I really despair of salesmen.
Normally I do also.
My $.02 on the matter. <rather long>
Last year I got a post card from Porsche U.S HQ, in Atlanta, inviting me to
drop by my nearest Porsche dealer to sample their latest offering.
I called the local, advised the guy that answered the phone of the postcard
& asked when I could come by to test drive. He told me any time. I never
identified myself.
I showed up a few days later, spoke to the guy that answered the phone, we
chatted for a few minutes & then he asked which Porsche I'd like to sample.
He went out back & returned with that vehicle. He placed a temp plate on it,
showed me how to operate the top & gave me the keys. I asked if he was going
to come with me, he said no - he was going to lunch, I said you're going to
turn me loose with this vehicle just like that? He hesitated & then said oh
yeah, I guess I need to make a copy of your license - up to this point he
only knew me as Ken.
I told him I didn't know how long I'd be with the car (it was around 1:30pm)
& he replied that the dealership would be closing 6:00pm.
I returned an hour later, handed him back the keys & told him I'd be in
touch. (I knew then & there I was going to purchase a version of the car I
had just driven). Two weeks later I returned with my wife & drove another
vehicle. Returned & proceeded to place an order. He took my order &
proceeded to give me his opinion on several of the options I requested -
some he recommended & some he advised against.
He placed my order with the factory & advised me weekly of the status.
I was so impressed with his handling of this matter that I gave him a bottle
of wine at delivery of the car in appreciation.
This almost makes up for the countless car sales jerks I've dealt with over
the years.
Kenneth Waller
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Francis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Interesting marketing
On Thu, Feb 16, 2006 at 12:04:30AM -0600, William Robb wrote:
We might go to Best Buy on the weekend so that I can grace his salesman
with
my most charming and best behaved self.
I really despair of salesmen.
I'm in the process of beginning to shop for a new car. One option
is a BMW Z4, but they get pretty expensive. So I registered with
BMW to be notified by email if a "certified pre-owned" Z4 with the
particular rare set of options that I want comes on the market.
Unfortunately this means that BMW have my email address, and pass
it on to my local BMW dealer. I wasn't too bothered by this, because
I've been in that dealership, and they are a very low-pressure outfit.
Apparently this doesn't seem to apply to their eMail contact. Not
only did I get email from him as soon as he saw I was interested in
Z4s, trying to get me to come in and look at the cars he had on the lot
(none of which were anywhere close to my pre-owned search criteria),
but when I explained this to him, and told him what I was looking for,
I got email back telling me I didn't want to look for those options,
but would be better off changing my criteria.
I'm going to pay another visit to the dealership, and let the sales
manager know:
1) How much I appreciate their low-pressure showroom staff
2) Just how much I dislike having some arrogant little twit
telling me I don't know what I want, and to instead switch
to buying what he happens to have on the lot.
