Quote:
Originally Posted by I-S
On Saturday afternoon we went out to begin researching some of the cars we are interested in replacing the V70 with (as well as some that are just pipedreams). During the afternoon we visited 3 dealerships of different brands (which will for now remain nameless, but none of them was Volvo). All 3 are premium brands (yes, there's lots of definitions of that. Let's just say that all 3 had vehicles with list prices of over £100k on their premises).
In the first dealership we were made very welcome, treated as though nothing was too much bother (even though they understood that we are at the very early stages of looking, ruling things in/out, etc and that we're not about to buy a car). They went off to put a decent amount of fuel into a car to allow us to have a decent test drive. They did not press nor push for a sale, hurry us or anything of the sort - they were interested in building a relationship.
The second dealership couldn't have been more different. The showroom was deserted and we'd sat in 3 cars before anyone came to us. He introduced himself by name 3 times, hurriedly got us a bottle of water each before disappearing again, telling us to ask the receptionist to get him if we needed anything - he was wearing jeans and a football shirt, which seemed rather unprofessional for an upscale brand. When we did need something (to sit in another two vehicle models that were outside and locked) and summoned him he then went to find someone else to open the cars for us (who also was wearing a football shirt, and continued saying how comfortable one vehicle was when both of us had struggled to get anywhere near comfortable in the seats). They didn't even attempt to take any details from us.
At the third dealership we were given plenty of time and offered a test drive, again despite making clear that we were not about to buy (and in the case of this brand, we can not afford the vehicle, we were only there because we were in the area and wanted to see). Once more, this dealership was engaged, enlightened and not pushing on the hard sell. They offered a test drive regardless of us making clear that we weren't going to buy, and when arranging a booked test drive made immediate confirmation by email.
Now I don't exist in a vacuum and I do realise that there's some sort of sporting event going on that some people think is quite important. However, for me if you are at work then you are at work, not watching football (unless of course that is your job). The second dealership made very clear what their priority was and it was not the customer. It reinforced a pronounced sense of disappointment we found with their vehicles (ones that we had been interested in for a long time).
Note that all 3 dealerships had televisions set up (first one in the showroom, second and third in back rooms) with the football showing.
So what are other people's views on this? Is it acceptable for a dealership (any dealership, but especially that of a premium brand) to relax the rules (eg jeans and footie shirt) because of such an event? Is it acceptable to allow employees to watch the football at the expense of the customer experience (because although the first and third dealers had the football on, I felt that they made us the clear priority - ie it had no impact on our experience).
My own view is that the first and third dealers had the balance correct, between the event and the customer. The second dealership should have closed for the day.
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dealers 1 + 3 spot on, Zero pressure, and there To work With the customer,
dealer 2 , they didnt apply pressure or "hover" etc,, which is good,, Not being focused on the customer or working with the customer as "a sporting event" was on,would Appear at first look to be "the sport is more important than the customer",, not the best 1st impression to give.
As to the attire of them, that Shouldnt matter a Hoot , as long as its clean (or as clean as the job allows when working).
what it Does show is that dealership places a Value on their staff , allowing them to be @ work, and follow sporting events ,, shame they didn't this time get the balance right .
I dont get why people get So hung up on "clothes" , its the Skills and manners (or lack of) and interpersonal abilities that matter NOT what cloth they choose to wear,, but thats like expecting bwm "drivers" to use Indicators ,,,,,,