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Comment by cbell on April 17, 2010 at 12:22pm

I believe that we have brought many of these "myths" on ourselves. I see salespeople, managers even some owners who are only concerned about the sale and the dollar that comes along with that sale, forgetting that with above and beyond customer service the sales will come and the money will follow. I believe that if you take care of every consumer that comes into your dealership for sales, service or parts then in turn that person will buy a vehicle from you, visit your service department and get parts from your parts department. Not 100% of the time but an overwelming majority of the time if they feel they are valued by your dealership.

Not just getting the first sale and then no follow up or worse yet the "shopper" who is "just looking" that never gets called again. We are a "microwave" business wanting the sale and the commision that goes along with it NOW, so the customer service after the sale and really the follow up before the sale really suffers.

I believe that again if you take care of every person that comes through your doors regardless of the imediate outcome of their visit will result in more sales over the long term, WE just must understand that sometimes an investment in your time with someone will yield results in the future.

Farmers have this type of mindset, cultivate the fields, plant the crops, take care fo the crops as they grow and when ready harvest and then sell. Hunters go for the kill and if they miss they look for the next target. Farmers work hard and enjoy those fruits much longer than a hunter who stalks kills and eats only to have to start the stalking all over again when he is hungry again.

Happy farming

Comment by Charlie Hernandez on March 18, 2010 at 2:04pm

It is all our fault for customers having so much lack of faith in us dealers. We still hire people that are just coming right out of prison, drug addicts and down right criminals. Why do we have to constantly be selling to customers worrying that we are going to lose the deal? The reason is that customers will sell you out for a dollar. If they buy a new car, they can easily service it at any dealer that represents their make. I have sat as a GM in import dealership and I had a customer shop all over the world and found some idiot dealer that not only took a hugh loss on the car but delivered the car to the customer 400 miles away. Then the customer comes in and services the car at my store which is his local dealer and is demanding of a discount on the services. if you throw him out he goes immediately to the manufacturer and states how badly we treated him. WE THE DEALER ARE AT FAULT! THERE IS A MSRP WHERE ALL DEALERS ARE WORKING ON AN EVEN PLAYING FIELD. WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE SUCH WHORES? You go into the supermarket and look at a gallon of milk do we go and ask for a discount? NO! The funny and most sarcastic fact about all this if we can all agree to a fair profit we will treat the customer better. The customer has to know that we are in the business of making a profit, which in turn feed our employees' families and produce jobs and boost the economy. My word of advice is if you are running your dealership in the "scared mode" you should sell it.
The other way to look at it is consider your dealer 2 main and seperate entities. 1. SALES 2. SERVICE. If you don't make on 1 make it on the other. Profit always brings out the best in people. The cheap skates let them go it is bad CSI. They are trouble.

Comment by Courtney Cole on March 17, 2010 at 5:35pm

Let's get the truth out about 2 of these myths:

1. I like to get my own financing because my bank is very friendly and I know they could beat any deal that any dealership could offer.

This is highly unlikely because most dealerships deal with multiple banks that offer all kinds of opportunities for a customer to gain an advantage by dealing with their dealership. In 2009 our dealership sent deals to 32 different banks (everything from credit unions to special finance banks). Different banks have different specialties. Some offer lower rates for perfect credit, some offer longer terms for great credit, some offer better rates for challenged credit, and some will offer outstanding terms for different credit situations. The majority of the time a dealership can beat the "deal" that is being offered to a customer at their local bank.

2. "My credit is bad and I won't go to a New Car Dealership because they will just look down on me and won't even try to help me."

This is absolutely false. As mentioned above, dealerships have many banking relationships and will go out of their way to try to help you get into a vehicle of your liking. Some dealerships have special departments that help exclusively with credit challenged situations. They concentrate on buying vehicles that the banks will go out of their way to help an individual get financed. Furthermore, some stores have in house financing and if you are honest about your credit situation and have the ability to make payments, then they will finance you directly. Many times the customer will have an opportunity to get a nicer vehicle at a New Car Dealer than they will from someone's local used car lot. (Note: I realize there are a bunch of outstanding BHPH and Independent Dealers on this site. I am only using this language to help those of us that are New Vehicle Dealers overcome some very common objections).

More Myth Busters will follow tomorrow.

Comment by Steve Richards on March 16, 2010 at 9:38pm

Courtney, sadly the myths, some true, some not so true, are perceived reality perpetuated on a daily basis by the vast majority of retail automobile dealerships nationwide. It's not a function so much of the people who own dealerships, sell cars or service cars, but rather it's a function of the ridiculously outdated business model and the antiquated sales process employed by most stores because "it's the ways we've always done it." I've met a thousand + dealers, ten-thousand + managers, and one-hundred thousand + sales and service consultants during my career. Most are hard-working, personable, smart, and honest people. Yet 288,786,993 Americans would disagree with me. Why? Maybe it's a business model that treats every customer differently, administering a "stupid test" in a vain attempt to find the customer with a 700 beacon score and a 70 IQ. Maybe it's a sales process that revolves around the "desk manager" and NOT the consumer. Maybe it the fact that one consumer who inquires about a specific vehicle at one store using the phone, the internet, and a personal visit will get 3 different prices. Why hasn't the way we sell cars changed during the 31 years I've been in the business? Maybe it's because we sell the MOST popular product in the history of mankind and the consumer can only by a new car one place - a franchised new car dealer - by LAW. Why change? Well, ask those that sell cars for a living; they may have a few reasons.

Comment by sw on March 16, 2010 at 5:37pm

Whatever you do don't stop long enough for someone to talk to us, or if they do tell them we're only looking. They only want to sell us something.

Comment by Jimmy Vee on March 16, 2010 at 5:31pm

I posted a video in the video section today that relates to this topic. I share a funny story (or not so) about when I brought up the fact that I work with car dealers at a family function... guess what happened??

Here's the link if you want to watch it.

http://www.autodealerpeople.com/video/how-to-be-the-dealer-people

Jimmy

Comment by John Androulidakis on March 16, 2010 at 5:02pm

Dealers only care til the sale is complete. After they have your money they forget your name.

Comment by Courtney Cole on March 16, 2010 at 4:55pm

Would love to get some more, but I am going to start (tomorrow) bringing out the truth with these myths ... do 2 at a time.

Comment by Jeff Carress on March 16, 2010 at 4:35pm

The dealer is making $2500 $3000 (insert your own number) on me !!! (regardless of what the selling price is ) I could sell a car for $2503 and some how I would make $2500 on the deal.

Comment by Jimmy Vee on March 16, 2010 at 12:29pm

Great post Courtney. I couldn't agree more. We all need to work on changing the consumer perception and debunk these myths. Here's my myth to add to your list.

"Car dealers are all scoundrels who want to rob you."

All the dealers I've worked with are really nice, ordinary people.

Thanks for posting this.

Jimmy

www.RichDealersDaily.com

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