Given the fact that they won't make money out of selling the car and probably won't make money servicing it - have you thought that they really don't WANT your "custom"?
Roger.
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Dealers servicing cars they didn\'t sell is a fact of life, if they don\'t make money servicing cars and don\'t make money selling them - then they won\'t be in business very long!
I guess some dealers are better at CRM than others, most of us have experienced bad attitudes from dealers at some time.
I\'m that pink fluffy dice minded that I will vote with my feet as a point of principle.
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Lease companies want servicing done at knock down prices and then take ages to settle the bill.
As a former dealer principal I know! We were forced, by our franchisor, to handle Motability leases for a handling fee of just twenty quid. (some years ago admittedly).
Not a great suprise that such an enquiry was met with less than enthusiasm!
Roger.
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"Your leasing co wont buy from them so why should they make an effort?"
Because if Marlot likes the Golf and recommends it to friends who want to buy one (privately) guess where he will tell them *not* to go. Is it really that much effort to flash a false smile and hand him a brochure?. Granted the test drive might take up a salesman's valuable time, but there are much nicer ways of declining the test drive (which he didn't even ask for!)than an outright and very off-putting "No, because we don't like your kind"...or words to that effect.
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It's all down to the current way of running businesses as a series of smaller companies within the parent. Why should the sales department incur a cost to the benefit of the service department (who usually insist on full discount for any cars they run but charge out for servicing of sales cars at full rate as it "wouldn't be fair to the lads to pay them less".... as if they guys in the workshop see a fraction of the hourly rated biilled). Bill Wilkinson, if you're reading this I hope you're squirming.
I'll get off my high horse now.
ND
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William Wilkinson - who he?
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William Wilkinson - who he?
Pugnacious service manager of the Ford Dealership where I was responsible for Fleet Sales. Our swords crossed on this matter on more than one occassion.
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But, "As a former dealer principal" you should know that you can so easily get a bed reputation with a couldn't-care-less attitude. Surely, in the interests of their own reputation, it is worth a dealer making an effort, even if they know that they are not going to get a sale out of it. After all Marlot could well have a friend who wanted to buy a Volkswagon and was looking for a good dealer.
So much service these days is driven solely by the balance sheet, without thought to the wider picture.
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Bottom line profit is the WHOLE of the picture. If it doesn't make, or costs one money - forget it!
Roger.
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If you spent all your day in a car showroom trying to sell cars so that you can earn more than a pitiful basic salary that is less than minimum wage, and a customer approached you who made it clear that they would like to take up your time even though they had no intention of buying, then believe me, you would struggle to do anything other than give a fob off!
I know this doesn't really apply to your situation Marlot as you didn't ask for a test drive, maybe they could have been a bit less abrupt in telling you that they wouldn't help you, but on the whole, I'm not suprised by what they did, and I would do it myself, although in a slightly more polite manner. :-)
Blue
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Its almost as if we aren't welcome to "shop" at dealers anymore, they only want to see you when you are ready to buy. Well I won't be ready to buy and will have no intention of buying until I have dog-eared a few brochures and driven a few demo cars and if the salesperson sees my shopping as a waste of their time then they need to put signs up on the front door..."Do not enter unless you are buying a car here".
You mention being in a showroom all day trying to sell cars, well...ummm...thats your job, to try to sell me a car no matter how un-decided or non-commital I may appear. If you aren't willing to do that or only want to see customers who are actually buying then maybe you shouldn't be a "salesperson", try applying for "Order taker" positions instead.
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You mention being in a showroom all day trying to sell cars, well...ummm...thats your job, to try to sell me a car no matter how un-decided or non-commital I may appear.
Surelt the point here is that the bottom line was that Marlot was definitely not going to buy?
No matter how much Marlot liked the salesman, no matter how impressive the car was or how stupendously wonderful the dealer, there was absolutely no chance whatsoever of the dealer getting any business.
Every minute the saleperson puts into a definite non-customer is a minute less given to help someone who just might, perhaps consider buying. Every minute a car is being tested by a definite non-customer is a minute less when it would be available to a potential buyer or someone just thinking about their options. They might as well go home and just lend out the demonstrator cars to anyone passing by.
Try turning this on its head, and suppose you were car-shopping. If all the salespeople were busy dealing with non-customers, wouldn't you be a bit peeved at the lack of service?
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As far as I can see the issue here is that the salespeople in the dealership were rude... QED.
There is little ( if any ) justification for rudeness.
The wider problem is....
Let's assume that Marlot goes ahead and aquires a VW despite the attitude of this dealership.
Would he take it to this dealer? He can only decide based upon his experience with them, it's unlikely that he would, given his treatment upon walking through the door.
And because most dealers don't make money no car sales but on looking after those cars once they've been sold, if the servcie department is tarred with the same brush as the sales department, they are *all* going to run out of customers very soon.
Politeness is free.
Sales/After Sales/ Servicing Teamwork is the key, get any one horribly wrong and the damage is done to all departments.
;-) Bear it in mind Blue Oval ;-)
JaB
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Politeness is free. Sales/After Sales/ Servicing Teamwork is the key, get any one horribly wrong and the damage is done to all departments.
Agreed, but until the sales management and service management accept this and stop squabbling over cost centres.......
Half the time Fleet Servicing barely returns a profit. Some dealers are making an active choice to pursue the retail market. You don't get paid for the potential sale in 4 years time when the company car driver you were nice to comes out of a company car and starts shopping for personal transport; you get paid for today's sales today.
Some time should be allocated to such drivers and certainly I see no business case for refusing a brochure (these people often have a spouse and a second car) but I can understand the refusal to offer a testdrive.
What happened here was a lack of tact. With a little thought the salesman could have explained that by contacting the fleet department the driver would more likely get a car for a few days to make a meaningful judgement.
In a nutshell, the salesman went too far in the refusal. Or was it the receptionist? Paragons of virtue that they are, business opportunities have always been lost through over-zealous receptionists/telephonists "protecting" their employer's from what they deem to be unsuitable enquiries.....
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Thank you for that NoWheels, in my abscence you said exactly what I wanted to say :-)
I agree entirely and that was my point. If someone comes up to me at work, whilst I am trying to earn a living, and said to me that they were entirely wasting my time and had absoloutely NO intention of providing me with any business, then why should I spend any time with them at all?
If someone is shopping around then I always do my best, demonstrate what I can offer them, and hope that they make a decision in my favour. However, on the very rare occasions that it is made 100% clear that the person has no intention of buying a car, then I will not be made a fool of and waste my time, bearing in mind that I do not get paid if I do not sell cars.
Trancer - I presume that you do not work in car sales, as if you did, I think you would have better understood the point of my post. What you have to bear in mind is, would you be willing to spend time during your working day, speaking to a person who you know would never buy from you? Maybe you would, but now if you were in that situation and were also losing salary for every minute you spend talking to them, then would you continue chatting? No, of course you wouldn't, you would try to politely get away from them and get on doing what you are paid to do.
I'll stress once more though, if the customer has any potential to buy a car, as most have, then spend all the time in the world with them, if not, then they are not actually a customer, but at least be polite about it.
Blue
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Bottom line profit is the WHOLE of the picture. If it doesn't make, or costs one money - forget it! Roger.
But, in the long run profit depends on your reputation. If you get a bad one you won't sell cars to anybody.
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I believe there are some private customers who keep going back to the same dealer regardless - and of course there are always fleet sales, but I imagine after big discounts profit margins aren't that good. But I recall Quentin W, explaining how to haggle, saying Don't worry about giving the salesman a hard time, you'll probably never meet him again. Maybe works both ways?
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I think it's perhaps partly a VAG thing.
I'm a company car driver and I've had more grief from VW and Audi on getting test drives than from other companies.
Incidentally, the leasing company we use are happy to deal with a dealer nominated by the employee PROVIDED the dealer will match the terms the leasing comnany gets elsewhere. Every dealer thought this was fair (excepy Audi) and one of them (Lexus Woodford) got a discounted sale and 4 years' service business.
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The situation is worse in Germany which let's face it has never been big on "smiley service" as opposed to "good honest quality work". The problem comes when you're charged a smiley service premium and have had surly, uninterested service and shoddy work!
I wanted to test drive a Bora V6 Variant when I was looking for cars I would buy myself. Neither the dealer nor VAG would offer me one, I (would have) had to order the car sight unseen.
Of my local dealers, one failed entirely to return my call, one I visited on a Saturday but saw no salesmen at all, and one was quite helpful but couldn't supply the model to test.
Needless to say I crossed VW off my list. I wasn't THAT keen on it!
pat
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Agreed its a VAG speciality. I met it when the old 5 was nearing the end of its term.
Story is ... I go to look at an A6. As soon as I admit it's a company purchase, the salesman gives me the business card for their bloke who deals with company purchases and walked off. Apparently said bloke will call me.
He doesn't, so I call him. Terribly helpful... so long as I want a leasing quote. Err, no, I'd like a brochure and a test drive... call me old fashioned but I like to decide WHAT I want to buy before I decide HOW I want to buy it. No problem, says he, I'll source a car from Audi and call you back to arrange a test drive. He doesn't.
This was the back end of 2003. It followed a very similar story in 2000. And a very similar story in 1997. VAG are off my list now - and not just for 2006, for good. I really can't be bothered.
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Nah its not just a VAG problem, it has happened to me at very nearly every franchise, most notably a Nissan dealer.
As a long standing fleet user, I learned very early in the game to represent myself as a private buyer initally. Get all the tyre kicking, brochure gathering, short test drives as a private buyer. Make your short list, then approach the Manufacturers in your real state as a fleet user* and enjoy all the benefits of extended test drives.
*Once the fleet departments have your name, you get invited to all sorts of launches, test days, car clinics, etc etc.
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One for the manufacturers!
I rang up Honda UK and asked where my nearest dealer was as I was interested in an extended test drive.
I was asked what extended was and I said a weekend, I was changing my company car and had narrowed it down to an Accord or a 320d.
I was asked for my details and my leasing company details and left it at that.
Honda called back the next week and arranged an Accord for a week, they delivered to my door this morning and so far very impressed.
BMW didn't return the call - guess who's getting the business?
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"a bed reputation" - hm... More Victoria Principal's line, I would have thought.
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