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Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
48010 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 10:22 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: toyotamover (Jul 24, 2006 9:30 am) He finally settled on the G35 sedan, about 3 hours after we'd decided that would probably be the best car suited to him. Then he couldn't decide on a color so he asked me to line up his favorite 4 so he could see them next to each other. Then when I finally had him settled on a car, he didn't want it because it had 22 miles on the clock so it "wasn't new" in his eyes. Luckily I found an identical car with 8 miles on it. He still complained about that (I never saw one come in with less than 5 on it) but said he could live with it. So, we had to test drive the latest one I found which was fair enough. The store policy was no sale with no test drive. Then it came down to the numbers. He named his price (thank heavens). He wanted $500 over invoice. My SM could see I was suffering so he wrote it up at that with no arguments. Of course it wasn't that easy. Our price was $400 more than his reasearched price. The dreaded ad fee again. So it was out with the Infinit invoice and 30 minutes of accusations over fake invoice prices and why should he pay the ad fee if this particular car hadn't been advertised. We ended up taking another $200 off and he accepted that. One good thing about the whole deal was that he had no trade. Then, while he was waiting for F&I, I made the mistake of mentioning the Infiniti satisfaction survey. Like most of the industry these surveys were 100% for pass or anything else for fail. Also, our bonuses were tied to these surveys. You needed 96%+ average to qualify for volume bonuses so these things were vital. Of course, Dr. Kildare wasn't having any of this. He never ranked anything 100% because it implied perfection and left no room for improvement. Then again, he was an avid golfer and let me know that he could be persuaded to change his mind for a couple of boxes of the golf balls we sold. Those were $36 each so I gave up $72 of my mini for a good survey. Off he trots to F&I and takes 4 hours (on a Saturday remember) arguing over every detail, phoning his brother (a bank manager) to read over every line of small print in the sales contract and the loan agreement. Finally, after 10 hours, he drives off into the sunset. Over the coming week he 'phoned me over 20 times with questions about the car, complaints about it's condition (it was spotless), etc. Get the survery in a month later. Everything is marked fair (50%) or good (75%). The funniest one was "Did the sales consultant spend enough time..." which he marked as fair and wrote a comment in about me rushing him and not showing him enough choice of vehicles. Needless to say, that pushed mine and the stores average down for the month and I lost all my bonuses, probably about $3000. At least it taught me one lesson that still sticks with me. Some customers are just not worth having. |
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..where they had that one salesman in the persona of the Blue Genie try to sell a car to this couple who had never heard of the Blue Genie and didn't like anything that was shown to them from a minivan to a used Cadillac. On top of that, the couple had bulletproof credit. I think I remember hearing Chop say that selling to person with good credit was tougher than those with poor credit. What does anybody think about this?
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 24, 2006 10:58 am) |
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Replying to: zodiac2004 (Jul 24, 2006 10:26 am) Not to rehash a point but if they don't spend their money on a car they will spend it on something else and generate more tax revenue. |
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Replying to: cluedweasel (Jul 24, 2006 10:56 am) However, it is nice to hear that our CSI scores are so important. On our last two car sales, I gave the sales people perfect scores and added in complementary verbal comments as well. When we bought our 1999 Accord, however, I was not pleased when the sales person tried to cheat us out of some options we had paid for. We eventually got the options we wanted, but I gave them a very low CSI score, with zeros on some categories. I have always hoped that it affected them financially, so maybe they would be less inclined to cheat buyers in the future. |
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Replying to: toyotamover (Jul 24, 2006 9:30 am)  It depends on the situation. During the week, I have the patience of a saint. On Saturday, not so much. And it depends, If they are appreciative of the time I spend with them, I usually do not mind, because for some people who only buy a car every 10 years it is a big deal. Usually, if they start asking how much over invoice, I let them know real quick it is more like how much off of sticker. I do not mind a mini as long as I am appreciated, but If I am worked like a dog and get a crappy csi, I am out. I had a customer who I found a car in florida, shipped it here did all kinds of extra stuff, and I got a crappy csi because the front license plate holder. And that was a mini deal
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Replying to: theflush (Jul 24, 2006 10:29 am) |
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Replying to: cluedweasel (Jul 24, 2006 10:56 am) You showed great restraint in not strangling the good doctor. Maybe, you should have shown up at the golf course and gotten those golf balls back in mid swing. What percent of surveys come back 100%? I would think it very few unless you told the customer it was pass/fail. I remember our salesperson "asking" for a good survey. But, she never mentioned she needed a perfect score. Consequently I marked down on 2 or 3 areas where I thought improvement needed...would probably score a 90-94%. I would have given it to her had I known.
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 24, 2006 10:58 am) |
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I had a customer who I found a car in florida, shipped it here did all kinds of extra stuff, and I got a crappy csi because the front license plate holder. And that was a mini deal This stung just a little bit. A few years ago I was finally able to afford my dream car, and went shopping for it. I timed my buying so that I'd get a good deal on it (bought one of the last "old style" Maximas around), but the problem with this buying method is that the selection isn't the best(I will probably buy an '09 Maxima, right before the redesigned '10s hit the lots). Well, it just so happened that a local dealer had the exact combo of colors and options I wanted, so I did the deal. The only problem with the car is that it was a DX from Wisconsin (I'm in Michigan), so the car had 330 miles on it. That part didn't bother me, I wasn't buying a sports car. What DID bother me was that it had a front license plate holder, which the salesman assured me they would take off when I took delivery on Monday (it was a Saturday). Well, I show up Monday night, and the plate is still on there. I ask him what the deal was, and he says he wasn't able to get it into the body shop today, and if I wanted we could do the delivery the next day. Considering this was the car I'd been waiting for my whole life, of course I took delivery and figured I'd just take it off myself. I get it home, and do all the obsessive things I do with a new car. Read the manual cover-to-cover. Check that the tire pressure is spot-on what the in-car placard says it's supposed to be. Look at the engine, check all the fluids. Put the stereo presets in, and play some CDs. Put in my rubber "Maxima" floormats, special ordered from a place online (it was March in Michigan, after all). And lastly, take off the dang license plate holder. I was horrified to see that the holder was fastened by not one, but two giant screws. I take it off, and there are now two holes in my brand new bumper (I'm not sure if I thought the thing was held on by osmosis or what  ) So I call my salesdude the next day, and start talking crazy talk like getting a new bumper put on. I hear him smiling through his voice, and tells me to get over there. He had had the body shop paint-match two small plugs, which he then popped in the holes. It looks perfect. Yeah, he got a perfect CSI. However, veedubgirl, please do not underestimate the anal-retentiveness of people paying big money for a brand new car. 
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