I agree that there is no point in doing an internet request until you know for sure what your are looking for, or at least have narrowed down your choices to the point where price might make the final decision.
But, in person, stopping at a dealer just to browse, check out the new models, etc. is perfectly OK, regardless of wheteher you think you are in the market or not. If you are up front ("just looking"), and don't ask to test drive the entire inventory, why not?
Besides, how can you turn a "looker" into a "buyer" if they don't look to begin with?
Flip side, of course, is for the sales person to actually believe someone when they say they are just there to browse, so they don't end up investing lot's of time pestering someone that isn't intterested.
When I worked the floor and someone told me they just wanted to look around, I would ask what they were looking for and I would point them in the right direction. I would hand them a card and tell them to come find me if they had any questions.
I needed one more used car to make a bonus that month and while they were in the dealership they seemed serious. That is why I persued it they way I did.
I sell Dodges, but in Houston (I don't know where you are).
Stickguy
95% of shoppers, the first thing out of their mouth is "I'm just looking". So that doesn't really say much. No one walks on the lot unless they want to buy! Are you going to sell them? Are you man enough? (Heard that in a movie once)
In News & Views, I've started a new Forum, "Make me a Better (online) Salesman!. Check it out. It's about my new Intranet job.
What if I make the contact via email, but the email indicates I am planning to come in just to doing some preliminary looking around and possibly test drive if that would be okay?
I would contact by email because I want to deal with the "internet sales person" at the dealership as that may mean a better price on the car, should I eventually decide to buy. (I think it is silly that this is the case, but that seems to be the way it works).
Remember that even if I just want to sit in the car I generally can not do this in the showroom, because they usually will have leather upolstery...which I do not like and therefore I will not get a correct impression of the car.
Jeff, on more than one occasion I have stopped at a dealer and asked, "We are not buying a car today but we may buy one in a few months. Could we take one of your cars on a short test drive to see how we like it?"
They have always been more than happy to let us drive one of their cars.
I don't think you need to go through an email just to do a test drive.
I don't mind them testing the waters, but there's one fella who's getting ignored the next time he submits a request...he goes through Edmunds or Subaru.com and when the company sends him a survey he trashes me; the first time he submitted with a request for lease numbers I complied (usually a mistake) to the best of my ability and he never responded and gave me an unfavorable survey, the second time he came online I quoted the selling price of the car and said he'd have to visit us for a lease quote and he trashed me again.
Now, if I knew what he wanted I'd have been happy to help but this gentleman doesn't answer his phone...so next time, he's on ignore.
This is working out well. I have a pretty good base of repeat and referral customers besides the internet stuff.
We are not a "liner-closer" store. Those are terrible places and most stores work that way.
We do have team leaders who get involved if things get bogged down. I was one of those and I still get called in where necessary. Unless something happens in the next couple of years, I'll finish up my working days doing this job. This is a great store. I got lucky when I escaped the corporate world. I would probably be dead as several others in my former position are.
I have a question for the folks that have sent in Internet inquiries to dealerships.
First of all, did you use the dealers website or a 3rd party site. Edmunds is a 3rd party site as is Honda.com or Autoweb.
What was your experience with the communications of the emails form the dealerships that responded. I say "responded" because I know some don't.
Did the email have all of the information you requested?
Here is why I ask this. We have a dedicated Internet Dept, whiuch means that we work solely through the Internet for selling. In other words, we don't take floor sales. When I make templates for the responses, I like to know what works and what doesn't. Someimes having a successul template is like nailing jello to a tree. Do you give too much information? Too little?
We process over 500 lead requests per month...there has to be a template format or the job could not get done. I try to make then as personal as possible, I just want to know from those who have contacted dealerships what they thought about the reponses from them.
My two guys use them but I don't. We do send out an "auto response" e-mail that basically lets the person who sent the e-mail know we have received it.
Templates are fine as long as it has all the information requested. One type of response I don't like is: $xxxx plus TTL and dealer fees. Too much open ended information.
My first response in the past was something like "How much are the dealer fees and TTL for a $xxxx vehicle, where I live in xxx county Florida and this will be a tag transfer?" And so starts an endless game of email tag.
For the next vehicle I use the internet for quotes, the response will be something like..."Please list all dollar amounts for an OTD price. I've deleted your previous email, so for me to again consider bringing you my business, include all requested info. in your next email."
And I immediately delete the canned responses. They have nothing I asked for and clutter up my inbox.
I've built ours with no HTML and have it pretty simple. We used to have it fancy with graphics, highlighting etc. However, in the body of the email would be certain descriptions of the process...so we would get phone calls or emails asking about the very thing we just described.
Pretty frustrating when someone sends you an email and all you focus on, or read is the highlighted price. So we just use non highlighted text...that makes em read it.
When I used Car Client, I used templates because I was getting so many leads, and we were a pretty busy store, and internet was not my job, we were experimenting with letting all salespeople get leads which was the biggest cluster ever.
I enjoy working the Auto Trader Leads that come, I have a much stronger closing ratio with those clients, than ones that just come from Audi or Cars.com.
I posed this question in the last forum, but since there was so much going on that questions were not getting answered, How do you deal with an internet customer that asks for your best deal and then haggles on that? I always thought it makes me look dishonest if I give my best deal and then after haggling the car is sold for less.
Maybe make your internet quote a 24 hour or 48 hour price.
This price is good until X:XX time tomrrow and then expires.
Puts some urgency into the situation. This is something I am suggesting for our used cars so we can quote people a price over the internet that is time sensative.
Well I don't work in your industry and just moved to the US last November so I guess I can give you an honest view:)) Out in my drive I have an 06 outback that I picked up on sat (2.5xt Ltd yum yum!!). Ooops sorry:))
Anyway I sent out for quotes and got 5 replies out of six requests. One toook the time to send a personal reply ( I knew 'cause of the typo!). the others were canned which really made me feel valued ALL but one wouldn't give a straight answer! Of the 5, 3 said "come on in and take a test drive". Well i'd already taken the drive otherwise I wouldn't be asking for quotes. ( i do appreciate there are people out there who have nothing better to be doing though!).
I also asked to be contacted be email only and still got a call from a guy. I let him know he'd just shot himself in the foot....but guess what?? He rang me again at 9pm!!
Anyway I bought from the dealer who took the 2 minutes to write a reply.He didn't give me the best quote but you don't alwasy have to be the cheapest...buying on the internet does not mean we are machines:)
" I enjoy working the Auto Trader Leads that come, I have a much stronger closing ratio with those clients, than ones that just come from Audi or Cars.com. "
I used Auto Trader when I bought a new '05 Civic last September. It was the model year end, there were virtually no LX SE Autos left and no one was doing dealer trades for those. I had already been to every dealer in the Orlando area.
So I found the dealers on autotrader.com, sent out about 20 emails and ended up buying one over in the Tampa area. The guy sent me his initial offer, I asked for $300 off and he accepted. Not the best deal, but we got what we were looking for.
My only regret is that I waited too long. If I had bought before Rita and Katrina hit and the subsequent spike in gas prices, I probably could have saved $500 or more.
What I have a big challenge with is the buyers who email and want the best price and they shot that email to like 30 dealers. How do you win with those people? I sell value value value to my customers and usually when I have clients price does not come up until after the test drive. I have a hard time dealing with customers who only care about price, especially with Audis because we have to to sell the value and the safety and performance so much harder than BMW and BENZ because we do not have brand identity other than those who know Audi already. So I get frustrated!
And I just don't want to be known as the lowest price dealer, I rather be the best Value in town.
This is an idea that one of our directors gave me and the way he approached it was no good but I modfied it.
Set up a little webspace with a profile about yourself and your dealership.
Have some photos there of the staff and even better maybe some videos of vehicles. If you guys sponsor any kind of events or perhaps a local racer, someone some where has to be racing a RS4/S4/A4 that you could sponsor, have video and pictures of that.
Give yourself a unique identity. The people that truly only care about price and nothing else you are never going to get unless you happen to be the last person they contact. Those are the people who will drive across town or even a couple of counties over to save 100 bucks.
Seems like all you guys are dealers, so here is a customer's perspective on a recent internet purchase.
I knew I would have to buy a new car in December and started looking at different makes and models. I sent out internet requests for quotes for cars in January. I live in DC so there are several dealers for every make. Shortly after requesting quotes, I decided I would wait another month till the MSRP came out on the new Camry. After they came out last week, I sent out new requests for 2 makes I had narrowed my purchase down to, selected the dealer and purchased the car in three days.
Some impressions about the buying experience:
I was in contact with several dealers through e-mail for 3 different makes and models. I liked all the cars and my decision would come down to best value. There is simply no other reliable way for a consumer to judge between costs of different makes and different dealers than getting several actual quotes. The MSRP's for the cars were useless in figuring out price. Edmunds was way off too.
About 60% of the dealers I e-mailed, returned an e-mail. About half of them waited several days to do it. A few called when I specifically asked them not to.
After several e-mails several dealers were still unwilling to give an out the door price. Most wanted me to come in for a test drive. At this point I stopped contact with any dealer like this. I had test driven the car and had no intention of visiting the dealership until I walked in with a check in exchange for the vehicle.
In the end I had narrowed my choices down to 6 dealers and two makes. I ended up going with the most up front dealer in their e-mails, who happened to offer the best cost.
i am probably a pain in the as- buyer. I had a spreadsheet for all the dealers and all the related costs. But I was a real lead, who was definately buying a car, and was willing to pay for value. More than 50% of the dealerships internet departments were able to lose my business off the bat because of their business practices.
A couple were great, and even if I didn't purchase the car from them, I will return next time I need to buy. Others I will not consider in the future.
In our quotes we give the MSRP and selling price of the car. Now the dealers in our area (which is your area too) offer quotes less the destination etc. I am thinking of trying the quotes with everything, in other words start out with the on the road pricing and skip the "here's the price and you figure out what the final bill is" type thing.
i found itemized prices to be the most helpful. to be honest, i found some of the e-mails i got back insulting. i was always clear that i wanted an itemized out the door cost and some would send back the msrp, some would send the cost of just the car (not mentioning whether or not it included destination), some would send a request for me to come test drive it. in the end, the only dealers i considered buying from were those who responded to my request. as a consumer, I felt like i was being jerked around otherwise.
jmurman42, try sending a request to College Park Honda and check their response out. Last time when I was shopping, they sent back the best email response; itemized, straight forward OTD quote.
As far as value is concerned, what does it mean anyway? You guys are asking us, consumers, to pay real money for something as intangible as “value”. For example, Accord is an excellent value at MSRP if you compare it to other midsize cars. However, since Honda stamps out 400K of them a year, I can buy one at invoice or even 500 under. It would be stupid of me to pay MSRP, when other dealers will happily accept an invoice offer.
As far as the “value” of a particular salesman or store, the situation is even blurrier. You wouldn’t believe how many number 1 Honda dealers there are in Washington DC area, and all of them have the best service in town. Every salesman tells me that he has been working there for eternity and he will be there to take care of me after the sale. How do I know who is telling the truth. Remember, all of you guys have same training, and all of guys have the same pitch. Therefore, the only tangible thing that I have to differentiate on between different stores is the price, well unless my BS detector goes off, but that is a different topic.
.......... is why get pricing on vehicles prior to test driving and knowing what you want to buy. You can do the research on the internet and get a fairly good idea what you are going to pay, so why not find something you like that's in your price range and then make an offer.
I guess I'm too simple when I buy cars. I like to test drive all the contenders on the same day (3-4 max). I won't go back inside to "talk about it" - just on to the next dealer for another test drive. After sleeping on it for a night, I'll call the salesperson and make an offer on the car I want to buy. Usually 2-3 voice mails back and forth and we have a deal. I've only had to go to a 2nd dealer once because of pricing. Show up a few days later to pick up the car, and I haven't wasted much time in the process.
The internet is a great tool for checking dealer inventory, incentives, prices paid, etc.,but I still prefer to do business talking to a human.
"jmurman42, try sending a request to College Park Honda and check their response out. Last time when I was shopping, they sent back the best email response; itemized, straight forward OTD quote. "
I tried that with College Park Honda.
They advertise on Google 0% financing on all Hondas. I have asked three separate times for a quote and what I have to do for 0% financing. I have yet to receive a response.
Why do I as a Honda dealer shop other Honda dealers?
Simple, I need to know what the competition is doing. Sometimes we do things that go against the grain so to speak, like discounting Civic Hybrids, but although we like our cars we don;t love em enough to let them sit. I also shop other dealers to see the responses they give.
.. is why get pricing on vehicles prior to test driving and knowing what you want to buy. You can do the research on the internet and get a fairly good idea what you are going to pay, so why not find something you like that's in your price range and then make an offer.
several reasons. first , i don't think you can always get a "fairly good idea". one of the 2 cars i ended up deciding between, was only a consideration because of the low internet offers i received back. the msrp and edmunds price was a horrible indicator. (edmunds was over $1000 off) the dealers were offering prices much more attractive than was easily researched. if the prices weren't that good i wouldn't have even considered the car, but they turned out be a good value. a test drive would have been pointless if it was out of my price range. because i sent an internet request, of a car i was interested in but hadn't test drove, and received a great price quote, much lower than i thought it would have been, i very nearly purchased the car.
In the end I had narrowed my choices down to 6 dealers and two makes. I ended up going with the most up front dealer in their e-mails, who happened to offer the best cost
Now here is a salesperson's perspective on your comment above. Why is there no loyalty to that dealership and salesperson who made it so EASY and upfront for you to buy a car? If you find a doctor that is reliable and you like do you check the yellow pages before you go back to him again? In the car business all customers talk about is how shady salespeople are but when they find the right one they discard them like trash and start the whole process over again the next time. You should REWARD the guy who does it right and let him have your business again without shopping all over.
"Why is there no loyalty to that dealership and salesperson who made it so EASY and upfront for you to buy a car?"
The most simple reason is: People sometimes want to try "something different". Another reason: When it comes time to purchase that next car, the particular car maker, for whom you work, might not have a vehicle in their line up that appeals to the customer. Example: Honda couldn't sell me a car right now. Even though I have owned 4 Hondas over the years. Then again, some people want to keep YOU honest.
This the real world. Customers are kings, they do not owe anything to whoever sold them their last car. You may not like it, but c'est la vie.
Do you go to the same gas station everytime just 'cause you got a good deal there the month before last?? You may feel that you add value to the customer, I believe you do to a limited extent. However with the advent of internet and all the info to hand the consumer is much better equipped to deal.
As someone who just picked up their 06 on Saturday I am really happy with my deal and the service I received. Will I automatically go back and buy there next time?? NO, because a car is a product, not part of my anatomy:))
I will, however give the guy/dealer who I bought from last call before I decide. It is ultimately he who decides whether or not I buy the car from him by the deal he offers.
1. Just a "typical" sale. Everything went well and they left happy. Most fit in this catagory.
2. The ones that become friends. They stop to see me when in for service, they refer people to me and have bought five cars from me over the years.
3. The ones I hope I never see again and they may feel likewise. After more than ten years I can probably count these people using the fingers of both hands.
Exactly what I mean, you have the internet to give you invoice prices so you will know if he is giving you a fair number or not. Why call him last when you get all the other dealers that b.s'd you last time to do the same thing again. It just seems your putting a bad taste in your own mouth just to say I shopped to get the best price. I do offer my clients added value because it doesn't take any longer than twenty minutes to get a price that is fair and upfront and for previous customers it takes less time because I already have all their info. Value in this is TIME why waste it when you have someone you can TRUST.
vdubgirl, when I worked the net full time I would look at the entire e-mail twice. Most of the time it was for a vehicle that did not exist. In that case I would shoot back a price with something as close to what they were looking for. Sometimes those e-mails would go straight into the circular file since they were from "suspects" as far as 500 miles away. In my experience we never did sell any of them as they would just go to their local dealer and buy there. In some cases I would respond with such an e-mail asking what the odds were that they would drive 500+ miles to buy from me. Or I would just tell them to support their local dealer. No use causing bad blood between sister stores. You never know when you need to DX a vehicle from someone you just took a sale from. Mackabee
loyalty is a strong word to use when it comes to a car dealer - consumer relationship. i am loyal to my family and friends, to a dealer I will be fair, but I think that's the best you should expect. You are not primarily loyal to your customers, you are loyal to your dealership. There is nothing wrong with that, but a consumers loyalty lies with their family, not you. Why would I pay several hundred dollars to you when that is money out of my family's pocket? would you tell me up front that I could probably get the manager to lower their price a few hundred more? No, and I don't expect you too.
what i consider fair is what i did. I had several quotes for the car i wanted and told the dealer who sold me my previous car, who i had a good experience with and have recommended to others, what price i got. he tried to match it but the dealership could not. i gave him the opportunity to keep my business and will again, but cash is cash. it's either in your pocket or mine, and that is an easy choice.
btw, all my experiences with car dealers have been good, as my most recent purchase was. those that were unpleasant i walked on. a good buying experience shouldn't be a bonus, it should be the bare minimum.
Why is there no loyalty to that dealership and salesperson who made it so EASY and upfront for you to buy a car?...You should REWARD the guy who does it right and let him have your business again without shopping all over.
That comment about the sales process is a lot more revealing about the dealership's basic strategy than you probably meant it to be.
The traditional model uses intimidation or the looming threat of intimidation in order to motivate customer behavior and push that customer toward a close. While internet buyers would presumably want the buying process to be simplified by using the internet, using fewer intimidation tactics than you otherwise would is not going to be a compelling value proposition to an online buyer. You'll need to give them something more than that to curry their favor.
It is up to the merchant to REWARD the customer, not the other way around -- nobody owes you their business, they will have to want to give it to you if you expect to close them.
Why don't you brainstorm ways that you can make it worth the customer's while to do business with you, so that they willingly seek you out, and then differentiate yourself in that fashion from your competitors? Find out what online buyers would like to get in addition to a reasonable price, and give it to them.
" Is this ethical? Even though I had no intention of buying the vehicle the first visit to the dealer? Was it wasteful of the salesman's time that he had to spend with me test driving and looking for the right vehicle? (we spent about and hour doing all this)??? "
Nothing wrong with that approach. I wouldn't do that on a busy Sat. afternoon tough, that is unless that was the only time convenient for you.
What I have a big challenge with is the buyers who email and want the best price and they shot that email to like 30 dealers. How do you win with those people? I sell value value value to my customers and usually when I have clients price does not come up until after the test drive. I have a hard time dealing with customers who only care about price...
The best way to deal with it is to assume they have contacted 30 dealers every time you get an email. Hit them with your best price up front and don't waver from it; you'll lose a few this way but your reputation will be better than the dealers who try to bump the customers up from a lowball offer. You can forget selling value, use the latter part of the email to promote yourself and the dealership if you have to but give them the price in the first paragraph...they won't last more than 15 seconds reading your mail so proof it before sending. I use a signature template for my second paragraph but I start with a personal thank you for contacting me, I have the car in my inventory or have located it, the MSRP of the car you are looking for is $xx,xxx and my price for an immediate sale is $xx,xxx plus fees, tax and registration.
Usually I'll try to call them first to confirm that they are looking for this exact model and what their color preference is but there are many times that they leave out a working phone number. Often as not they are looking for something different than in the original request so you can fine-tune your response. If I can't contact them and they aren't clear as to what they want I'll give them my best price on the cheapest car I have in my inventory...offer them a manual transmission if they don't specify which they need and preferably a car with no options. At least this gets the ball rolling and they may respond to your email asking for more specifics.
The internet is a numbers game, you should expect to sell about 10% of the people who contact you, more if you're in a rural area and slightly less in urban surroundings.
Again, forget selling value, they don't really care if they're price shopping. Look at it from the buyer's perspective...if you can buy a pound of hamburger for $1.99 at one supermarket vs. $2.49 at another, where are you going to go?
Comments
But, in person, stopping at a dealer just to browse, check out the new models, etc. is perfectly OK, regardless of wheteher you think you are in the market or not. If you are up front ("just looking"), and don't ask to test drive the entire inventory, why not?
Besides, how can you turn a "looker" into a "buyer" if they don't look to begin with?
Flip side, of course, is for the sales person to actually believe someone when they say they are just there to browse, so they don't end up investing lot's of time pestering someone that isn't intterested.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
When I worked the floor and someone told me they just wanted to look around, I would ask what they were looking for and I would point them in the right direction. I would hand them a card and tell them to come find me if they had any questions.
Usually, at that point, they would open up a bit.
Well, Isell, since you are a great salesman, I bet you sold one of them a car, didn't you?
Stickguy
95% of shoppers, the first thing out of their mouth is "I'm just looking". So that doesn't really say much. No one walks on the lot unless they want to buy! Are you going to sell them? Are you man enough? (Heard that in a movie once)
In News & Views, I've started a new Forum, "Make me a Better (online) Salesman!. Check it out. It's about my new Intranet job.
DrFill
If so, does that really suit you? I thought you enjoyed more dealing directly with people.
Bob
I would contact by email because I want to deal with the "internet sales person" at the dealership as that may mean a better price on the car, should I eventually decide to buy. (I think it is silly that this is the case, but that seems to be the way it works).
Remember that even if I just want to sit in the car I generally can not do this in the showroom, because they usually will have leather upolstery...which I do not like and therefore I will not get a correct impression of the car.
They have always been more than happy to let us drive one of their cars.
I don't think you need to go through an email just to do a test drive.
Now, if I knew what he wanted I'd have been happy to help but this gentleman doesn't answer his phone...so next time, he's on ignore.
Someone started a thread in News and Views that is getting a lot of activity. You might want to check it out.
That way I won't have to repeat myself.
We are not a "liner-closer" store. Those are terrible places and most stores work that way.
We do have team leaders who get involved if things get bogged down. I was one of those and I still get called in where necessary. Unless something happens in the next couple of years, I'll finish up my working days doing this job. This is a great store. I got lucky when I escaped the corporate world. I would probably be dead as several others in my former position are.
Thanks,
Craig
I have a question for the folks that have sent in Internet inquiries to dealerships.
First of all, did you use the dealers website or a 3rd party site. Edmunds is a 3rd party site as is Honda.com or Autoweb.
What was your experience with the communications of the emails form the dealerships that responded. I say "responded" because I know some don't.
Did the email have all of the information you requested?
Here is why I ask this. We have a dedicated Internet Dept, whiuch means that we work solely through the Internet for selling. In other words, we don't take floor sales. When I make templates for the responses, I like to know what works and what doesn't. Someimes having a successul template is like nailing jello to a tree. Do you give too much information? Too little?
What are your thoughts to this?
We process over 500 lead requests per month...there has to be a template format or the job could not get done. I try to make then as personal as possible, I just want to know from those who have contacted dealerships what they thought about the reponses from them.
I guess you could call that a template.
My first response in the past was something like "How much are the dealer fees and TTL for a $xxxx vehicle, where I live in xxx county Florida and this will be a tag transfer?" And so starts an endless game of email tag.
For the next vehicle I use the internet for quotes, the response will be something like..."Please list all dollar amounts for an OTD price. I've deleted your previous email, so for me to again consider bringing you my business, include all requested info. in your next email."
And I immediately delete the canned responses. They have nothing I asked for and clutter up my inbox.
I've built ours with no HTML and have it pretty simple. We used to have it fancy with graphics, highlighting etc. However, in the body of the email would be certain descriptions of the process...so we would get phone calls or emails asking about the very thing we just described.
Pretty frustrating when someone sends you an email and all you focus on, or read is the highlighted price. So we just use non highlighted text...that makes em read it.
I enjoy working the Auto Trader Leads that come, I have a much stronger closing ratio with those clients, than ones that just come from Audi or Cars.com.
I posed this question in the last forum, but since there was so much going on that questions were not getting answered, How do you deal with an internet customer that asks for your best deal and then haggles on that? I always thought it makes me look dishonest if I give my best deal and then after haggling the car is sold for less.
This price is good until X:XX time tomrrow and then expires.
Puts some urgency into the situation. This is something I am suggesting for our used cars so we can quote people a price over the internet that is time sensative.
Well I don't work in your industry and just moved to the US last November so I guess I can give you an honest view:))
Out in my drive I have an 06 outback that I picked up on sat (2.5xt Ltd yum yum!!). Ooops sorry:))
Anyway I sent out for quotes and got 5 replies out of six requests. One toook the time to send a personal reply ( I knew 'cause of the typo!). the others were canned which really made me feel valued
I also asked to be contacted be email only and still got a call from a guy. I let him know he'd just shot himself in the foot....but guess what?? He rang me again at 9pm!!
Anyway I bought from the dealer who took the 2 minutes to write a reply.He didn't give me the best quote but you don't alwasy have to be the cheapest...buying on the internet does not mean we are machines:)
I used Auto Trader when I bought a new '05 Civic last September. It was the model year end, there were virtually no LX SE Autos left and no one was doing dealer trades for those. I had already been to every dealer in the Orlando area.
So I found the dealers on autotrader.com, sent out about 20 emails and ended up buying one over in the Tampa area. The guy sent me his initial offer, I asked for $300 off and he accepted. Not the best deal, but we got what we were looking for.
My only regret is that I waited too long. If I had bought before Rita and Katrina hit and the subsequent spike in gas prices, I probably could have saved $500 or more.
Could I sent to you our email that we send out for a price quote so that you could give an appraisal on it?
What I have a big challenge with is the buyers who email and want the best price and they shot that email to like 30 dealers. How do you win with those people? I sell value value value to my customers and usually when I have clients price does not come up until after the test drive. I have a hard time dealing with customers who only care about price, especially with Audis because we have to to sell the value and the safety and performance so much harder than BMW and BENZ because we do not have brand identity other than those who know Audi already. So I get frustrated!
And I just don't want to be known as the lowest price dealer, I rather be the best Value in town.
Set up a little webspace with a profile about yourself and your dealership.
Have some photos there of the staff and even better maybe some videos of vehicles. If you guys sponsor any kind of events or perhaps a local racer, someone some where has to be racing a RS4/S4/A4 that you could sponsor, have video and pictures of that.
Give yourself a unique identity. The people that truly only care about price and nothing else you are never going to get unless you happen to be the last person they contact. Those are the people who will drive across town or even a couple of counties over to save 100 bucks.
PRICE is all that matters for some even if they buy something that really didn't fit their needs.
I knew I would have to buy a new car in December and started looking at different makes and models. I sent out internet requests for quotes for cars in January. I live in DC so there are several dealers for every make. Shortly after requesting quotes, I decided I would wait another month till the MSRP came out on the new Camry. After they came out last week, I sent out new requests for 2 makes I had narrowed my purchase down to, selected the dealer and purchased the car in three days.
Some impressions about the buying experience:
I was in contact with several dealers through e-mail for 3 different makes and models. I liked all the cars and my decision would come down to best value. There is simply no other reliable way for a consumer to judge between costs of different makes and different dealers than getting several actual quotes. The MSRP's for the cars were useless in figuring out price. Edmunds was way off too.
About 60% of the dealers I e-mailed, returned an e-mail. About half of them waited several days to do it. A few called when I specifically asked them not to.
After several e-mails several dealers were still unwilling to give an out the door price. Most wanted me to come in for a test drive. At this point I stopped contact with any dealer like this. I had test driven the car and had no intention of visiting the dealership until I walked in with a check in exchange for the vehicle.
In the end I had narrowed my choices down to 6 dealers and two makes. I ended up going with the most up front dealer in their e-mails, who happened to offer the best cost.
i am probably a pain in the as- buyer. I had a spreadsheet for all the dealers and all the related costs. But I was a real lead, who was definately buying a car, and was willing to pay for value. More than 50% of the dealerships internet departments were able to lose my business off the bat because of their business practices.
A couple were great, and even if I didn't purchase the car from them, I will return next time I need to buy. Others I will not consider in the future.
In our quotes we give the MSRP and selling price of the car. Now the dealers in our area (which is your area too) offer quotes less the destination etc. I am thinking of trying the quotes with everything, in other words start out with the on the road pricing and skip the "here's the price and you figure out what the final bill is" type thing.
I really appreciate your input.
i found itemized prices to be the most helpful. to be honest, i found some of the e-mails i got back insulting. i was always clear that i wanted an itemized out the door cost and some would send back the msrp, some would send the cost of just the car (not mentioning whether or not it included destination), some would send a request for me to come test drive it. in the end, the only dealers i considered buying from were those who responded to my request. as a consumer, I felt like i was being jerked around otherwise.
Just click email msg
As far as value is concerned, what does it mean anyway? You guys are asking us, consumers, to pay real money for something as intangible as “value”. For example, Accord is an excellent value at MSRP if you compare it to other midsize cars. However, since Honda stamps out 400K of them a year, I can buy one at invoice or even 500 under. It would be stupid of me to pay MSRP, when other dealers will happily accept an invoice offer.
As far as the “value” of a particular salesman or store, the situation is even blurrier. You wouldn’t believe how many number 1 Honda dealers there are in Washington DC area, and all of them have the best service in town. Every salesman tells me that he has been working there for eternity and he will be there to take care of me after the sale. How do I know who is telling the truth. Remember, all of you guys have same training, and all of guys have the same pitch. Therefore, the only tangible thing that I have to differentiate on between different stores is the price, well unless my BS detector goes off, but that is a different topic.
I guess I'm too simple when I buy cars. I like to test drive all the contenders on the same day (3-4 max). I won't go back inside to "talk about it" - just on to the next dealer for another test drive. After sleeping on it for a night, I'll call the salesperson and make an offer on the car I want to buy. Usually 2-3 voice mails back and forth and we have a deal. I've only had to go to a 2nd dealer once because of pricing. Show up a few days later to pick up the car, and I haven't wasted much time in the process.
The internet is a great tool for checking dealer inventory, incentives, prices paid, etc.,but I still prefer to do business talking to a human.
I tried that with College Park Honda.
They advertise on Google 0% financing on all Hondas. I have asked three separate times for a quote and what I have to do for 0% financing. I have yet to receive a response.
Why do I as a Honda dealer shop other Honda dealers?
Simple, I need to know what the competition is doing. Sometimes we do things that go against the grain so to speak, like discounting Civic Hybrids, but although we like our cars we don;t love em enough to let them sit.
several reasons. first , i don't think you can always get a "fairly good idea". one of the 2 cars i ended up deciding between, was only a consideration because of the low internet offers i received back. the msrp and edmunds price was a horrible indicator. (edmunds was over $1000 off) the dealers were offering prices much more attractive than was easily researched. if the prices weren't that good i wouldn't have even considered the car, but they turned out be a good value. a test drive would have been pointless if it was out of my price range. because i sent an internet request, of a car i was interested in but hadn't test drove, and received a great price quote, much lower than i thought it would have been, i very nearly purchased the car.
Now here is a salesperson's perspective on your comment above. Why is there no loyalty to that dealership and salesperson who made it so EASY and upfront for you to buy a car? If you find a doctor that is reliable and you like do you check the yellow pages before you go back to him again? In the car business all customers talk about is how shady salespeople are but when they find the right one they discard them like trash and start the whole process over again the next time. You should REWARD the guy who does it right and let him have your business again without shopping all over.
The most simple reason is: People sometimes want to try "something different". Another reason: When it comes time to purchase that next car, the particular car maker, for whom you work, might not have a vehicle in their line up that appeals to the customer. Example: Honda couldn't sell me a car right now. Even though I have owned 4 Hondas over the years. Then again, some people want to keep YOU honest.
docyazz@yahoo.com
This the real world. Customers are kings, they do not owe anything to whoever sold them their last car. You may not like it, but c'est la vie.
Do you go to the same gas station everytime just 'cause you got a good deal there the month before last?? You may feel that you add value to the customer, I believe you do to a limited extent. However with the advent of internet and all the info to hand the consumer is much better equipped to deal.
As someone who just picked up their 06 on Saturday I am really happy with my deal and the service I received. Will I automatically go back and buy there next time?? NO, because a car is a product, not part of my anatomy:))
I will, however give the guy/dealer who I bought from last call before I decide. It is ultimately he who decides whether or not I buy the car from him by the deal he offers.
I don't expect my customers to be loyal.
Three kinds of customers...
1. Just a "typical" sale. Everything went well and they left happy. Most fit in this catagory.
2. The ones that become friends. They stop to see me when in for service, they refer people to me and have bought five cars from me over the years.
3. The ones I hope I never see again and they may feel likewise. After more than ten years I can probably count these people using the fingers of both hands.
Mackabee
what i consider fair is what i did. I had several quotes for the car i wanted and told the dealer who sold me my previous car, who i had a good experience with and have recommended to others, what price i got. he tried to match it but the dealership could not. i gave him the opportunity to keep my business and will again, but cash is cash. it's either in your pocket or mine, and that is an easy choice.
btw, all my experiences with car dealers have been good, as my most recent purchase was. those that were unpleasant i walked on. a good buying experience shouldn't be a bonus, it should be the bare minimum.
That comment about the sales process is a lot more revealing about the dealership's basic strategy than you probably meant it to be.
The traditional model uses intimidation or the looming threat of intimidation in order to motivate customer behavior and push that customer toward a close. While internet buyers would presumably want the buying process to be simplified by using the internet, using fewer intimidation tactics than you otherwise would is not going to be a compelling value proposition to an online buyer. You'll need to give them something more than that to curry their favor.
It is up to the merchant to REWARD the customer, not the other way around -- nobody owes you their business, they will have to want to give it to you if you expect to close them.
Why don't you brainstorm ways that you can make it worth the customer's while to do business with you, so that they willingly seek you out, and then differentiate yourself in that fashion from your competitors? Find out what online buyers would like to get in addition to a reasonable price, and give it to them.
Nothing wrong with that approach. I wouldn't do that on a busy Sat. afternoon tough, that is unless that was the only time convenient for you.
The best way to deal with it is to assume they have contacted 30 dealers every time you get an email. Hit them with your best price up front and don't waver from it; you'll lose a few this way but your reputation will be better than the dealers who try to bump the customers up from a lowball offer. You can forget selling value, use the latter part of the email to promote yourself and the dealership if you have to but give them the price in the first paragraph...they won't last more than 15 seconds reading your mail so proof it before sending. I use a signature template for my second paragraph but I start with a personal thank you for contacting me, I have the car in my inventory or have located it, the MSRP of the car you are looking for is $xx,xxx and my price for an immediate sale is $xx,xxx plus fees, tax and registration.
Usually I'll try to call them first to confirm that they are looking for this exact model and what their color preference is but there are many times that they leave out a working phone number. Often as not they are looking for something different than in the original request so you can fine-tune your response. If I can't contact them and they aren't clear as to what they want I'll give them my best price on the cheapest car I have in my inventory...offer them a manual transmission if they don't specify which they need and preferably a car with no options. At least this gets the ball rolling and they may respond to your email asking for more specifics.
The internet is a numbers game, you should expect to sell about 10% of the people who contact you, more if you're in a rural area and slightly less in urban surroundings.
Again, forget selling value, they don't really care if they're price shopping. Look at it from the buyer's perspective...if you can buy a pound of hamburger for $1.99 at one supermarket vs. $2.49 at another, where are you going to go?
I am sending you two of our responses. Please let me know what you think the effectiveness of each would be.
I appreciate this.
I haven't rec'd them yet:)