At 3:00 Friday of the first week, all the new salesmen were turned loose. We now knew how to show a new or used car, how to set-up a four-square sheet, and how to negotiate with the customer. We also had learned more about the commission system and bonuses available, so we were pumped up and ready to go!

Roll 'em

In order to get all the salesmen pumped, the managers called a sales meeting. All the salesmen filed into the conference room, and were given a list of used cars that were currently on the lot. These were divided into one-star, two-star, and three-star cars. Mark, the used-car manager, explained that, in addition to the normal commission, any salesman that sold one of the cars on the list would also get to "roll the dice." Any one-star car carried a bonus of $10 per dot, two-star cars were worth $20 per dot, and three-star cars were worth (you guessed it) $30 per dot.

Since we'd been in training all week, none of the new salesmen had set up any appointments for our first Friday night. So, we were left to catch any "ups" (ie walk-in customers) that came by. With this being a pleasant Friday evening, we had plenty of ups to choose from.

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