John --
<font color=blue>... alot of people get "turned off" by the sales office on the "front line"... and never get to see the "real picture" of the rest of the dealership...</font color=blue>
Well, if this is true then the converse of this must also hold true. That is, if a dealer has super sales people that get people to buy but the dealer has a spotted reputation for poor service, then what is the customer to place their faith in? Would a customer want to buy from the get-go if the sales guy did his job, was responsive, and gave a good price if the customer also heard reports from others about shoddy shop and service work that this dealership does? No, I think 'red flags' would quickly fly and the customer would hesitate to complete their purchase transaction regardless of the responsiveness of the sales team. I would think most customers would want to get a 'feel' for the entire dealership -- from the sales floor right down to the service bays. If the dealer synergies are there, then everyone is working in tandem with each other and the customer with a good head on their shoulders will soon see this readily enough and feel comfortable in making a purchase through this dealership.
Maybe, it's a matter of personal preference and how one views the synergies that are part and parcel of a contractual relationship. In my case, I will give a dealer a fair and square shot of providing me a tractor quotation within a reasonable time frame. But, if I have to call and repeatedly ask for the quote and I get the sense it's like pulling teeth to get the cooperation of the dealership, then I start saying to myself there's something wrong here.
Having said all that, I fully agree with you about the positive and negative experiences that individuals have with particular dealerships. Customers have their own unique parameters for buying --- they're not all the same. I can appreciate that and I'm cognizant that any dealership that's been in business for 30 or 40 years has to be doing something right in order to garner the loyal customer base they do have.
That's why I won't knock the dealerships in this forum. I will try to provide as an objective appraisal as I can based on personal experience and the folks here at TBN can do with this information as they like.
Bob
