This company has some serious issues. The training program is relatively useless, filled with unrealistic role-playing exercises and a lot of wasted time. Training at the dealership is relatively non-existent because of how understaffed it is.
As a salesperson, you are required to not only sell cars, but also do all the financing paperwork as well. This is very different from other car sales companies who have separate people for these positions. For someone new to the business, it’s ridiculously overwhelming and absurdly time consuming.
When you’re not speaking to customers or doing finance paperwork, be prepared to spend most of your time sending emails and making phone calls that no one ever returns. Walser refers to them as “warm” leads, but you are essentially bothering people who may have casually looked at a vehicle on CarSoup or another similar site. You are essentially a glorified telemarketer, spamming people with calls and emails until they block your number.
The culture is about what you would expect it to be. Corporate likes to flaunt the Walser “Core Values”, but these are essentially non-existent at the dealership level. I’m a guy, and I was horrified by some of the behavior by my coworkers and bosses.
The month before I left, I decided to really dive in and get it my best, despite only being in the training process. I worked extra hours, watched seasoned salespeople, and rehearsed my sales pitch in my free time. At the end of the month, I had earned a very good bonus. When the check came, it was literally half of what I had anticipated due to dealership chargebacks. Chargebacks happen when people return cars, warranties, etc. At Walser, chargebacks are communal, meaning that you are punished even if none of YOUR customers returned anything. I watched as half my bonus check was wiped out due to nothing I had done wrong.
