Dealerships With Attitude

[tsteahr]

For me, honesty and forthcoming is most important. Give a straight answer if you know, otherwise say you have to check. Making things up is the fastest way to get me to walk and not return. I went to a dealer that sold two different colors, both top notch machines. I was looking at similar machines of each color. After little while I could tell the owner was interested in moving a specific unit. I asked him which he preferred and why. He said he thought x was better than y because x uses a "little better grade of steel". At that moment the owner lost the sale. I stayed a little longer, listened to the rest of his story, looked at his machines, got his price quotes (which were competitive) and then left. He was never able to regain my trust after making that one statement. I could tell looking in his eye that he was making it up, and I suspect he knew I knew.

The moral of this experience is that trust can be lost in a instant and it is very hard to regain. Without trust there will be no sale. A sales person should not say something to a customer that he would not say to his best friend.

If I ask a sales person to compare two machines, I would rather have him tell me the pros and the cons of each and let me decide which are important to me. We all know nothing is perfect. Painting a honest picture will create more trust than anything else and makes it most likely I will make the purchase.

 

[robertwhite]

I purposly went to the center of the showroom and stood there waiting to be approached. When the guy on the phone got done his conversation he walked righ past me having to saddle sideways due to the tight quarters and never aknowledged my presence. So I thought "that was rather rude". I then went and stood about 4 feet in front of the IPhone fanatic facing his desk. He was now deeply engrossed in text messaging someone. he glanced up at me and made eye contact, then continued to finish his text message. When he completed that he simply stood up and walked to the same rear service area the other salesman had dissappeared to.

At that point the thing to do would be go to service or parts and ask for the general manager/owner. When they arrive, explain that you were flatly ignored by 2 of his salesmen, then advise him that due to the salesmen, he (the owner/GM) lost a sale. Then turn around and walk out. That seems to be the only thing that will wake some owners up. Hit 'em where it hurts.

 

[crbr]

Snooty dealer in Maryville, TN lost my business the day I ask for warranty work and they acted like it was an imposition and gave me some line of BS.

Dooley's of Athens, TN is top notch in my neck of the woods. .

 

[Scotty370]

What a great thread! 43 posts in a day and a half, shows me that this is a 'Hot-Button" for many. I'm not in sales, but deal with people from all walks of life , with all sorts of questions. Often a call is from a customer, developer, engineering firm, or others, that have been repeatedly transferred, or they've suffered through a circle of auto-attendant phone soft ware. The first thing I do is say: "I know you may have already been transferred or otherwise inconvienenced. Let me give you my name, and direct line. I'll try to help, or find the individual that can work through your problem, question etc." Then, even if 'heated', they seem to feel that they've found someone that actually cares! It's only then, that I listen to their concerns and take appropriete action. Then, I follow up! I know that some, even in my corporation take the view.."I don't know how to handle this situation, but, if I transfer them to someone else, it's not my problem!"

I'm a people-person, and feel that some folks are afraid to talk to strangers! Why wouldn't any sales person say to anyone that walks in the door: "Hi, How're we doing today?, Feel free to look around, and give me a 'shout' if you've got any questions! I'll be with you in a minute"

Years ago if you mearly strolled into a used car lot, you'd hear an announcement that there was a customer in the lot. "Who's on Deck ?" I interpreted that to mean "Bogey at 11 o'clock , 35 yards!" (I was the 'Bogey"!) Guess it (sales) is a fine line, between high pressure, and, "Ho Hum, I haven't finished the Sports Page"

A real eyeopener is to 'Tire-Kick', and when the Salesman finally does show up, say "Tell me why I should buy this Tractor" !!! ~Scotty

 

[HiddenHollow]

When I started looking I had already desided on a orange tractor. I wanted a FEL and BH. I went to the local big deal, mulit-brand 3 location dealer. The salesman tried to sell me something other than what I wanted, a bad start. I went to another branch of big shot dealer and same thing happened. Would not even give a price on the model I was interested in. It took quite a bit of talking to finally get a price, and it was way over MSRP!(Got MSRP off of Kubota website) I made my way over to a small dealer that only sells orange and is closer to home. I didn't go to him first because I thought he would be higher being a small operation. It was the greatest experiance I have had buying anything. He asked what I was planning to do with the tractor now and in the future. How deep I wanted to dig and how much I wanted to be able to pick up. He said that my model selection was a perfect fit. The whole time it was about what I wanted. I would recommend him to anyone and he was A LOT lower than big shot dealer.

Free plug for Evans Equipment

 

[timswi]

Around these parts, the equipment dealers are pretty good. I bought my BX and my RTV from a dealer an hour away only because his prices are better. The nearby dealer is where i get the maintenance parts. Those guys are outstanding. When I ask a price out of curiosity, they happily look it up...No complaints on this front.

 

[CWOSCSU]

I was lucky. I had very positive experience from 4 of the 5 dealers I visited. One didn't give me the time of day (or brochure). None tired to sell me somthing I didn't need, but they did ask lot's of questions on my intended use. Also none bashed the others products. However, the green and blue dealers did know quite a lot about each others products. The Case dealer, after asking me the questions told me they didn't have a unit small enough to fit my needs and gave me recommendations on green, blue and orange that would fit my needs.

In high school, I had a co-op job working for an Auto Parts jobber (my first real job). Rule number one was EVERY customer was treated with respect and given excellent service. Didn't matter if it was a high volume customer, or a guy off the street that really didn't know what he needed.

It's intresting to note that 28 years later they are still in business with 4 counter sales people and who knows how many delivery drivers. Anytime I go in there are usally 3 to 4 cutomers (non-auto business) buying. And in those 28 years 3 "big box" auto parts stores have come to town, and the parking at the store has dimished. I really beleive that says something for customer service.

Mike.

PS: 28 years later, I still get an employee discount!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I thought by now there would be another thread, "customer with an attitude" I'm sure the dealers see enough of those.

Lots of good comments here.
FWIW, I like for a salesperson to at least ask if they can help me. The last price quote I got I had to go to the parts counter to ask if they had someone to help me. this was my first time back to this dealership in many years, since the last time I visited it was nothing but bad. And when I ask for a price, I want an actual sale price, not a ballpark estimate which tends to be MSRP.
I visited a new Bobcat dealer awhile back, out of curiousity, and they did great, made me want to buy from them. First, they saw me outside looking at a tractor, and they came out, found out what I was looking for, and proceeded to show me the tractors and test drive, including let me try the backhoe. We then talked mini excavators, so he put me on one of them to play with a little. He even offered to bring one to my house to try out. I declined, since I wasn't that interested in buying, but they sure were interested in selling. He also admitted when he didn't have an answer to a question, but said he would get the right person who knew the answer (which I again declined). they made me very comfortable, that they were going to answer all my questions and concerns.

 

[Dargo]

I've experienced the exact opposite. My Kubota and JD dealerships know me by name, all their employees are courteous and respectful, pricing is straight forward with no bull, and service it top notch. Off brand dealers have watched me walk all over their lots and never bother getting off their cell phones to see what I wanted, even after I've crawled all over and under their tractor. The exception is the only Kioti dealership even remotely close to me. He seemed to be a nice enough guy and gave a good presentation of his product but when it came to pricing he tried to rip my head off! He was higher than JD or Kubota!

When I explained as much to him, he told me that he has to stay in business, he has to keep his lights on, and since he doesn't sell nearly as much volume, he has to make more. Um, g'bye. 'Splains why I don't see any of those tractors tooling around in my area.

 

[ToadHill]

Well known Green and old Orange dealers in my area lost my business when they agreed to come out and look at a tractor I wanted to trade in. Both were no shows and no phone call telling me they had a problem.

I guess $17,000 was just not enough business to drive 8 or 10 miles for.