BABYSITTER: Slang term
used for a co-signer or co-buyer on an sales contract.
BACK END: Back end is
the contract which is being sent to the bank for financing,
where extra "hidden" profit is made by the dealer
because of the "kickback" that the bank pays the
dealer.
BEATER: See SLED.
BE BACK: Prospective buyer
who has been in the dealership and promises to return.
BIRD DOG: One who refers
prospective customers to a particular dealership or salesman
for a given fee or compensation.
BOUNCE: To bounce someone
means to increase the sales price of the car, interest rate,
monthly payments, etc., often without the customer realizing
it.
BOX: Refers to the RV
"box" that sits on the vehicle chassis.
BRICKS: Refer to a house
being used as security for an RV loan.
BROWNIE: To sell to a
customer as a result of going around and putting a piece
of paper with a message like "call me regarding your
car"
on car windows on the street.
BUMP: See BOUNCE.
BUREAU: A credit report
on a customer.
BUY RATE: This is the
interest rate that banks or financing institutions will charge
on all contracts being financed; It is a "secret"
number between the lender and the dealer which is the real
amount of the interest rate that the loan starts out at before
the dealer increases it for its own extra profit.
CANDY STORE : A dealership
with lots of vehicle inventory.
CLIMBER: A salesman who
can sell anything to anyone. One who is able to tackle a
tough customer and climb all over them.
CLOSER: Usually a pushy
salesman whose job it is to "close" the deal with
the customer when the customer hesitates when dealing with
the salesman.
DE-HORSE: This is when
you take a customer out of his trade-in and let him temporarily
drive the newly purchased RV before the purchase has really
been finalized on the dealer's books. The idea is to keep
the customer from shopping around and finding another deal
somewhere else.
DESKMAN or DESK: A
man who both figures and determines what kind of deal the
dealership will make to a customer.
DEUCE: This usually refers
to a $200.00 figure for whatever reason, down payment, trade-in
value, etc.
DIP: This is when the
customer needs additional or all of his cash down advanced
by a finance company.
DOUBLE DIP: To finance
a purchase between two or more loan companies.
DOWN: Short for down
payment. Also used when a salesman is finished talking to
a prospective buyer. He is considered to be down and the
next salesman is considered to be up and in line to handle
the next prospective buyer.
DOWN STROKE: The customer's
down payment.
EDGY: This is a customer
who may or may not be able to get his RV financed.
ETHER: Is a slang term
used in association with its actual application. For example,
putting someone in the ether. This is usually done in a closing
situation and the customer is not completely aware of what
is happening.
EYE BALLER: Is a flashy
looking, bright colored, RV.
FLAKE: Is a customer
who usually had bad credit, little or no money down. It is
usually a waste of time trying to put a deal together for
him.
FLIP: This is to convert
a buyer from financing his RV through his own bank or credit
union to financing through the dealership.
FULL BORE: To sell an
RV for the full sticker price with no discount.
GOLD BALLS: One who has
excellent credit and usually a considerable down payment.
GRAPE: This is a very
easy buyer. He normally goes along with anything anyone tells
him.
GREEN PEA: This is a
new salesman or sales business manager.
GRINDER: This is a buyer
who, no matter what the salesman offers, wants more for less.
HEN: Older type salesman
who influences younger salesmen (adversely).
HIGH BALL: A figure given
to a prospective customer which is an inflated value of his
trade-in in order to get the customer to return to the dealership
to purchase his new RV.
HIGH PENNY: To adjust
a customer's monthly payment. For example: from $401.13 to
$401.93. It is safe to assume that if the customer will pay
$401.13 for a car payment, he will pay $401.93 without giving
it a second thought.
HOME RUN: When maximum
profit has been made on a deal or when the sales business
manager has sold the customer all the insurance he has available.
IRON: This is an old
used RV valued at nothing more than the price of iron.
KINK: A problem with
a deal due to "miswriting", misrepresentation,
misquoting, or mishandling.
LAID AWAY: A customer
who has paid the maximum price for as many items (like accessories,
rust proofing, extended warranty, financing and credit insurance)
as can possibly be sold on an RV.
LAY DOWN: This is a customer
who says yes to everything. They "lay down" ---
and get run right over.
LINER: A salesman whose
responsibility is to settle a customer on one particular
RV, get a commitment of some type from the customer, regardless
of how ridiculous it is, and then turn the customer over
to his T.O. man, sales manager or mother.
LOW BALL: Deliberately
stating a low price for an RV, with no intention of really
selling it for that price. Usually given to a customer who
has said that he wants to shop around before buying. This
figure is so low that the buyer will not be able to find
a better price anywhere. That way the Dealer can be sure
the buyer will come back and when he does the Dealer will
say the price just went up! By then the buyer is tired of
shopping so he probably won't go anywhere else again.
MICKEY: Slang term used
to describe a down payment loan that is arranged by the dealership.
This is referred to as completing a deal in Mickey Mouse
way.
MOTHER: See T.O.
MAN.
MOUSE HOUSE: Slang term
used for a finance company.
NEGATIVE EQUITY: Negative equity means
that your trade-in vehicle has a fair market value that is
less than what you owe on it. This could be because you have
not owned it very long and you still owe a very high payoff
on it. It could also be because the last dealership you traded
a car in, and who sold you this one, started you on this “negative
equity” cycle. Click
here for more information about Negative Equity Car Dealer
Scams.
NICKEL: Refers to the
amount of $500.00
PACK: There are two interpretations
of this. First, it is used in figuring a salesman's commission,
depending on the individual dealer they will deduct anywhere
from $100 to $500.00 from the gross profit of the deal and
pay the salesman his commission figured on this difference,
sometimes without the salesman even knowing it. Second would
be when the salesman or business manager would quote a monthly
payment to a customer and increase the actual amount by 20
or 30 dollars to leave room for Credit life, Accident and
Health insurance to be "packed" into the payment
amount, sometimes without the customer realizing it.
PENCIL: This has two
applications. First, a sales manager will pencil a salesman's
deal by crossing out the customer's offer and penciling in
the figure that he wants to get for that RV. The second application
is used when a salesman or sales manager changes the selling
price or trade-in allowance and covers it up with an increase
in the customer's monthly payment because of the additional
cost he expects to pay for Credit Life, Accident and Health
insurance.
PIPE SMOKER: A customer
who smokes a pipe, gives no commitments whatsoever, usually
grinds the salesman to his last thread and doesn't buy the
RV after all.
PUT TOGETHER: This means
much the same as "laying someone away". In other
words the maximum gross profit to be made on that deal was
accomplished. The customer was "nailed to the wall".
RATE SHEET : The Dealer
Reserve Schedule used by F & I salesperson
to determine the amount of the kickback they will get from
the bank or other lender who is going to finance the sale,
in exchange for bumping the interest rate up above the minimum
rate that the lender actually wants to get on the loan.
RESERVE: Sometimes thought
of as a "kickback" the bank gives the dealer for
setting up the loan. The income a dealership realized on
a contract in excess of the finance source's discount rate.
For example: If the bank is going to charge $600.00 in finance
charges on a given contract and the total finance charge
to the customer on this contract is $1,000.00, the dealership
will realize $400 in "reserve money" but the customer
thinks the interest is all being charged by the bank.
ROLL BACK: To work a
deal backwards. Instead of working with the purchase price
and trying to determine a monthly payment, you would start
with a known monthly payment and try to determine a selling
price. It also means to "roll back" the odometer
on an RV to make it worth more money - highly illegal.
RULE OF 78: A mathematical
formula used in figuring a rebate of unearned charges or
premium, when these charges were pre-computed and pre-paid.
Also referred to as "78 ways we get to keep your money".
SHADOW: What a green
pea does to lean how senior salespeople sell, i.e., they
follow them around and observe.
SLED: Reference quite
often given to a customer's old trade-in which is usually
"beat up" and worth little or nothing.
SLIDE RULER: A buyer
who is a specification nut. He does not deal in generalizations
when prices are quoted. They must be exact and justified
most of the time. This buyer will have a pocket calculator
with him to calculate his own sales tax and total sales price.
SPEAR: Think of it like
in the movies when the Indian would "spear" a fish
in the stream for his dinner. This is just a method used
in getting a customer onto a dealer's lot. For example: Stopping
a man at a campground and telling him that you would give
him some outrageous figures for his trade-in if he would
just come down to the dealership today and take a look at
what you have to offer.
SPOT DELIVERY: This is
when all phases of the purchase and delivery are completed
the same day. This may be with or without any kind of credit
check or approval.
STICKS: Reference given
to the borrower's furniture he puts up as collateral on a
small loan, such as when he borrows the money for the down
payment on the RV he is getting ready to buy.
STRAW PURCHASE: This
is when a third party buys an RV and finances it in his name
for some one else (who will be the actual driver) because
of that other person's age, bad credit, or lack of credit,
etc.
STRONG: Refers to a sales
person, sales manager, or Business Manager, in describing
his ability to be aggressive and pushy.
STUD: See second application
of "STRONG".
"SUM OF THE DIGITS": Another
term used for the "RULE
OF 78" - a formula used in figuring rebates,
also characterized as "78 ways we get to keep your money".
SWITCH: To change a customer
from buying one RV to another for several reasons: availability,
greater profit, etc.
THIRD BASEMAN: An individual
who accompanies a prospective buyer because the buyer feels
he is better versed in haggling over the price of the RV
and/or knows more about it mechanically, thereby decreasing
the chances of getting stuck with a "lemon".
TIRE KICKER: This is
normally an individual who doesn't want to buy an RV, but
just wants to look. He walks in, touches the merchandise
and doesn't want to talk to anyone.
T.O. (TURNOVER): The
procedure used in selling where the salesman turns a prospective
buyer over to another salesman or sales manager to close
the sale.
T.O. MAN: This is the
individual to whom a salesman will turn a customer over.
TOAD: Reference given
to a customer's trade-in; a worn-out RV that is just "sitting
there" like a toad.
UNDER-ALLOWANCE: To give
a customer less for his trade in than it is actually worth.
UNWIND: To take back
an RV that is already delivered and void all papers that
were used in reference to its delivery.
UPSIDE DOWN: This condition
exists with a buyer when he wants more on his trade-in that
it is worth. Also called "in the bucket".
WALKING FIGURES: When
the salesman knows for sure that the customer will not buy
an RV at this time because he wants to check out some other
dealerships. The salesman will give him a ridiculously low
figure to try to beat, knowing that, in the end, he will
have to come back to him.
WATER: This is the false
equity shown on a deal that a customer is supposed to have
in his trade-in. For example: Showing on the purchase order
$10,000 in equity on a '79 Winnebago when he actually only
has $1,000.
WOULD YA, COULD YA: A
practice used by salesmen in getting a commitment from a
customer. In other words, "Would you buy this RV if
I could get it for the price you want to pay?"
