Applied Theory Mt. Spokane Students Test Auto Marketing Ideas In Simulated Dealership

It looked and smelled like a new car dealership, but the baby faces on the sales reps indicated this was something different.

Cole Hockett, a senior at Mt. Spokane High School, quoted all the facts about the sparkling white Chevrolet Malibu that sat in the school’s atrium with three other rigs.

“This car is a four-door sedan with a V-6 under the hood. The engine is really nice because everything is right in front of you.”

Not bad for having just read the specs on the car that morning.

Hockett was one of 20 students in marketing teacher Dave Whitehead’s class who participated in a simulated car dealership at the school on Friday.

Students have been working on the project for two months. Hockett said the experience was invaluable.

“I want to go to college and eventually major in marketing,” he said. “In this business, the one thing I quickly saw was that the best advertising is word of mouth and how you treat people.

“As a salesman, I think it’s best to approach people to inform them and be honest about the products they’re looking at,” he said. “I think every car lot has something for someone.”

The students got help from the Chevrolet Parkway in Deer Park. The dealership and Chevrolet Division of General Motors provided the class with a $1,200 budget for creating and implementing their own simulated dealership.

Students were part of different departments: business office, finance and insurance, sales, and parts and service.

Their classmates, faculty, staff and some parents attended the event and acted out the role of customers.

The program was designed to introduce high school students to GM, dealership operations and various automotive careers.

Whitehead got the simulated dealership idea from Mt. Spokane student Bree Klobaucher last year. She heard about the project from her older sister on the other side of the state. Whitehead has been working on it since January.

“This whole thing has worked out really well and Parkway’s been absolutely great,” Whitehead said.

Charlene Nelson, a sophomore, got her first-hand experience working in the finance and insurance department.

“I learned a lot about credit, and interest. Gosh, I didn’t realize it cost so much to buy a car,” Nelson said.

Added senior Nichelle Pomeroy: “It takes a lot to run a dealership.”

The way it worked, buyers visited the atrium and chose from a Chevrolet Malibu, Sport Utility Vehicle, pickup truck and a sporty Cavalier.

Car buyers and leasers made their selections and then they were escorted upstairs to the finance and insurance department by the sales reps to see if they could financially qualify for their vehicle of choice.

By day’s end, Whitehead could see that most of his students got a valuable lesson.

“Some are very good sales people,’ he said. “Some are dog tired. It’s a good way for them to see how the work-a-day world operates.”