Dealerships With Attitude

[civesnedfield]

1) I expect and hope a dealer thinks THEIR COLOR is "the best".

Thinking and believing your product is the best is acceptable, but outright other brand bashing is wrong. This will send me packing in a heartbeat!!

2) A dealer should be EASILY and quickly able to explain WHY their color is superior (and NOT where the other colors are weak).

This information needs to be accurate, truthful, and easily backed up. Off the top of your head bull @#it is not going to cut it.

 

[3BPercherons]

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.

Multi-brand dealer in my area lost my business (trading up from a B7800 to an M6040) by offering me a low-ball trade estimate "but I'll have to come look at it to be sure it's worth that much." Drove an equal distance in the other direction to a single-brand dealer who beat the first estimate by a country mile, sight unseen (first time they saw the B7800 was when the delivery driver loaded it on the truck to take away).

 

[Mike Costello]

About a month ago I purchased a replacement minivan via the internet. I'd done all my homework with new and used prices, trade in values, and financing. Then I went shopping with my computer looking at pictures etc. When I saw a van I wanted to pursue further, I would send an email to the dealership asking them to contact me.
Dealer A: Took 3 days to contact me. Internet salesman told me the van was not available (sold). Had to prod him about any other units for sale. Told me my trade was only worth $.... way below avg. trade values. Bottom line was negative attitude and no interest in cutting a deal.
Dealership B: E-mailed the internet sales dept. about a van they had for sale. Phone rang at my house within 30 seconds (no kidding) of hitting the send key. Salesman and I chatted for about 10 minutes. I told him I was about 120 miles away but wanted to take a closer look. He said he would hold the van for us. My wife and I drove down the next day. Upon arrival he greeted us at the door, offered coffee, then showed us the van which he had washed and cleaned til it gleamed. Did a road test. Took my trade in at fair market value and even gave me a $100.00 coupon to use for the purchase. Finance dept. went to work and was able to get me a VERY competitive rate that beat anything I was able to find, even through my own bank. Meanwhile the salesman had the oil changed and a final inspection done. Total time until we drove out the door--just a little over 2 hours. About 3 days later we got a thank you card from all the folks at the dealership. What a great experience! Not once was there any "sales babble or pressure". Just friendly business.

 

[spruce Deere]

Man, I hope the right people are reading this tread..... this is good. Should forward this link/thread to a manager.......

 

[DC3]

Do you think all this poor, inattentive, ignorant, and rude sales service is due to the fact that there is more profit in selling parts than new machines?

Even so, I would think that a dealer/salesperson would take a longer view of things and consider the fact that selling a new machine, even at a marginal profit, will increase their probability of parts sales down the road, after the warranty has expired.

Add to that, the free good/bad press a dealer can receive on message boards like this, depending on how the customer viewed their purchase experience.

. . . . .but maybe I'm looking at this too simplistically. :confused2:

 

[tulenutn2o]

DC3- you got it right. I just bought a new tractor over the net. Good communication was key. Got an e-mail today from a dealer I contacted Mon for a quote: he need more info before he will quote due to diff. finance options etc. I told them to quote best price out the door to me at my door, gave him the model with loader. Needless to say- he was too late.Point being, this is Thurs.....little too long to respond, don't ya think. I would think they would have sent a request for more info sooner. Oh well.

 

[keyman1808]

I dont think its that long. I take into consideration that they may be getting bombarded with requests from all over the country. I can only imagine how many requests Barlows gets a day. Couple that with the fact thay are waiting on the customers on the showroom floor (or yard) and thats alot of requests. And as many stated that they would have liked the salestaff to stop talking on the phone or working at thier computers to come over and help them. I can understand while a quote over the net may be alittle longer because they are delivering customer service to those who took the time to actually go down to the dealership. I know when I have contacted Barlows they usually email me back in about 2-3 days. Personally if you needed it quicker then a phone call would have been better. Just my 2 cents

 

[Big Bri]

DC3- you got it right. I just bought a new tractor over the net. Good communication was key. Got an e-mail today from a dealer I contacted Mon for a quote: he need more info before he will quote due to diff. finance options etc. I told them to quote best price out the door to me at my door, gave him the model with loader. Needless to say- he was too late.Point being, this is Thurs.....little too long to respond, don't ya think. I would think they would have sent a request for more info sooner. Oh well.

To defend some dealers here, i have a music retail store, and we are bombed every day with emails from people asking questions, it is very hard to answer every question and try to weed through the 15 year old kids who want us to spec out a 5k guitar that they will never buy.
For us the customer in my store gets first priority, phone is second, and net gets last.
I know the email is the "in" thing but we would have to hire 3 or 4 people to answer all the emails we get in one day and its just not worth it.

 

[tulenutn2o]

Maybe I am spoiled by most people these days that are top notch, are hooked to the net constantly via i-phone and get instant notifications. My point was that, this particular dealer was the one who took his sweet time in acknowledging that I'd even sent a request. I thought I was pretty clear on Best deal, cash to my door. That way, said salesman is not wasting time haggling. Either I like price or I don't. Then, if they are close enough, I will bother them on the phone. I believe everyone needs to make a profit, they just don't need to make it all off 1 sale. Frankly, I'd prefer that they wouldn't use salesmen other than to explain features and have a no dicker sticker. But tractor sales are using the same tactics as automobile dealers in justifying their existence as a salesman, by extracking the most cash they can from my wallet.

 

[civesnedfield]

Do you think all this poor, inattentive, ignorant, and rude sales service is due to the fact that there is more profit in selling parts than new machines?

Even so, I would think that a dealer/salesperson would take a longer view of things and consider the fact that selling a new machine, even at a marginal profit, will increase their probability of parts sales down the road, after the warranty has expired.

Add to that, the free good/bad press a dealer can receive on message boards like this, depending on how the customer viewed their purchase experience.

. . . . .but maybe I'm looking at this too simplistically. :confused2:

I agree there is more profit in parts, and I will add service then there is in tractor or car sales. But good dealerships will use that as a selling tool along with an OUTSTANDING sales staff.
I have an auto dealership that I deal with. I have bought five vehicles from him in the past five years. I bought the last one two weeks ago. I called my salesman at 9:00 in the morning told him the stock number of the vehicle I wanted. I told him to have it cleaned and gassed up I would be in in about two hours to do the paper work.
I keep going back to him because the sales staff is excellent. They know that when I want to buy I don't want to haggle and go back and forth on price. Just give me your best price first time around. They do. They also know that I trust their service department and have all my work done there, so the lower profit they are making up on the vehicle I purchased is made up in the service department, eventually. They also get my word of mouth buisness. I have sent countless people to purchase vehicles from them and twice as many to their service department.

I guess my point is that you need to manage all points of your dealership very well, wether it be tractors or cars. If one end screws up the losses are felt throughout the entire dealership.

Right now I am talking with another tractor dealership for service for my tractor. Why ---because the last time I walked into my current dealer, I walked into the service department and said " I have a Mahindra 4530" The response from the young gentleman behind the counter was "Sell it".

I talked to the owner of the dealership, he made an excuse. Guess what My equipment will not be serviced there. By the way this dealer sells and services three colors--Green, Red, and Orange.