Stories from the Sales Frontlines

chikoo

Tire rack is great.

But Discount Tire is even better since it is all over the place and when a road hazard happens, I have a new tire in under 2 hours - installed on my car. Did I say their prices are in line with Tire-rack when you consider the whole deal?

jescue

Congrats on a great month, what a perfect ending. Sorry to hear about your grandmother. Have you had a chance to drive a Turbo yet?

madmanmoo

Noone is allowed. They are all preordered. The best I could get so far is for one of the technicians, who was checking to make sure everything was working correctly, took me out briefly on his test drive. He drove and flattened me in my seat for about 4 seconds. That mug does 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. !!!!!!

-Moo

jescue

They are incredible. The Tiptronic is faster than the 6 speed. The Turbo cab is my dream car. Speed yellow with black and 6 speed. I am quite a ways from having one unfortunately.

jmonroe

Like nitrogen for $150?

I would have had the alignment done, but instead of agreeing up front,...

You never answered 'obeys' question about the "nitrogen", you jump right in and started defending why you didn't need the alignment.

C'mon, admit it, you fell for it didn't ya. :shades:

jmonroe

epiney

JM,

You should know better by now I offered what it was worth, $5 and they declined :P

obyone

I thought it interesting that they charge only $125 for nitrogen. Read it somewhere can't find the link.

epiney

I bet if you polled sales people, about customers, I bet the results would be similar.

Could very well be, but the big difference is customers have the money

snakeweasel

So that should end with Sir

No I think the proper term is "squid".

snakeweasel

So regardless of the product, Hyundai needs to do something about these low quality dealerships.

Not sure about that all their dealerships here have pretty good reputations. There is only one I would never go to but only because of the reputation the owners old dealership had.

oldfarmer50

I bet if you slant the questions the other way you would get the exact opposite result. Poll results are only as good as the bias of the person conducting them.

lrguy44

No I think the proper term is "squid".

The reason Marines call us "Squids" is because we are a higher form of marine life.

oldfarmer50

"...one of the technicians, who was checking to make sure everything was working correctly..."

There's one big difference at the high end stores. At any other store that would be called "beating the hell" out of the car.

I wonder, does Joel take all the Mustangs out and drag race them as a customer service?

sterlingdog

Surveys have a + and - factor of 1,000 in my opinion. Consider these aspects of a survey: (1) How are the questions worded? (2) What about cultural bias? (3) what about geographic bias? (4) What groups had access to the survey? (5) Who did the stats results of the survey? (6) Did the stats person round off percentages? (7) What rubric was used as a source for the development of the survey?

I recently had a survey done on me as a presenter at a workshop for industry managers. Check out this question: "Did the instructor effectively use the equipment?" Come on now, how effective do you have to be to turn on a computer for power point or turn on a television set? Do I mark the survey question "average", "above average", or "below average"? Let us hope that I turned on the switch in an "above average" fashion by notifying the audience that I was about to turn on the switch! If "below average" is 5 points, "average" is 10 points, and "above average" is 15 points, then you can see how the overall score is skewed. :confuse:

Give me your questions and your point system and I will do a survey for you that makes you look like either an idiot or a car sales genius. Here again, it's just my opinion---just like a survey---everyone has one.

I do workshops on Team Building and Adjusting to Change. If your dealership needs me, just let me know. BTW, I ain't cheap. :P

obyone

Here is the article that leads to that particular survey. I thought the survey was funny not counting the results rather what choices were available for the choosing.

article

sterlingdog

Right! Talk about your slanted choices. The article was interesting but the survey is ridiculous. Thanks for sharing.

snakeweasel

Gee I had a Chief that used to say that squids are a lower form or marine life.

lrguy44

But we both know that Coasties are the US Chicken Corps - not even in DOD

snakeweasel

Really? Who went to protect U.S. Navy ships after the USS Cole was attacked? Answer: The U.S. Coast Guard.

FWIW since the Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency it cannot be in the DOD. But it is part of the Armed Forces and has fought in every war.

lrguy44

And they have some nice boats. The Coasties did keep Florida safe in WWII and Korea.

I actually did work with some Coasties in Nam - they were mother boats for the Navy Swifties and they were good guys.

joel0622

It don't matter, you were all created to support the Army any way. And everyone in the Army has one job, support the Grunts.

british_rover

I have this couple in the office now and they are negotiating on a service loaner LR2. We have finaly settled on a price for the vehicle and worked out all the details of the Lease. Before they will agree to take the car they want our detail department to detail their BMW lease before they turn it in.They are worried that BMW will charge them a lot of money for the condition that it is in. Its not even that dirty it is in better shape then most lease turn ins I see. They have been here since 1:00 PM :surprise:

epiney

Hold out until they get out the front door....

madmanmoo

He wasn't 'beating the hell' out of it. Those vehicles are made to move quickly.

I'm just glad I was along for the drive. What an amazing automobile.

I was able to meet a few ups today. I had an 18 yr old pull up in his Daddy's Lamborghini and wanted to test drive a Turbo 911. After realizing that we didn't have that available for him, he wanted to drive the next fastest vehicle on our lot. I ran it by my GM before taking him out. He said, go ahead. His daddy can afford a Lambo, so Daddy can buy a Porsche too. Kid proceeds to do his best to burn up the clutch. Youch. It always seems that the first ups at a new store are always strange ones.

I'm in a whole new world here.

-Moo

jmonroe

Before they will agree to take the car they want our detail department to detail their BMW lease before they turn it in.

Don't tell us you're going to let a bucket of water queer this deal. :confuse:

FWIW, I heard of this from a car salesman that was at a party I was at about 7 years ago. He said it has happened to him twice. He sold Cadillac's.

There's no telling what might walk in the door next, huh?

jmonroe

british_rover

Oh they bought the car eventually but man it was painful. It wasn't even my deal but just watching it was painful. I swear that woman had mastered the art of breathing in while talking. She never took a breath between sentences. ItwasalmostlikeifItypedlikethishtoyoupeopleallthetimeandneverputinanspacesperiod- scommascolonsorpararaphbreaks.

sterlingdog

Good grief, you must be worn out. JMonroe got on me for staying five hours doing my last deal. This couple put me in the shade!

sterlingdog

Got a question for you. I'll take your advice because I trust you. It is now the 5th anniversary of my Ford Explorer XLT. I have loved that automobile. In 5 years, I have only changed out the battery at 36 months and bought a new set of paws at 47,000. Other than that, it has never had one problem. They now want me to have that 60,000 mile check up which cost about $165.00. I'm actually over due because I have 67,000 miles on it. I have serviced the car every 3,000-5,000 miles since I bought it. Now for the question: Should I spend the money on this check up or just drive on since everything seems fine? I don't want to be cheap but there is no need to spend the money if it doesn't need it. Thanks buddy.

isellhondas

I'm not sure what a 60K service entails on a Ford but I would guess a lot of it would be changing fluids and a general inspection.

: Everything seems fine". I'm sure everything does seem fine but that coolant may be contaminated and ready for a change. Same for the brake fluid, and differental fluid. The brakes that seem "just fine" may be down to the point they should be replaced.

Now, if you are handy, you may be able to do some of the "iinspections" and save some money that way.

Didn't mean to butt in but I've been at this for awhile.

Joel?

snakeweasel

He wasn't 'beating the hell' out of it. Those vehicles are made to move quickly.

I don't care how fast it was made to move, when you are pushing anything to the limit you are beating the hell out of it.

I had an 18 yr old pull up in his Daddy's Lamborghini

The few people I know that have cars like that wouldn't even let their kids look at their cars. Man I wouldn't let my kids touch my 'V' unless I was there watching them.

chikoo

Sir Richard,

You best bet is reading the owners manual (last few pages) that is lying in the glove box of your dear explorer

or you could try this
http://www.explorerforum.com/Singleton/web/pages/service.html

mackabee

Sorry about your grandma Moo. I lost mine when I was a kid and besides mom, grandma's are the best!
Good luck at the new store. I'm confident you will do AWESOME there!
Mackabee

mackabee

I used them a long time ago when I lived in San Diego Ca. Good stores! not many out here in the east though. I did get better service from tire rack in the sense that when I needed two OEM rims for my kid's Corolla they had them in stock and discount tire didn't.
Mack

mackabee

Correct. Marines fall under the term "lower than whale s**t!"
Which reminds me, my second GM was a "FORMER MARINE" and I would joke him all the time about how the only good marine is a submarine. Then I told him this one and he was not very amused:
Why did God give Marines one more brain cell than horses?
So they don't s**t their pants while they are marching in parades!

mackabee

We could use you with all the changes we've had at our dealership. How do we contact you?
Mack

mackabee

$165.00 for a 60k mile service! Heck that's nothing compared to what other makes charge. I'd go ahead and do it. Change the tranny fluid, oil change, check your water hoses, winter coming up! Oh and don't forget to have them change the air in your tires too! You should always have fresh air in tires for better fuel economy.


Mack

snakeweasel

Did you know that Donnie Dunagan was a Marine? If that name doesn't ring a bell he was a child actor in the late 30's early 40's. His last role was providing the voice of a young Bambi in the Disney movie of the same name.

So Bambi was a Marine.

mackabee

This will make Richard very proud of me!

I went in to work yesterday after my third day of chemo. Glad I did too. The Highlander customer my friend referred came in with her hubby and put down a deposit for me to locate the exact vehicle. I got my work cut out on this one! There are only two in our region in the color/interior combo she wants and option package B. One is 4wd and the other is 2wd. She would be happy with either one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying to the big guy in the sky that we can get one of the two vehicles. We called and left messages with the dealer exchange person and will try again on monday. If all goes well she should have her new Highlander right around the first week in December.



Now for the one Richard will feel proud of me.

Last night while I was checking my e-mail I received a vehicle request for a Scion tC in Super white and is the SNS Scion navigation system available. There was only a first name and an e-mail but also a phone number with an out of state area code. I replied to the e-mail and followed up with a phone call to let the prospect know I have the car in stock and ready for delivery. But will have to order the nav system.
I don't hear nothing back from him on e-mail or phone so I'm thinking it was someone playing around on the computer.


This morning as I'm pulling into the dealership my cell phone rings and I see the out of state area code and think it's my guy calling. Instead I hear a lady's voice asking me about how to wire some money for a down payment so she can help her son out. I tell her the best quickest way would be to transfer it to his savings or checking account. I tell her I have to be at a sales morning meeting and that I will call her back as soon as I'm done. She gives me her cell phone number also and I hang up.

After the meeting I call her up again to discuss the money transfer. After a couple of questions I find out her son is in the Navy and also has a pre-approval from Navy Fed cu for $20,400.00 Heck I tell her she won't need to send him the money unless he adds tons of accessories to the car. I also tell her that I'm retired Navy and I will take really good care of her son. She is gratified and thanks me. "How is he going to get to your dealership?" he doesn't have a ride and the taxi fare is $50.00" she tells me. "I'll call him up and find out what time would be good for him and I'll send a lot porter or I myself will go and pick him up." I respond. "That would be fabulous!" she tells me.

I then get on the phone and finally get to speak to Eric. He tells me the best time for him is after noon so I tell him I'll call him back around then to set up the meeting time and place. I then go chase a lot attendant and we only have one around that time so he can't go.
I go to the sales desk and tell Jason I'm going to pick up a customer to sell him a car. "Go for it!" he tells me. I grab my tag and get the key to my favorite car, an 08 Camry SE V6 loaded, with leather, moonroof, bluetooth, nav, heated seats, the works.! In Magnetic Gray pearl.


I call Eric up and tell him I'll be there in about 20 minutes and meet me in front of the Navy Exchange.
When I get there I drive really slow until I see a young man standing by a phone booth and as he sees me he begins walking toward the car. I had described it to him so he would be on the look out.
This young man is 20 years old, serving our country as an airman in our navy. As he gets in the car I can tell he's a bit nervous so I try to put him at ease real quick. We talk about the car and the car he's getting and by the time we get to the dealership we are like father and son. I did tell him this before we got there: "Son, here's what's going to happen: After we 'build" your car online and get the price right, a pretty girl with BIG brown or blue eyes will come over and try to sell you all kinds of extra stuff." and before I could finish he says to me: "I know, they told us about that on base at a car buying clinic they did for us." To which I reply; "Well that's great! I'm glad they still do that to keep you guys from falling into the wrong dealerships."

We get out of the Camry and I show him his new car! He's admiring it and walking around it. I excuse myself to get the key which is locked up in my desk and then I come back and we go on a short test drive. He had never driven the car and is pleasantly surprised with all the standard safety and convenience features that come with the car.
As we get back to the showroom I make copies of driver's license and mil ID and get all the paperwork together. He decides to add a rear pedestal spoiler to the car in addition to the nav system. I then introduce him to Susy who is like a rabid pitbull that won't let go when she's with a customer. She's very good at what she does.


He ends up buying the mop and glo at a discount ($499.00) since I told Suzy to take it easy on him since he's just a kid and I promised his mom I would watch out for him. This will give him fabric and paint protection warranty for up to 10 years so if he gets acid rain damage he can get a 3-5k paint job at any Toyota/Scion dealer. And fabric protection too.

After that he goes to one of my favorite business managers
and I explain to him the situation with the down payment or extra money mom is sending over but that he does have most of the money to pay for the car.

After he's done with finance we sit back at my desk and call USAA to get his car insured. They fax us the new insurance cards and then we walk out to the car which is nice and clean and shiny. While he was doing the paperwork I took a "we owe" to parts and ordered the SNS and spoiler. Should be here by Tuesday. He's going home to mom for Thanksgiving so we will do the install the week after.

After he left all happy with his new car I called his mom and told her everything went fine and she was very grateful. Seems like he also called her while doing the paperwork so he wouldn't get screwed. She told me she wished she could have been there for the negotiations but apparently he was very happy and so was she.

:shades:

THE END

sterlingdog

I'm glad that you answered. Thanks for the advice. "An ounce of prevention is worth..." I just didn't know if this was a rip off for the service department to make some bucks. Guess I'll make the appointment. The last time that I was handy was helping to change a light bulb in a bedroom lamp. The time before that was when the plumber told me that if I hadn't tried to be handy, I could have saved money by calling him first.

mackabee

Two power hitters showed up! A Navy couple, Active duty, Master Chief and Senior Chief husband and wife. Showed them a Prius last month and I found them in showroom looking for me.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't remember your name and I lost your card, but I remembered your face!" Paula said to me. Ken her husband was happy to see me too! but not happier than me! We wrapped it up tonight and they will pick up the car around 1:30 pm as it was already past 7 when we finished up and prep department was closed at 7.
All in all I had a great day and it could have been a 4 car day except my regulars that showed up for an appointment this morning couldn't decide on the color for the wife's Avalon and he couldn't decide on the Camry either since they both love the Mag gray but don't want to have two gray cars in the garage. Monday they will let me know about the colors so we can hopefully wrap it up by nlt wednesday.

\ Mackabee

sterlingdog

Maybe they could put nitrogen in my tires and include it in the price.

mackabee

Never heard of the guy. I do remember the guy form Dragnet that played a Marine DI in a movie. Very tough character and good movie too! The title of the flick escapes me right now. Tired time to get some sleep!

jmonroe

She told me she wished she could have been there for the negotiations but apparently he was very happy and so was she.

It's never happened before with you so you don't know how to do it.

When you finish a story you say....THE END.

If there is still time you can edit.

Your welcome.

jmonroe

sterlingdog

I thought that the beautiful black leather zippered portfolio was a gift from Ford containing a pad and pen. Thanks for the link.

mackabee

Anyone know of a good cure for hiccups?? They are driving me and my wife crazy. I can't sleep at night and neither can she since I've had them for the last three days. My doc prescribed Thorazine but it only knocks me out and I wake up with a hangover! and the hiccups come back again. I've tried everything like holding my breath, drinking warm tea and holding it until I fell a hiccup coming but nothing is working!

mackabee

Now there's an idea!

Mack
:shades:

sterlingdog

If you're serious, tell me the name of your dealership and I'll call you with my telephone number and e-mail address. With "looney birds" like jmonroe on this site, I better not give that out here. :P If I go to see you, I want to eat at your aunt's restaurant.

sterlingdog

"So Bambi was a Marine."

When you're good, you're really GOOD!

mackabee

Checkered Flag Toyota Va Beach.
Mack

obyone

ever try peanut butter?