Lexus recruitment day, any advice?

[Cotswold Pete]

Matt,

Only just seen the thread, best of luck.

I would say be yourself, be armed with knowledge of the product and then it is as much luck as hard work/effort.

I have a mate who used to be chief purser on QE2, and he walked into the Aston Martin dealership in Los Angeles and got a job in sales there and then.  He got the job becuase he had an english accent, and he made top salesman within 3 months.  Mainly becuase he knew little about cars (a shed load about ocean going liners) and so he listened to what the customer was saying and trying to find out what the client thought they might be wanting to drop a load of $$$ on.

A good salesman has two ears and one mouth, and should use them in that ratio.  The customer will have a WANT list and then there is a seperate NEEDS list which can be different. (Read Rob Jolles book - Customer Centered Selling)  I assume Lexus are not looking for the Smooth-Approach salesmans, but the conversationlist sales person who engages with the customer.  I would imagine most people looking for a car in a Lexus dealer are not looking for a deal (initially), but more a discussion of what might suit them.  Also treat all prospects the same, I have noticed that going into a Lexus dealership dressed like a man on how way to a DIY shop, I kind of get ignored, maybe they think I am not carry a big enough cheque book.  I was looking fo a car for the wife at the time, and decided I did not like being ignored.  However at the Ford dealership nearby I was talked to death by a salesman until they could not actually work out how serious I was (not really listenting to me), so then ignored me.

You may well get profiled by something like a Myers-Brigg test, so see whether you are too extrovert or too introvert and so on, as part of a filtering process

Be interested to hear what your experience is after Wednesday.

I would say that I spent 12 years training Hi-Tec sales people around the world, and I think it is not an easy thing to say 'what as salesperson is' other than the right fit for the right company and the right culture.

Fingers crossed for you

[Ala Larj]

Offer the interviewers coffee and biscuits!

 

Good luck.

[Matt1986]

Hi everyone. Just to update you on today. I didn't get through to the final selection but I did make it to the final 10 from the initial 30 on the day. It was a long day, I was there for 7 hours and that wasn't to the end. 

It was a mix of group tasks and a couple of individual ones including a small interview about why I wanted to join lexus and be a sales person and a telephone role play with a customer ringing for information. 

Interestingly two of the first ones to go were both already car salesmen and the few to get to the end were mostly very young guys 19 or 20 years old. 

Im obviously disappointed that I didn't get it but it was a valuable experience overall and i feel more confident that I could do the job. 

[Malc]

Sorry to read your news  ............... HOWEVER ............... as you have the passion to sell top quality cars then there will be a MUCH BETTER offer for you somewhere in this field, just treat this as a learning experience ............ how about selling Bentley or Rolls Royce classic and vintage cars ?

High quality, high end and lots of prestige money there I would think

Good luck with the future ..  the world is at your finger tips 

Malc

[steveledzep]

There are very odd recruitment procedures today Matthew.  Sorry you didn't succeed today, but you will have gained a lot from the experience for future use.  I've been in sales the majority of my life and my first role aged 22 was selling Austin/Morris, Land Rover and as we were a posh showroom, Aston Martin too.  It can be great fun, keep plugging away.  Good luck !!

[GrahamG]

You made it to the final round. You must have been doing a lot right.

[Vlady]

Sounds like a very hard interview for a Salesman! 

Well done anyway for trying and getting that far. 

Good luck!

[Matt1986]

Thanks everyone. It was a pretty long day of being under the microscope. The length of the day kind of felt like a test in its own right! 

Not giving up though. Onward fmto more applications now. Would have been nice to get lexus though. Annoyingly one of the guys who got through said he wasn't going to bother coming earlier in the day and he only applied very causally whereas I was trying my best in every way and he still beat me to it. Oh well. Must get better and it's all a learning experience. 

[GrahamG]

4 hours ago, Matt1986 said:

Thanks everyone. It was a pretty long day of being under the microscope. The length of the day kind of felt like a test in its own right! 

Not giving up though. Onward fmto more applications now. Would have been nice to get lexus though. Annoyingly one of the guys who got through said he wasn't going to bother coming earlier in the day and he only applied very causally whereas I was trying my best in every way and he still beat me to it. Oh well. Must get better and it's all a learning experience. 

Shows how discerning was the selection process if they chose someone who was only there because his mum sent him.

I have read many biographies of the great and the good and one quality they all had in common was perseverance. What some men have overcome to be successful is mind blowing including among business men multiple bankruptcies. It is determination that separates the wheat from the chaff.

[Verbout]

Chin up, onwards and.......

[Guest]

I have read many biographies of the great and the good and one quality they all had in common was perseverance. . It is determination that separates the wheat from the chaff.

I agree long term. But in this case it didn't go that way. I did allude to it earlier ( not very eloquently I grant thee), but it's a nonsense. Clipboard pseudoscience.

But yes. Don't give up! Learn how the clipboard bingo works.

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

[steveledzep]

6 minutes ago, Comedian said:

Don't give up! Learn how the clipboard bingo works.
 

 

I agree.  It is my opinion that if you "try" in these recruitment sessions, you'll fail.  I believe you have a greater chance of being successful by being yourself.  If you fail, then the job isn't for you because your natural self doesn't fit the criteria required.  If you act your way through, you'd probably struggle if appointed.  Just my humble viewpoint after 40 years in a sales environment.