KEY POINTS:
Mike Clark beamed, surveying the several million dollars of horsepower in front of him. "This is the best job in the world. I adore them," said Clark, likening the showroom full of Aston Martins, Lamborghinis and Bentleys to an art gallery.
It's little surprise the general manager of
Auckland's Independent Prestige dealership, was relaxed. It can't be the toughest job in the world. With prices as high as $775,000 for the new Bentley Brooklands, you wouldn't be expected to sell something every day, would you? Well, not quite, he admitted.
"We expect our salesmen to do four cars a month. Six is better, and eight is fantastic. We would sell about 25 cars a month."
So, what does a luxury car salesman do the rest of the time - polish hubcaps? "Prospecting. The detail involved is huge. The time from inquiry to sale can be two years. It means finding out who wants to buy a car of this nature. We have a database of 1000 names."
Who's on that database? "Some are people we have sold cars to and people making genuine inquiries. The rich list is a very good prospecting tool."
Clark struggled when asked to describe a typical buyer. Predominantly, they live in the eastern suburbs, but also Herne Bay, St Mary's Bay and the North Shore. And Queenstown. "Property developers, retired company directors, self-employed people. We occasionally get Lotto winners."
And dreamers? "The dreamers will usually tell you: 'I'm just coming to look, these cars fascinate me, I own a Holden'. We know how to qualify people. But you have to be very careful. You don't want to upset genuine customers."
One thing genuine buyers do have is money. You need that to spend half a million dollars on an Aston Martin DBS - the same model as in the James Bond film Casino Royale - or up to $660,000 on a Lamborghini Murcielago.
"We're hoping to sell 30 Bentleys this year," Clark said. "And we have five orders for the Aston Martin DBS. You would be surprised where the money comes from."
The late party pill baron Logan Millar was a good customer. Overseas students sent to study in Auckland also have a penchant for spending their allowances on Lamborghinis.
The cars were "like a drug" for some people, Clark said, recounting a tale of a car thief who couldn't resist an Aston Martin with its key in the ignition parked at a service station.
He was compelled to steal it - and drive it to his appointment at a local police station.
Buyers will haggle over prices and usually pay cash, often as part of a trade-in. "We don't care if they have a Hillman Hunter - we will trade anything," said Clark, who learned his trade "the hard way" among the car dealers of Melbourne. It's been a long journey from his early years working as a mechanic in Northland to selling $2 million cars - the McLaren F1.
He mixes easily with his super-rich clients, whom he describes as mostly "fantastic" people, and he genuinely loves cars. "All cars are good."
But some are better, and while his wife may drive a Volkswagen, each day Mike Clark gets to choose between a Bentley, an Aston Martin and a Lamborghini to drive home in.
