NOT JUST
FOR MEN
Women get revved by
challenge of car sales

By ELLEN GRAY
Photography KIMBERLY DAWN

It’s a world so intimidating, few women feel comfortable visiting it. It’s rare to see a female wandering it alone, and the brave few who do may be highly self-conscious as they make their way amid the rows of gleaming metal.

It’s a world that involves shopping, yet this is one form of shopping that many women would rather do without for the rest of their days.

Why then, in this daunting world of car sales, are more and more women joining the ranks of what has long been recognized as a man’s domain? We spoke with four dynamic women who are proof positive that in reality the world of car sales is no more threatening — and indeed a lot more entertaining — than a trip to the supermarket.

Carol McDonough
Client Advisor, Ralph Schomp BMW
There are so many reasons why people change careers and embark upon a new chapter. In Carol McDonough’s case, a bad divorce was the impetus for a drastic re-evaluation of her life and a jump into the unknown world of car sales.

As a newly single mom facing financial uncertainty, McDonough was urged by friends to consider car sales as a career. This represented a huge leap for the woman who for several years had an art business that took her to Western Europe, where she acquired and sold original oil paintings from southern France and Italy.

Now, with two teenage kids and work-related travel not an option, McDonough met with Lisa Schomp, owner of Ralph Schomp BMW, to learn more about the car business.“I interviewed with several types of companies, but felt the potential to make good money here. Although there was no travel involved and the dealership is close to my home, which were both plusses, I was scared. It took me a month or two to feel positive about my new job, but I also figured I’d already been through so many extreme changes in my life, what was one more?” she muses.

McDonough credits many of the men she works with for the help and support they’ve given her since she began working at Ralph Schomp nine months ago. She has tried hard to learn the product, but says the experienced salespeople are her greatest allies and are more than willing to provide answers to questions and information on individual cars.

“I never would have pursued a career in car sales if not for two good friends who urged me to consider it,” she admits. “It took me six months to think about it, and the more I learned, the more impressed I was with the company. But I will say the product knowledge required to be good at this job is extensive and sometimes overwhelming.”

The easiest part about working here, she says, is the overall environment. “Lisa Schomp has recreated the wheel here, and it’s a nice place to work. Lisa is very cognizant of the stigma attached to car sales and has made it a great place. It’s just a good atmosphere. There’s a process in place whereby we don’t have to negotiate with customers. We have an 80-percent referral and repeat business rate, and many of our customers tell us they never knew buying a car could be so much fun!” she says. Such customer loyalty has certainly paid off, and today, Ralph Schomp BMW is consistently among the top-volume dealers in its market.

While the hours are long, McDonough says they go by fast since the dealership is almost always busy. This time of year, during the warm weather months, the dealership remains open until 9 o’clock, which is rare for a luxury brand. Such a time commitment can be hard for single working moms, but McDonough shrugs off the notion. “My kids think my new career is great, but they don’t always like the long hours,” she admits. “This job is supposed to be a 40-hour week, but in reality it’s more like a 50- to 55-hour week. But it’s a lot of fun.”

As for the cars, McDonough continues to learn about them and to pass her knowledge on to her customers. “I’ll tell the customers as much as I know about the cars, but I won’t hesitate to call on others for help if there are some technical details I don’t know,” she says. “Some of our customers are real car buffs, but I must be doing OK, because I’ve already had some repeat business. It’s really an easy sell for me, because I feel very comfortable with the quality of the product.”

McDonough’s advice to women considering car sales as a career? “I would encourage women to get into this field,” she says. “It’s nice to be unique, and we need more women in this industry. There’s a perception that it’s easier to trust women in general, so this is a great place for them. But the drawback is the long hours, which means more juggling of day care and kids. That’s probably the biggest reason why some women don’t want to work in this business.”

Carolina Bertone
Sales Representative, Mercedes-Benz of Littleton
Upon meeting Carolina Bertone, one is immediately struck by her contagious energy. Petite, vivacious and talkative, Carolina is the epitome of a woman who successfully combines the discipline of a former teacher with a low-key, yet extraordinarily persuasive sales approach.

Bertone’s career in car sales began 27 years ago, when she took a job with Leo Payne. At that time there was little training offered, and, as Bertone explains, “The dealership pretty much put you out on the floor, and it was survival of the fittest. You learned by watching other people and learning on your feet.”

Indeed, she proved to be a quick study, realizing that the best way to master the business was to read every available book and brochure and learn answers to technical questions. “Today, there’s so much information available on the Internet, that it’s a real challenge to keep up. But back then, people came into a dealership with two basic needs: better gas mileage and safety,” she says.

Bertone worked at Leo Payne for more than a decade, then moved to Braman Automotive, owner of Mercedes-Benz of Littleton, where she’s remained. When she began her career, she was one of a handful of women in the business, although she admits she never considered it to be a man’s domain. Even so, Bertone points out that when people enter the dealership, they automatically direct their questions to the guy. “Even after all these years, that’s still the case,” she says.

One incident in particular still looms large for Bertone: “Early in my career, when I was at Leo Payne, a sales manager was brought in who had never worked with a woman. At sales meetings, he’d single me out and say, ‘Guys, are you going to let Carolina beat you?’ We’ve remained friends to this day, but I’ve never forgotten that remark.”

A foray into car sales was indeed a huge leap for Bertone, who had a background in education and never dreamed she would one day be selling cars. “I thought I’d do this for a year to learn sales, and I thought this job would be a good training ground for the future,” she explains.

Within one year, however, the financial rewards of her new-found career had proven much more lucrative than teaching. “I’ll be honest. Back when I got into this business, the women I knew were working as nurses, accountants or schoolteachers. This was definitely not what I expected!” she admits.

The product of a close-knit Italian family, Bertone attended the first coeducational Catholic school in the United States, located on the East Coast. While cars held some degree of interest for her, she never thought she’d end up working around them. “My dad and both my brothers always talked cars, but my mom didn’t even drive until I had moved to Denver,” she says.

But life dealt Bertone a hand, and she seized it. A brief marriage made her realize it was time for a change, and selling cars was an opportunity too good to pass up. “At first, I thought this was one of the hardest jobs I had ever had,” she says. “It was extremely intimidating, and it took quite a while to feel comfortable. But after I learned the product line, it became easier and easier. The one thing I quickly learned was that if I didn’t know the answer to a question, it was important to find out before the customer left the showroom. My customers have always appreciated that, and today I have a lot of repeat customers who have shown great loyalty to me.”

It goes without saying that being a woman in car sales carries its own unique set of challenges. She elaborates, “Some people walk into the dealership and say they only want to deal with a man. I remember one time, early on, when I worked all day with a man and his wife, and a couple of days later he walked in and said he would only buy his car from a man. One of the salespeople told him, ‘We have some customers who will only buy their cars from Carolina.’”

As a veteran of the business, Bertone can offer some sage advice to women starting out or perhaps considering making a career change. First, go to a dealership that will train you. The best strategy would be to go someplace with many customers to quickly gain a lot of experience. “At Mercedes-Benz, for example, we have a very high-end product, so there are fewer customers walking through the door,” she explains.

Next, it’s important to learn the basics and to take a highly disciplined approach to the business. Along those lines, persistence is key, but it should be combined with a low-key approach. Aggressive women in the car business may be perceived as being pushy. “I’ve been told by my customers that I often get my way in the end, but not because I was obvious or forceful,” she says.

Indeed, women who sell cars can be among the best, Bertone says. “When they work hard and take the right approach, women in this business tend to do very well, since they honestly care about the customer’s needs. That doesn’t mean they do a better job than men, but they can still be very successful in their own right,” she says.

Karen Knoll
Sales Representative, Rickenbaugh Cadillac/Volvo
She was once an aspiring actress, then a staple on Denver’s trendy restaurant scene. She’s an avid history buff and a die-hard Broncos fan. And for the past 22 years, she’s been selling cars like nobody’s business.

Denver native Karen Knoll knows cars. And with her background in theater and flair for the dramatic, she knows how to turn a droll and mundane sale into an art form that stands on its own. “My big passion in my younger days was theater and drama, but after deciding I would never be a great actress, I realized I also did not want to be a drama teacher,” Knoll says.

Thus saying, she began working in the restaurant industry, primarily waiting tables at some of Denver’s best-known restaurants, including Lafitte’s and Caf8E Franco. “I was young, single and having fun. But then the tax laws changed, and we had to begin reporting our tips. It was time to grow up and get a real job,” she recalls.

Knoll considered real estate or furniture sales, but decided against them because both required working on Sundays, which held no appeal to an avid football fan like herself. Then someone suggested car sales, and her immediate reaction was, “Oh, who would want to do that?” The next thing she knew, she was working at Osborne AMC Jeep on 104th Avenue.

Clearly, Knoll and car sales were meant to be. Spanning a career that began 22 years ago, she has been with Rickenbaugh Cadillac for 18 years. She has been named No.1 woman in the country for Cadillac sales and top salesperson in the entire western region.

Like most of her counterparts in the car business, Knoll had no strong interest in cars prior to working with them. “I never paid much attention to cars,” she says. “But I worked in the restaurant business, always at the high-end level. It’s similar in the sense that you’re selling appetizers, drinks and dessert, and the higher the tab, the higher your tip. So it’s wasn’t that big a reach to move into this type of sales.”

When she started at Rickenbaugh, most of the salesmen had been there for years. “At one point we decided to do walkarounds, where you stand by a car and do a presentation on it,” she recalls. “The winner would get $500, which in 1998 was a lot of money. I thought, these guys have been here a lot longer than me, and I don’t have a chance. But then I said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m an actress,’ and I put together an elaborate presentation C9 and I won!”

Knoll’s success as a salesperson is not limited to her knowledge of the product. It’s also attributable to her creativity and willingness to go that extra mile: “The first guy I talked to in my career, I ended up selling a car to him. I thought for sure I’d get fired, because he told me he liked a certain car, but needed his fianc8Ee to be involved in the decision. So I said, let’s go show it to her.” The two drove all the way across town, and ultimately, by involving the other decision maker in the process, she sold the car.

Her initial success caught the attention of management, and in 1986, when Osborne opened a Hyundai store, she was promoted to assistant finance manager, then finance manager. While she admits she was not necessarily a math whiz, her strong attention to detail helped her succeed. “I did the finance part for a little over one year, working 15- to 16-hour days, six days a week. The money was great, but there was no time to enjoy it,” she reflects.

Knoll took a year off just to relax, then realized it was time to return to work. Her goal was to work at Rickenbaugh Cadillac, and one day, after seeing an ad for a luxury car dealer, she fired off a r8Esum8E and got the interview she’d been hoping for. She was told they’d let her know about the job in about two weeks, but the next day she received an offer. “When I was hired, they wanted me to work in the finance department, but I kept making excuses as to why I needed to remain in sales,” she says.

That insistence proved a good move on her part, and last year she racked up an impressive 163 sales in the new Cadillac division alone. The workload was proving a bit cumbersome for Knoll, who is a stickler for detail and customer service. In 1996, she approached owner Kent Rickenbaugh with a novel idea. Taking a cue from the real estate industry, she hired an assistant whom she knew from her days in the restaurant business. The woman, Wende Seever, proved a lifeline for Knoll, and today the team remains a formidable duo on the car sales front.

“I took her on as my assistant, but I knew full well she had the potential to become a full-fledged partner in the business. I had a method to my madness, because I love to travel, and with Wende I knew that even when I was away, my customers would be treated exactly the same,” she explains. Taking on a partner proved highly lucrative; the team’s sales quickly rose from 125 units to 190 units, including Volvo and used car sales.

Seever’s presence has enabled Knoll to take full advantage of her lifelong passion, which is travel combined with a love of ancient history. With Seever at the helm of the work end, Knoll was able to embark on a six-and-a-half-week ancient civilization tour, which included Greece, Israel and Egypt. This October, Knoll and her husband will travel to South America for three weeks. As for her part, Seever is planning her first major vacation in the 10 years since she’s been with Knoll.

Knoll smiles when she recalls the early days of selling cars: “Most of the attitude back then among salesmen was ‘get out of the way, because we’re trying to make a living.’ They sure changed their tune when I began outselling them.” She admits that successful car salespeople do need to be somewhat aggressive, but that “on the sales end of the business, I’m probably one of the least aggressive salespeople here.”

And in the end, she says, it’s not about the sale, it’s about building a relationship with the customer. “It can take four years until someone is truly ready to buy a car, so the old days of ‘what’s it gonna take to sell you a car right now?’ just don’t hold up anymore. The customer must be placed in a comfort zone, and it’s important to realize that not all customers are looking to buy right away. So you need to respect that, and not push a sale on them,” she says.

For women especially, the challenge is to remain low-key, yet knowledgeable about the product. She explains, “It’s crucial to know the product inside out. Women will get questioned where men won’t, and often the customer already knows the answer; they’re just testing me. One time I approached a customer who told me he didn’t want to deal with a woman. I told him, ‘That’s OK, sir, I’ll get you a man as long as you don’t mind dealing with second best.’ He ended up buying a car from me. He told me, ‘You’re definitely not modest.’ I told him, ‘I’ve worked very hard to get here, and I’ve earned it!’”

Dara Troncoso
Sales and Leasing Consultant, Don Massey Cadillac
Dara Troncoso has hit the jackpot. She has found a career she loves and faces a future that looks bright indeed.

Following her marriage in 1989, Troncoso moved from Florida to Montrose, Colo., where her husband had his business. Using her degree in cosmetology, she bought and ran a beauty salon, which, she says, “I honestly acquired so I could have adult interaction and some grown-ups to talk to!” She had the salon for eight years, and realized she’d had enough of the business.

After her divorce, five years ago, she moved with her kids to Castle Rock, where her brother resided. She worked briefly at American Airlines, but knew she needed a better paying job. She says, “I began looking for a job in customer relations, but one that involved more than just sitting at a desk. I had a high-school education, and I wanted to use my personality to my advantage. But where could I go with that knowledge?”
As luck would have it, her new job literally found her. “I was like most people and hated car dealerships and car shopping. If someone had told me I’d end up doing this, I would never have believed them,” Troncoso says. What happened, she explains, is that she took her Escalade to the dealership to speak with the technician about service, and ended up with a job offer.

“My brother urged me to take it because a lot of Cadillac owners are also business owners, and he thought a job at the dealership could result in some great connections. And the general manager at the time said my background in developing personal relationships would be very beneficial. But I was worried, because I knew nothing about cars,” she says.

Troncoso admits to being “shocked” when she sold her first car, and still didn’t have a firm grasp on the financial end of the business. “My goal for the first six months was to sell as many cars as I could. I had no idea how much money I was making, but I just kept trying to sell them,” she says.

It’s safe to say that many people have limited knowledge about cars. Troncoso says she is no exception. She goes on to say, “We have our share of car buffs who come in here. We have some very high-performance vehicles in the showroom, and usually it’s men who come in to look. Some of them have done a great deal of research on the Internet, and know every nut and bolt on the vehicle. I usually compliment them on their knowledge, and then I’ll say, ‘Let’s go for a ride and maybe you can show me something I don’t know.’ That usually brings their attitude to a screeching halt.”

Troncoso says the hardest thing about the business comes from dealing with salespeople who are motivated purely by the money. “Sometimes people get clouded by the financial end and take the attitude that they will only work with a certain customer if they can make enough money off the sale,” she explains. “But these people are not just buying a car, they’re buying you as well. They’re buying your customer service, your willingness to work with them, etc.”

Along those lines, she emphasizes that customers always have a choice when it comes to the salesperson. “People come into a dealership and assume that whoever approaches them is the person they have to work with, and that’s just not true,” she cautions. “Women especially are prone to this, but if people would just take 30 minutes or so to walk around, they can decide who they want to work with. So in essence, the customer should pick the salesperson, not the opposite.”

Unfortunately, this “pick your salesperson” mentality can have its disadvantages for women. “There are a lot of elderly men who come to look at Cadillacs, and they often will sit at my desk and talk with me. Then they’ll stand up and look for a man to buy their car from. It’s an old-fashioned mentality that still exists,” she muses. “It’s not just the men, however,” she adds. “There are many women who are threatened as well. This happens most often in a situation where couples are shopping together.”

Troncoso strongly believes that anyone considering a career in car sales — male or female — should be prepared for the amount of time the job requires. “There are no exceptions to this, and a single mom is not going to get a break,” she says.

But for women in particular, the challenge is made even greater by the unspoken credo that women will still have to prove themselves worthy of the job. “One of the sales managers told me when I started here that I would have to work harder than anyone else, because they couldn’t help me the way they could a man. He said they’d be questioned and accused of favoritism,” she explains.

Such a mentality would surely deter a less secure individual. Troncoso is the exception. She says, “As long as I can see this working for me, I’ll continue to sell cars. No matter what others say, I believe this is a male-dominant profession. The sales managers are always men, and you’re surrounded by mechanics, service writers, etc., who are all men. So it takes a very secure woman to be comfortable in this environment. Likewise, it takes a very secure man to be comfortable maintaining a professional relationship with a woman in this type of workplace.”