>> Emily Stubbs: [Background sounds] It's the
SL63 AMG and it's about a $165,000 Mercedes.
It's one of our fastest Mercedes
that we make and, you know,
this car could be driven on the track.
It's like a racecar, but it's a
two-seater, yet it's a convertible, too.
>> Wow.
>> Emily Stubbs: It's beautiful.
And it just came in.
>> Anybody show an interest yet?
>> Emily Stubbs: Yeah, a couple people.
I think we're going to have it
sold this Saturday, so hopefully...
>> All right.
>> Emily Stubbs: And we'll get another one.
>> [Laughter] Very good.
>> Emily Stubbs: Hi I'm Emily
Stubbs and I work here
at Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead
in Atlanta, Georgia.
I am a car salesperson and
I've been with the company
for about five years now, and I love what I do.
>> Emily can you, kind of, walk us
through maybe your daily routine and some
of the things that your job entails?
>> Emily Stubbs: Sure.
I do a lot of different things here.
I come in in the morning and, you
know, I always check my e-mails to see
if clients have e-mailed me and
would like to purchase a car.
I usually walk through our four level
inventory to look at what cars are on the lot
and available and I'll, you know, think if
I have a client that might be interested.
I will call my customers; I spend a lot of
the day sitting at my desk calling customers.
And I'll greet customers that walk in
the door, and show them our inventory
and appraise their cars, look for a suitable car
for them, and look at different finance options
and get them approved, and then tell them how
much it's going to be every month and, you know,
there's a lot of different things that go
into just one car sale every single day.
And all sales are a little bit different,
I mean, if they have a current car
that they're trading or if they're
just buying a car cash or if we need
to get another bank involved to finance
them, so there's a lot of different things
that go into every single car deal.
>> Emily, how much of your time
is spent, you know, on the lot,
greeting and working with
the customers versus...
I mean, is there much paperwork at the
desk that you have to do after the fact?
>> Emily Stubbs: Well, after we've
agreed on numbers and agreed on a car,
I do some initial paperwork at my desk and then
the clients will then go into the finance office
where they'll sign all the
official documents for the banks.
So all in all, it's probably about 75% of my
time is spent on the lot, taking test drives,
picking out the right car, and then the
negotiation process, talking about numbers,
the customers always want a good
deal, and getting to the bottom line,
you know, where they agree to do business.
And then the paperwork is just about another,
you know, 20 to 25% of the time after that.
>> What do you like about the job, Emily?
>> Emily Stubbs: Well, I get to drive around in
really nice cars all day, and I get to own them.
They give us good incentives so, you know, you
could drive a Mercedes if you work at Mercedes.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Emily Stubbs: I get to meet
a lot of really great people.
I've made a lot of great contacts.
You know, I just -- I get to come in here
and socialize with, not only my clients,
but all the business people that I work with,
and I also get to learn a lot about car deals
and what makes the sale and
building relationships.
>> How about some of the challenges,
the tougher parts of the job?
>> Emily Stubbs: You know, a lot
of times it's hard to get someone,
with all the different brands out
there, to get someone really excited
about what you're selling and,
kind of, make them stop thinking
about the other brands they
might be interested in.
Also, you know, the money's
always a challenge, too.
Basically, a car is the second largest
purchase you make next to a house,
and trying to get somebody who walks into the
door just to say, "Okay, I'll spend 60 or 80
or $150,000 within a couple
hours" that's quite a challenge.
So it's nice when you do it and you
feel like, oh, I'm good at what I do.
>> To piggyback off that a little bit,
what type of person, you know, can do that?
What type of personality does it
take to be successful in this job?
>> Emily Stubbs: Well you definitely
have to be a great listener,
because people who don't listen aren't
going to know what their clients need.
You also have to be very outgoing and
willing to talk to a lot of different people.
You have to be able to brainstorm
and think outside of the box
because it's not a cookie cutter job.
Every single client and every single
deal is very different in their own way,
so you have to really be,
I say like a chameleon.
You have to be able to, kind of, roll with the
punches and put yourself out there and know
that every time you are introduced to
somebody and get in front of somebody,
it's going to be different every single time.
>> Knowing what you know now, for a young
person that might want to get into this,
are there things that would've
helped you or did help you?
Classes? Things you can do to
just sort of, kind of, prepare?
>> Emily Stubbs: Yeah.
I mean, definitely college helped me.
I'm a UCLA grad and, you know,
the finance classes really helped.
The psychology and sociology, kind of, learning
why people make the decisions that they do make,
and then my marketing background
really helped too.
Just thinking of different ways -- you know,
although I work here at Mercedes at Buckhead,
I have to market myself so people
want to come in the door and talk
to me exclusively and buy from me.
So you have to, kind of, think outside of the
box of besides just having my business cards
on me when I'm out in town, and how different
things that I could do, whether it be mailers
or e-mails, how to market me and our
product so people will buy from me.
>> Emily, one final question.
Compensation.
It may be a little different from other jobs.
How are you paid in this job?
>> Emily Stubbs: Well, that's a good question.
We have what we call 100%
commission payments pay structure.
So that means you could literally
come to work every day for a week
and if you don't sell a car,
you don't make a penny.
So I know that scares a lot of people, but
it's nothing to worry about because as long
as you are working hard, you will sell
cars, and as long as you've got a good,
outgoing personality, you'll sell.
And in the highline automotive
industry, the salesperson --
the average salesperson makes anywhere
from about 120 to $250,000 a year.
>> Emily, any final closing thoughts
for all the young folks out there?
>> Emily Stubbs: Well, I think, car
sales is a great industry to get into.
There is a lot of opportunity to make a lot
of money and meet a lot of great people,
and especially if you're new in a city and
you really want to meet the right people and,
you know, get right in there and make
the most money you possibly can, I mean,
there's some attorneys that don't make
this kind of money, and it's a fast-paced,
really exciting industry to be a part of.
>> Fantastic.
Emily, thanks so much for talking to us.
>> Emily Stubbs: You're very welcome.
Have a great day.