase of the car, we lost in paying for the insurance.

Rick was the name of our salesperson. He was very friendly but as many salesmen, he went straight for the kill. The first words that came out of his mouth were ' First, I need to know who is looking.' He then went on to shake my dad's hand and proceeded to speak directly to him and only him. Weird isn't it? They work in such a predictable way that you'd think there was a course/ syllabus for all car salespeople. Hmm, perhaps there is.

After taking out 2 of the cars for test-drives, the deal was cut. The transformation was amazing. We were invited to step into his office in which the negotiations began. This too was a curious thing. He looked at my dad and said - you look like a one figure man. By this he meant that my dad would most likely not enjoy haggling back and forth. Then began his rounds of businessmen tricks, which include:

-offering us coffee
- going to talk to his 'boss' about trying to bring down the price ( 4 different times)
- projecting the image that he was actually on our side vs. the boss
- a serious, non-smiling face throughout the negotiations

These are just the ones I've noticed. In a Social Psyc class last summer, I remember learning about all these. Among one that is frequently used is the foot-in-the-door technique where they will get you to do something small before askinf you to do something big. It has been found that people are more likely to agree to the big thing after agreeing to do the small thing.

So then even the way he worded his sentences was interesting.

' I want you to take this one on a test drive, and then the other one'

' I'm on your side, I don't care what the boss says to me'

After all was done, then you could see his real smile.