This past week, I completed my first full week at Beach Ford as a sales consultant, even though I haven't started selling cars yet. So far it has been all sales training. I had a couple of days on the computer taking certification/qualification tests and then last Wednesday I started a training class put on by AutoMax. It was an interesting course which I got a lot of good advice, had a decent amount of reinforcement for various procedures, and did some slight wrestling with the moral ambiguity of my new career.
It's the quasi-elephant in the room as well as the slight hesitation that every one gets when I tell them what I'm doing now. As a car sales consultant, one thing that has given me comfort about the job is that, I'm there to make sure people get what they need in a vehicle. We've all heard stories of people buying things in excess of what the need because it's what they want, heck, my iPad was a purchase of want and nothing close to need. I still don't need it. Now, as I mentioned before I'm there to help car buyers truly figure out what it is will fit them and there needs and not to sell them something they'll get no value out of. The AutoMax trainer was asked in class if he ever felt guilty for selling anyone a vehicle they don't need or they couldn't afford, and he said no, because he never has. Through credit checks and getting to know people (which he was very good at) he would refuse to sell certain vehicles to people because it would put them in a bad place financially or wouldn't be what they needed. That's the standard I want to hold myself to in this job. I'm not sleazy or underhanded, and I try to make wise decisions based on the situation. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I know what the stereo-typical car salesman is, and I don't want that to be me.
Anyway, back to Beach Ford. Tomorrow I will start with more dealership specific training and this week I will officially start selling cars. I must say I'm actually chomping at the bit to get out there and start meeting clients. One of the things that excites me the most is getting to meet a wide array of people from all sorts of backgrounds. So, here's hoping all goes well with that and I'll definitely update once I sell my first car.
In my previous post I mentioned that I had accepted a position at a homeschool support organization called KEYS (Kingdom Education for Young Scholars). My position with KEYS had me working with two different ensembles. Both ensembles were small (I had seven students between the two groups). You may notice that I am referring to the position in the past tense, this is because I've had to resign from my position at KEYS. It was an extremely difficult decision to come to and one I didn't make lightly, but it's what was best for me. I wasn't going to be able to work for both KEYS and Beach Ford because of scheduling issues and so this past week I formally resigned from the position at KEYS.
As I mentioned, it was an extremely difficult decision for me. I had already had two class periods with the students and had already started to fall in love with them and teaching music truly is my passion in life. Unfortunately, my work at KEYS wasn't going to pay the bills. It's also difficult in the sense that, I had to give up something I absolutely love for something I don't know very much about, car sales. So, while I'm excited about my opportunity at the Ford dealership, I have had some somber moments in retrospect to KEYS. I hate that I let the kids down. I hate that I couldn't commit to them like I wanted and intended to. I failed them, and that's something I never thought I would, or could do...
That being said, I do believe that God has continued to provide me opportunities and has guided me thus far and that the position at the dealership is where I'm meant to be. Because of this I also have faith that the students will move on and grow in a way that I couldn't have imagined.
That's all for now. As I mentioned, I'll post again once I sell my first car. Until next time (hopefully soon). Peace Out!
Gabe
It's the quasi-elephant in the room as well as the slight hesitation that every one gets when I tell them what I'm doing now. As a car sales consultant, one thing that has given me comfort about the job is that, I'm there to make sure people get what they need in a vehicle. We've all heard stories of people buying things in excess of what the need because it's what they want, heck, my iPad was a purchase of want and nothing close to need. I still don't need it. Now, as I mentioned before I'm there to help car buyers truly figure out what it is will fit them and there needs and not to sell them something they'll get no value out of. The AutoMax trainer was asked in class if he ever felt guilty for selling anyone a vehicle they don't need or they couldn't afford, and he said no, because he never has. Through credit checks and getting to know people (which he was very good at) he would refuse to sell certain vehicles to people because it would put them in a bad place financially or wouldn't be what they needed. That's the standard I want to hold myself to in this job. I'm not sleazy or underhanded, and I try to make wise decisions based on the situation. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I know what the stereo-typical car salesman is, and I don't want that to be me.
Anyway, back to Beach Ford. Tomorrow I will start with more dealership specific training and this week I will officially start selling cars. I must say I'm actually chomping at the bit to get out there and start meeting clients. One of the things that excites me the most is getting to meet a wide array of people from all sorts of backgrounds. So, here's hoping all goes well with that and I'll definitely update once I sell my first car.
In my previous post I mentioned that I had accepted a position at a homeschool support organization called KEYS (Kingdom Education for Young Scholars). My position with KEYS had me working with two different ensembles. Both ensembles were small (I had seven students between the two groups). You may notice that I am referring to the position in the past tense, this is because I've had to resign from my position at KEYS. It was an extremely difficult decision to come to and one I didn't make lightly, but it's what was best for me. I wasn't going to be able to work for both KEYS and Beach Ford because of scheduling issues and so this past week I formally resigned from the position at KEYS.
As I mentioned, it was an extremely difficult decision for me. I had already had two class periods with the students and had already started to fall in love with them and teaching music truly is my passion in life. Unfortunately, my work at KEYS wasn't going to pay the bills. It's also difficult in the sense that, I had to give up something I absolutely love for something I don't know very much about, car sales. So, while I'm excited about my opportunity at the Ford dealership, I have had some somber moments in retrospect to KEYS. I hate that I let the kids down. I hate that I couldn't commit to them like I wanted and intended to. I failed them, and that's something I never thought I would, or could do...
That being said, I do believe that God has continued to provide me opportunities and has guided me thus far and that the position at the dealership is where I'm meant to be. Because of this I also have faith that the students will move on and grow in a way that I couldn't have imagined.
That's all for now. As I mentioned, I'll post again once I sell my first car. Until next time (hopefully soon). Peace Out!
Gabe
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