Why does it seem that the RV salesmen of today look lik60's?

tsetsaf wrote:
I was just talking to my wife about the same thing. We went to the Tampa show and you could see the difference immediately between the sales people and the manufacturers reps.

The difference is easy. The Reps only have to know THEIR product. The RV dealer Sales people have to know ALL of there products. Yes, there are newbie salesman that don't take the time to research their product offerings. There are also Dealerships that do not spend the money to educate their sales people. BUT, if you want to sell, IMO, you as a sales person need to educate yourself. As a Dealer Service Tech, it also makes me mad about how sales people get away with BS and stating things that are not true or correct because they are to lazy to go get the correct answer. But. thankfully, those types rarely stay on the job very long. The ONLY way a RV sales person can make real money is in long term relationships with his customers. REPEAT business is the only way to continue selling RV's (motorhomes) and make a good living at it. Doug

I focus my questions to the factory as I do my research.

How the factory responds before the sale, helps me judge how responsive they will be after the sale.

Some brands have been eliminated from my list just because of that. If the factory does not respond at all, they will NOT get any of my money.

I was just talking to my wife about the same thing. We went to the Tampa show and you could see the difference immediately between the sales people and the manufacturers reps.

These days with internet and other forms of information, to me a salesman is merely someone who helps me navigate the shopping and purchase process. It is up to me to verify what I am told and do my research on what I am considering for purchase.

I will say that the salesman I dealt with when we purchased our Allure was pretty knowledgeable and better than many I've seen.

A number of years back I had a 19'TT and we were looking for something with more room. We visited a local RV dealer and was promptly met by one of their salesmen. We chatted some, explained what we wanted to do and he showed us a few models they had in their inventory. I mentioned what I had as a possible trade and he was disinterested, "those smaller trailers are hard to get rid of" he said. I told him we wanted to look around some more, he said he would be inside if we had any questions. Less than 15 minutes passed and we were approached by another salesman. I mentioned to him, that there seemed to be a lack of smaller trailers in the 19-24 foot range. His answer blew me away, "They're so popular, they don't stay on the lot very long." We decided that a purchase from Pleasureland RV in St. Cloud, MN was not in our best interest.

Working retail sales with a commissioned based salary is a high turn over occupation. It is a very rare occurrence to find someone on the sales staff that actually owns or did own a rig of some type and their experience out in the woods is beyond Scouting 30 years earlier. For most of us owners our rigs are a labor of love or hobby. Turn the hobby into a job takes the fun out of it. Some can do such as a camp host but those individuals are not as common as we wish.

We purchased a Class A MH last year from a very knowledgeable salesperson. He totally knew the ins and outs of these units. The sad thing is that he knew more about these than the mechanic giving us the purchase delivery/tutorial.

We were looking at a used travel trailer in Michigan. It had a huge split in the linoleum. I thought for the heck of it I would ask the salesman how that could happen. He said someone caught their toe on it and ripped it. I said ok and continued to look at the TT. As we continued I had to explain to him how the antenna, water system and a few other things worked.

He pretty much conceded that he didn't know anything about it and had gotten the job because he had retired and his wife was still working and she didn't want he sitting at home so she got him a job at the RV lot that the sister in law owns.

Across the street at the Jayco dealer the owner and another salesman explained to me how it's normal to have gaps and openings under the RV. They laughed and said yes, it's normal for insects and mice to get in, that's just part of camping.

At one point years back we were looking a small tandem axle TT and wanted to keep the weight down. The salesman said I could hook that TT up and get ready to leave and there wont be more than 300 lb added to the whole set up. He said a person usually takes no more 150 pounds of stuff per person. Geez, just the equ hitch was probably 75 lb or more.

At the time my wife knew nothing about Rv's but we got in the car and said that guy is an idiot.

Goofballs.

I agree. La Mesa seems to have the slimiest with their "Don't worry about the price, how much do you want your payment to be. "
My best experience was with Holman RV in Cincinatti.
"Here's the keys look around everything is about 30% off MSRP.

Got excellent support and service too.

Yes, we've experienced awful and wonderful. Wonderful wins, and he got the sale. Our salesman had worked for Winnebago for many years and was very knowledgeable. We've been back to visit him to show him improvements and modifications that we have made, and to relate our great experiences with the MH. It also helped that he was a bass guitarist with the WHO, and somehow managed to retain his faculties.