393

Hours spent trying to get someone to buy a car they have no intention of buying are hours NOT spent making sales commissions.

top 38 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Ptsf@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago

Tesla doesn't have traditional sales staff. They're more like showroom managers. All you'd be doing is giving them foot traffic that makes them more attractive to passerbys.

[-] naonintendois@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago

Unfortunately they don't have traditional salespeople. They don't make commission and probably wouldn't mind talking to someone.

[-] shaggyb@lemmy.world 43 points 2 days ago

Except it isn't because Tesla dealers don't work like traditional dealers.

They'll leave you to drive one unattended and then tell you to reserve online if you want to buy.

They don't earn commission. They have no incentive to let you waste their time.

[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

You underestimate the power of social norms. If you start talking and ignore their social cues, they're not very likely to kick you out or cut you off.

If only we had a small army of awkward people who really wanted to talk about their specific hobby. But where could we find those?

[-] SoleInvictus 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Bingo. Just go test drive a vehicle. I test drove a Cybertruck, it was awful, but it costs Tesla the most for a test drive. Maybe slap an inflammatory bumper sticker on it to help others hate Elon as much as you already do.

[-] Jumi@lemmy.world 51 points 2 days ago

You're saying this like a day for me has no value

[-] Scolding7300@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

This is in comparison with protesting there for that time

[-] Jumi@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Which is also a waste of time. Protesting in front of a car dealership is just dumb.

[-] roofuskit@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Destroying Elon's wealth has value.

[-] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

It's a great idea actually. People buy vehicles for reasons other than practicality. No one is buying a cybertruck because they're looking for a practical vehicle. It's all vibes. If people see Tesla dealerships being picketed, they know that there will be a lot of people who judge them harshly for buying a Tesla. And aside from some right wing asshats, no one really wants that kind of heat on them just for buying a damn car. People buy expensive cars because they want to be seen as cool. Protests serve to make Teslas as uncool as possible.

[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

And that's why you didn't hear about it happening

[-] Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com 101 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Not sure about this.

Unless you're diverting resources from a sale, only when every single salesperson on the floor would otherwise be engaged with a customer, you're not really wasting anyone's time but your own. In fact, you may be honing their skills.

An empty sales flooris a statement of its self.

[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago

Hard to retain salespeople if their income tanks because they have customers who are never quite ready to make the decision.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 37 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

But as they said, if you aren't taking them away from another potential sale, you are doing nothing but make the dealership look busy.

Not going tanks their income the same as wasting their time.

[-] earphone843@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Tesla showrooms don't work that way. You don't buy the car from them.

[-] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

A smoldering sales floor is a stronger statement.

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

But my tango partner moved across the globe

[-] LuxSpark@lemmy.cafe 7 points 2 days ago

Bring your friends and family!

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 26 points 2 days ago

Pretend you have no concept of electric cars.

"Diesel or gas? Where do you fill it up? Yeah I know how electric cars work, don't treat me like an idiot. I'm asking where does the fuel go?"

Channel your inner grandpa when being shown the touchscreen. Firmly stab and hold your finger on the screen when pushing buttons. I'm told they don't have parking brakes, so insist to be shown where the park brake is.

Ask how many miles to the gallon. Haggle endlessly. Make them show you the engine.

[-] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Better yet. Return it with the trunk filled with gasoline.

"Don't worry, I went ahead and topped off the tank for you."

Or

"Damn it! I pressed too hard and the touch screen broke!"

Or if driving a cybertruck:

"I wanted to be a good neighbor, so I went ahead and ran it through the car wash. 'Car wash mode?' What the hell is that?"

[-] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 46 points 2 days ago

I doubt the vast majority of people could actually string a car salesman along for more than a few minutes without feeling awkward and cringey.

Going to a dealership, looking at a car, talking to a sales guy, doing a test drive... you're really only there for 45 minutes until it's time to sign the offer or leave.

Also, sales guy is going to be reluctant to spend much time with you or take you for a drive if you don't really look like a tesla kind of person (wealthy).

[-] mosiacmango@lemm.ee 25 points 2 days ago

Also, sales guy is going to be reluctant to spend much time with you or take you for a drive if you don't really look like a tesla kind of person (wealthy).

I'm with you till the end, but teslas are like 40k at the low end, and most rich tech bros look homeless anyway.

[-] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 days ago

Sure ok, maybe the term "wealthy" was a poor choice.

Salespeople spend all day reading people. I'm confident they could identify a shabby looking tech bro ready to spend $40k from a leftie trying to waste their time.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

You might be surprised at how well some of us leftie techies can code switch.

[-] failsatfunny@lemm.ee 12 points 2 days ago

I think this may have the opposite intended effect. Tesla would report that interest in their product is still strong or even going up. That might make stock prices go up.

[-] Bahnd@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

But if they internally report interest is up, but sales do not reflect it, then investors think they are cooking books somewhere and the valuation goes down due to lack of trust.

[-] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Bold of you to assume they aren't already cooking the books. Though, I imagine they use some plausible deniability and have some bullshit AI cook the books for them.

[-] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 32 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Tesla used to famously not have commissioned sales. It's one of the reasons the buying process was so much better than a dealership honestly, no pressure to buy, and they had absolutely no control of the pricing or need to inflate a sale.

At one point they received general bonuses based on overall deliveries, but not on a per-vehicle basis that they interacted with.

Before I bought my Model 3, the "sales" person literally just took me on a test drive, then showed me the standard Tesla.com website to configure what I was looking for. And based on my experience in retail sales myself at the time, they clearly were there to advise and had no ball in the court when it came to whether I bought it through them, or even if I bought one at all.

Not sure if that changed in the last 5 years or so, but I doubt it switched to that type of system since that would mean Tesla having to implement an entire process to handle commissioned sales when they clearly would prefer people just buy them online.

[-] tills13@lemmy.world 24 points 2 days ago

Not really. Most Teslas are sold online.

[-] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 7 points 2 days ago

Except the ones sold to boomers who don’t know how the internet works but heard there’s these fancy new cars they can buy to own the libs

[-] Tim_Bisley@piefed.social 19 points 2 days ago

I think France has the right idea. This feels a bit soft.

[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Not everyone has the courage to fire bomb a dealership, and a death by a thousand cuts is still a death. If the only thing you are comfortable doing in protest is gumming up the works a bit, so be it.

[-] dickalan@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Why not both

Or just yell "BORTLES!"

[-] Chozo@fedia.io 14 points 2 days ago

This would require spending an extended period of time speaking with a Tesla salesperson. I'd probably rather just die.

[-] Yoga@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 days ago

Is there anything in the showrooms worth taking that aren't bolted down or having a tracking device built in? lol

[-] tissek@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago

Pens! I guess. Probably also have free coffee/tea/hot chocolate so fill up on that. Cookies?

[-] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago
this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
393 points (100.0% liked)

You Should Know

36162 readers
104 users here now

YSK - for all the things that can make your life easier!

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with YSK.

All posts must begin with YSK. If you're a Mastodon user, then include YSK after @youshouldknow. This is a community to share tips and tricks that will help you improve your life.



Rule 2- Your post body text must include the reason "Why" YSK:

**In your post's text body, you must include the reason "Why" YSK: It’s helpful for readability, and informs readers about the importance of the content. **



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-YSK posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-YSK posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

If you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- The majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Rule 11- Posts must actually be true: Disiniformation, trolling, and being misleading will not be tolerated. Repeated or egregious attempts will earn you a ban. This also applies to filing reports: If you continually file false reports YOU WILL BE BANNED! We can see who reports what, and shenanigans will not be tolerated.



Partnered Communities:

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

Credits

Our icon(masterpiece) was made by @clen15!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS