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Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
48010 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 10:22 PM
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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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Replying to: bigdveedubgirl (Jul 24, 2006 11:29 am) The doctor story is a nightmare but not unheard of. That is the customer I was talking about but not even to that extreme. You showed WAY more patience than I would have with him. Like 9 1/2 hours more (^: Don't worry - that will all come back to him in one form or another. Bad things happen to bad people.
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Replying to: tsgeisel (Jul 24, 2006 10:49 am) I can usually tell within 5 minutes what I have - 15 years of Toyota sales not to brag but doing 25-30 vehicles per month helps. I also find that has gotten easier as people lives become more cluttered with work, family, interests and such they just don't have the time to stroke around yanking chains. They tend to lay it out there faster if you are asking the right questions. Plus I don't have the time to play the car game either. Maybe my approach has something to do with that?
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Replying to: toyotamover (Jul 24, 2006 12:19 pm) But this was in-store, limited promotional work. Aside from the commission aspect of it, it's a completely different animal. |
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Replying to: cluedweasel (Jul 24, 2006 10:56 am) I sure hope it did - I was very unhappy with the dealership I bought my last car at, and not so happy with the salesman I dealt with (and way less happy with others that I dealt with at an earlier time), and my survey reflected that - but only in an apporpriate manner. I like the idea that perhaps the dealership was hurt because of a poor CSI survey.
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Replying to: toyotamover (Jul 24, 2006 12:14 pm) That was down to my lack of experience at the time. I still had all the "customer is always right" stuff ringing in my ears from training. Also, my SM was one of those guys who believed in us making mistakes and learning from it. |
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Replying to: cluedweasel (Jul 24, 2006 10:56 am) BTW, what exactly classifies a sale a "mini"? |
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Replying to: mac24 (Jul 22, 2006 7:25 am) Not a chance...We all get spoken to like that. I have seen worse in other shops. |
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Replying to: deserth8r (Jul 24, 2006 12:59 pm) There is normally an inverse relationship between the amount of time spent with a customer and the amount of money you make. Full list sales are normally pretty quick and painless but mini deals are almost always slow going and very painful. It really sucks when you sell a 45,000 dollar vehicle to someone and only get 75 dollars on it then they trash you on the survey so you don't even get any bonus money either. CSI scores are even more important for mose european makes as the CSI score is tied into the bonus money the dealership recives as a percentage of the vehicles invoices that are sold for the month. European brands typically don't have a holdback percentage like domestics and asian brands do. A bad CSI score means you don't get any money back from the manufacturer after a sale. Then you have land rover that not only ties that money into CSI scores they also tie it into audits that they do once a quarter. Get a bad enough audit score, some of which is entirely subjective to the individual auditor, and you will lose as much as a third of that money. |
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