I suppose if you were passionate about the job, then you could really get excited when demonstrating a trucks new features.
My ex brother in law loves diggers, and is an excellent salesmen for jcb.
You kind of answered your own question didn’t you, but I agree if you’re passionate about trucks and obviously very knowledgeable about them then that’ll certainly help you along the way although a bit of the old patter wouldn’t go amiss.
No, a truck driver wouldn’t automatically make a good salesman, in fact many would make terrible salesmen!
It’s something I’ve thought about. Being made redundant next year, been involved in haulage 19 years now, and possibly looking at a career change? I love cars and trucks, so have thought about car/truck salesperson
switchlogic:
No, a truck driver wouldn’t automatically make a good salesman, in fact many would make terrible salesmen!
Ok Luke, but look at how enthusiastic you are over the dual clutch thingy! I’d buy one off you
bugcos:
switchlogic:
No, a truck driver wouldn’t automatically make a good salesman, in fact many would make terrible salesmen!Ok Luke, but look at how enthusiastic you are over the dual clutch thingy!
I did say many not all! In actual fact its a career move that has interested me in the past and may well do in the future. Who knows
“Sell me this pen” 
For a salesman, people skills are obligatory. For a driver they’re a definate advantage, but some drivers seem to manage on a bare minimum.
A good salesman who is a truck enthusiast, would probably be better at the job than a good salesman who isn’t an enthusiast. But both would be better than a driver who’s had a personality bypass.
I won’t be competing with Luke for any vacancies. [emoji3]
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Fifty years ago a lorry driver would have made a good sales representative, old fashioned haulage men built up a relationship with the salesman and could talk the same language. Nowadays the same man is selling to an accountant or some spiv in a suit.
I actually did it, I was selling lorries when I joined trucknetuk, hence my username. In a word no, having experience and knowledge can actually be counter productive, you need to be a salesman first and foremost.
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No In a word,im passionate about German cars but I couldn’t sell them…
My mate who is in the same German car club as me is a salesman but not for the cars he loves, no he sells Korean cars and he hates them and tells everyone outside work how poor they are,but he is top salesman because he is a born salesman and he sells a product he thinks is poor but tells folk it’s good…now that’s a proper salesman…
There’s no much “sales” involved I would imagine. Most fleet buyers are in for whatever you can give them for as little money as possible. Anyone who buys nice trucks already knows what they’re looking for and doesn’t need any sales patter to convince them.
Not like car sales when some clueless Joe Bloggs can be influenced into buying whatever the salesman decides they’re getting.
There’s a difference between being a good demo driver and a good salesman.
At least half the sales job these days is explaining the finance deals and options…very few trucks are actually ‘sold’, more are leased, contract-hired, lease-purchased etc. You need to be able to understand what each of those means, what the tax implications etc are. Also R&M, extended warranty, full-service contracts etc etc.
A hell of a lot of the art of the deal now is working out how long the operator will keep the vehicles, and what state will they be in when he’s finished with them. Everything else gets worked back from that.
You also need the patience of Job, and a willingness to play patsy in silly power games. Make an appointment, turn up a polite 5 minutes early, and then be kept waiting for an hour.
If you are working in a rural part of the world where there are still some small agricultural and tipper fleets, then probably a good part of the deal will include eating home-made cake and drinking tea at farmhouse kitchen tables. So, best not to be too precious about your waistline.
A career as a coach salesman, on the other hand, seems to involve drinking heavily in a variety of exotic locations, but still being sober enough to do a deal at the end of the evening.
Freight Dog:
“Sell me this pen”
Write your name down 
harrawaffa:
There’s no much “sales” involved I would imagine. Most fleet buyers are in for whatever you can give them for as little money as possible. Anyone who buys nice trucks already knows what they’re looking for and doesn’t need any sales patter to convince them.
Not like car sales when some clueless Joe Bloggs can be influenced into buying whatever the salesman decides they’re getting.
^^^
This
Fleet buyers and O/D’s know exactly what theyre looking for without any patter from the sales cabbage. Same as no one goes ‘shopping’ for a digger or dozer, these type of people are already experts in the field.
Cars are a different matter, the average jose knows which color/ engine size they want, all they need to ask is whats the largest wheels they can fit under the arches…
simple answer …NO
an ex owner driver or fleet operator then maybe yes,
buying a truck isn’t about the “experience” , its about knowing how the numbers stack up, that’s not part of most truck drivers job- selling a truck is about knowing those numbers and how they match an buyers needs- not something a truck driver concerns themselves with.
When it comes to selling/buying £80-£100K worth of machinery, its all about how well it can do the job, and earn money not wether its nice to drive , so unless you have a good idea of the finances and also the tech specs for a role then simply being able to drive one isn’t a skill that’s required for a salesman role… in fact most salesmen I know don’t have an hgv licence
Most of the bosses that I have worked for would react very badly if they knew an ex-driver was trying to sell them a lorry. Bosses hate being advised my drivers and would probably go somewhere else on principal.
It’s all about the money and doing the maths these days; not how nice the lorry is.
Most sales are repeats, it takes a big falling out for a fleet to switch marques, but once they do, you’ll either be in the money, or will never sell them another lorry ever again, depending on which marque you represent. My time with MB taught me that, one company with a fleet of 20ish trucks had started as an owner driver with a used 2035 Merc, it nearly bankrupted him with constant EPS problems, you couldn’t give that man a Merc now. A stroke of luck whilst I was cold calling Billingsgate Market went the other way, a service van was unsuccessfully trying to get a 7.5t Daf started, I went straight to the offices of the Fishmonger who ran the Daf and made the most commission I ever made just by handing over a card and giving the driver a jacket I had in the boot of my car, his was soaking wet and filthy from messing about with his Daf. Once the new lorry turned up, with a sun visor, air horns, top of the range radio/CD and a few other extras I threw in, most of the other merchants in the market wanted a new lorry too so as not to be outdone, my phone nearly melted the day that little Atego turned up.
Unfortunately that was very rare, most of the time you get told to go away or they try and blag a demo so they’ve got a free lorry for a week or two. As a lorry man I wanted to sell big spec Actros, but in reality it didn’t happen, most of the Actros users dealt with fleet sales at MB HQ and I never got a look in unless they needed an extra class one holder when they were delivering the new ones after PDI at our place.
The boot is now on the other foot, I buy lorries now, I did before I sold them, but I needed something to do between selling up and moving to Canada, which is how I ended up selling Mercs. I’ve recently become the same as the man who started with the 2035 after terrible after sales service from every Volvo dealer I’ve dealt with and just recently that has been quite a few as my remaining Volvo has had a few problems, I’m so ■■■■■■ off with Volvo that I’ve sworn never to own another, which is a shame, as I really like the lorries, when they’re not breaking down lol
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Maybe it depends on who the client is? An owner driver may relate better to another driver?
A corporate buyer react better to a pitch from an accountant?
In all cases any purchaser is probably best served by researching the best deal themselves (time permitting) and assuming all salesmen are only in it for the commission.
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Generally not, it may useful to have hands on experience and be able to talk the language when dealing with O/Ds and small operators, but ultimately, even with them, you are selling a financial package. If you think you can make a living selling tractors to sub 5 vehicle fleets you will be better off as a driver. Other than the small handful of truck people buyers you are signing them up on a finance and maintenance package which suits their needs at least cost and a truck happens to turn up in the yard. When it comes to specialist equipment you’ll find that the customer tells you what they want, you check feasibility with your manufacturers tech team and quote accordingly.
Now a demo driver job, could be very interesting.