He's very good to his employees and we have top-notch facilities. Turpin provides its sales force with a base salary, plus commission. The way that the market is today, the customer gets a really good deal and the salesman doesn't make any money. The business is particularly hard on women, says Mr. Connolly. It seems to affect women more than men.
Guys tend to get mad.
Women tend to get hurt, though we've had some very successful saleswomen here. New sales personnel must also contend with a steep learning curve and a highly competitive work atmosphere in most dealerships, he says. They must sound authoritative in describing the attributes of new vehicles, without having had much time to familiarize themselves with the automobiles' key aspects. But there's still a place for commission, and there's not necessarily a connection between commissioned sales and high turnover. Mr. Chiappa's biggest problem with the industry is customer attitude.