THE BALLS OF A VW SALES MANAGER...

The J.D. Power CSI, the Customer Satisfaction Index, is vitally important to dealerships. While the results shown to the public and the media rate dealerships overall by make (for instance, ALL Buick dealerships average...), the survey numbers kept within the industry are dealer-by-dealer. Using Buick as an example again, the Buick Division of General Motors finds out through these surveys how each one of their 1,000-or-so dealers rate in the CSI, which surveys the overall experience the buyer has with the dealer for several years after they purchase a vehicle, including the buying and delivery "experience". A poor CSI may mean that a dealer will not get the "hot" models he needs to sell, or he/she may not be able to take part in some factory-to-dealer incentives. A good CSI means more cars, more money and a better dealer-factory relationship. Here's how Power describes their CSI: "Customer satisfaction with the overall experience within the dealership can considerably impact a dealer’s revenue gain per customer". So you can bet the "Home Office" keeps close tabs on each individual dealer's CSI. Here's what happened to me when I ran into the CSI at a VW dealer in Los Angeles about 15 years ago:

My sister-in-law at the time wanted to buy a new Volkswagen. She had spent a few days looking through the LA TIMES and other local papers, and found a dealer announcing they had "plenty to choose from" of the model she wanted, "with many at this price", which was the price she wanted to pay.

So we trooped down to the VW dealer, whose name I will not mention --- Except to say it was McKenna VW, which at the time had VW/Porsche dealerships in the LA area and they are still in business there and in Orange County --- In any event, the advertising turned out to be a classic "bait and switch". They had plenty of the VW model she wanted,  alright, but certainly NOT at the price advertised. They had "plenty" of them at about $3,500 more than they were advertising.

At the time I was fairly well-known in the LA area for my TV and radio work. I stayed in the background, listening, while salesman after salesman did everything but offer to send my sister-in-law's mother flowers in the rest home --- Only if she would buy the car RIGHT NOW.

We walked out and the next day I called some of my friends in the Public Relations office of Volkswagen. Realizing full well that the distributor (Volkswagen of America) has little if any control over how their dealers operate, I just stated our case and told a good friend of mine who was a rather high mucky-muck: "Listen, all she wants to do is buy the car for the advertised price. That's it".

We were DEFINITELY treated MUCH DIFFERENTLY than any "average" consumer, and some high-level phone calls were made.

We went back to McKenna that evening, greeted by the General Sales Manager, the Sales Manager, and who knows who-else. One of these jerks even gave us the classic line,  "Oh, the salesman who tried to rip you off yesterday was FIRED immediately after we found out!"... Right. Yeah.

Everything went very smoothly. I spoke not at all. She bought the car for the price they had advertised. Now comes the CSI part of the story.

Dealers have been known to pay customers to fill-out the CSI form favorably, take them to dinner, send them on a Las Vegas weekend --- Do just about ANYTHING to please the customer AFTER the purchase to get a good internal CSI number within the corporation. I should say that whether or not this was a J.D. Power CSI survey or one VW was running internally, I do not know. It does not matter, though.

After the sales papers were all signed and the keys handed over, the Sales Manager hands  my sister-in-law the CSI forms and says, and I quote directly, as I will never forget his cigarette-tainted words:

"Now, apart from the fact that we completely misrepresented ourselves, how would you rate your purchase experience?"

BALLS! REAL BALLS!

Comments

[steve parker]

Thanks for the info on the problems which still exist at dealerships when it comes to women and ALL minorities. More important and less-discussed are the higher interest rates normally charged women and minorities which can add up to THOUSANDS of dollars over the life of a vehicle loan.

[AskPatty - Automotive Advice for Women]

Recent results from surveys conducted by CARMAX and Capital One Auto Finance, concluded that women continue to be unsatisfied with their car buying experiences. The fact that 80% of all car buying decisions are influenced by women and 50% of all new car purchases are made by women, suggests that the market for women buyers represented $80 billion dollars of new car sales, reported in 2005, (source NADA data). These numbers are rather disturbing considering that women are still buying 50% of the automobiles, yet their car buying experiences have not improved according to these recent surveys.

It appears dealerships are definitely selling cars to women; The question is, will they “be back” to the same dealership for their next car purchase as a loyal happy customer?

Here are some of the strategies emerging from dealerships to improve customer satisfaction scores from women consumers

*Recruiting, hiring and training additional female sales and service advisors.
*Holding workshops and clinics for women to educate women on car care, financing, service and maintenance.
*Giving flowers, gift baskets and spa treatments to women as thank you gifts for new car purchases.

To take the word ‘traumatic” entirely out of women’s comments about their car buying experiences, dealerships need to listen to what women want and need and learn create a way to make buying a car as pleasant and rewarding as their other retail shopping experiences.