Is this the state of dealers these days
Discussion
Overpriced according to what?
If so, why not enquire on a different car that was correctly priced - in your estimation?
See "car sales memes" on Facebook for some examples of the general quality of e-mail enquiries from people too timid to pick up a phone and have a conversation.
"Live chat" is even better still.
If so, why not enquire on a different car that was correctly priced - in your estimation?
See "car sales memes" on Facebook for some examples of the general quality of e-mail enquiries from people too timid to pick up a phone and have a conversation.
POORCARDEALER said:
I always email back promptly, however compared to a phone call most are are waste of time.
"Live chat" is even better still.
POORCARDEALER said:
I always email back promptly, however compared to a phone call most are are waste of time.
This is the same for myself and my colleagues too, I can't rememebr the last time that I got any response; let alone a meaningful one, from any response that I make. I will follow up an email enquiry three times if no response I will bin it; this happens about 99% of the time.
I have found the best way is to just turn up and have a look at the car in question. I'd call if driving a long way just to check it hadnt been sold but thats it. I find that most dealers just tell you what you want to hear on the phone , in fact even when standing next to the car and pointing out issues they will continue to deny them.
The only way is to get in your car and go take a look.
ETA: And to avoid being threatened or escorted off the premises if its in poor condition just walk away, dont start a dialogue with the salesman. And try to wait until the salesmen are busy with someone else before you whip out your torch for a poke around underneath , some dealers take great offence at it.
The only way is to get in your car and go take a look.
ETA: And to avoid being threatened or escorted off the premises if its in poor condition just walk away, dont start a dialogue with the salesman. And try to wait until the salesmen are busy with someone else before you whip out your torch for a poke around underneath , some dealers take great offence at it.
Edited by Dodsy on Thursday 29th January 14:09
Back in 2013 I was looking for one of those those Forester things. Found a decent looking one, sensible price, etc, so I called the dealer and had a brief chat. He promised to call me back with some further details, but never did.
I forgot to post about it at the time, for which I apologise, however this thread reminded me.
I forgot to post about it at the time, for which I apologise, however this thread reminded me.
As reflected by the other Sales Gents in here, I e-mail all back, unless they have a phone number. In which case I will phone, and leave a message if necessary. E-mails are an evil sin when it comes to dealing with vehicles, if you see the e-mails I recieve from people, its a wonder I can read them and understand what is being asked.
A quick phonecall sorts most of it out, and saves 10 emails back and forth.
A quick phonecall sorts most of it out, and saves 10 emails back and forth.
jcelee said:
As a former salesman, the biggest concern was that booking these emailers as prospects that you seldom converted into sales could decimate your prospect>sales conversion ratio and even result in dismissal. On that basis unfortunately I can understand why many ignore them.
That's all fair enough - taking this and other responses into account, why not just do away with emails? I mean it's not compulsory, and it would avoid creating the illusion that it's a good way for prospects to make an enquiry for the tiny number who might actually buy?
jcelee said:
As a former salesman, the biggest concern was that booking these emailers as prospects that you seldom converted into sales could decimate your prospect>sales conversion ratio and even result in dismissal. On that basis unfortunately I can understand why many ignore them.
You'd probably be better off not working for a company that so idiotically uses conversation metrics like that. The big dealer organisations do seem blessed with a certain stupidity.
I try to respond to all emails that i see worth responding to. i must admit that its probably as little as 1 in 10 that ever even comes to anything. I admit to filtering out lots as not worth wasting the time on, or not the type i want to deal with.
Those that start " hi mate, my uncle / brother etc etc is in the trade and i know what your car is worth etc etc what is your lowest price etc etc and can i get finance....." Get ignored. And when i m busy i tend to put off responding to any people with newish cars to trade in volunteering they have fiance outstanding and want to lower monthly payments etc ...
If a sensible well put and thought out email arrives, then it will get dealt with asap, usually requesting they call me back for any more info when it suits them...
Those that start " hi mate, my uncle / brother etc etc is in the trade and i know what your car is worth etc etc what is your lowest price etc etc and can i get finance....." Get ignored. And when i m busy i tend to put off responding to any people with newish cars to trade in volunteering they have fiance outstanding and want to lower monthly payments etc ...
If a sensible well put and thought out email arrives, then it will get dealt with asap, usually requesting they call me back for any more info when it suits them...
carl_w said:
I personally don't tend to e-mail car dealers, but as another poster said if you don't want people to e-mail then don't offer the facility. If you offer it you must expect it to be (ab)used.
I'm sure that the vast majority of car salesmen would love to have the option to email an inquiry from ads removed, as others have said even if you email back a well constructed, informative reply only about 2-3% of leads will ever contact you again.Unfortunatly they don't get to make the decision on this, its generally a manafacturer requirment, and something that they carry out secret shops on, you can usually tell the secret shop ones, just like you can when they turn up in person. so these will get actioned, just to "play the game".
The biggest problem is that so many dreamers sit on their computers looking at cars and fire off emails with no intention of taking things further, that when a genuine enquiry comes in it's difficult to filter it from the dross. The top salesman at the main dealers I used to work at would never respond to email, but he would be all over a phone call or a walk in because he knew this was the best way to get results and make himself money.
Want info from a car salesman, pick up the phone. Yes I know you say that you did OP, so ring again and ask for the sales manager.
We get leads from the manufacturer that have to be replied to same day. To make sure of that, we don't get given the real telephone number but have to use a special number and code so that they can track our follow-up activity.
In over two years not one of these has, to my knowledge, turned into a sale for me.
We do get a lot of brochure collectors, though, and some of them are still at school!
In over two years not one of these has, to my knowledge, turned into a sale for me.
We do get a lot of brochure collectors, though, and some of them are still at school!
GoneAnon said:
We get leads from the manufacturer that have to be replied to same day. To make sure of that, we don't get given the real telephone number but have to use a special number and code so that they can track our follow-up activity.
In over two years not one of these has, to my knowledge, turned into a sale for me.
We do get a lot of brochure collectors, though, and some of them are still at school!
We have to reply to our manufacturers supplied leads within an hour of the enquiry being placed, ours are tracked via the manufacturer lead management system that they come through. In over two years not one of these has, to my knowledge, turned into a sale for me.
We do get a lot of brochure collectors, though, and some of them are still at school!
All leads that have been dealt with are automatically placed into our online diaries; this is a fairly new system and was implemented because lead follow ups across the dealer network was notoriously poor; we however were always one of the better dealers at responding to leads.
As a rule most are a complete waste of time and never come to anything, many don't even say what the enquiry is about.
We have to use set templates for the initial response, they are very cringey and quite embarrassing; along the lines of "xyz model with its expressive and individual lines, bringing the fun back in to motoring". In the initial response we are supposed to book an assumption test drive, I have; on occasion, had a s
tty response back saying that all they wanted was a brochure, if a test drive had been required then they would have asked for one. Once the initial reply has been made we have to follow Up 48hrs later; we will follow up again twice more over the course of a couple of weeks and if no joy it will be binned.
You will be amazed at how many online test drive bookings a) can never be got hold of, either by email or phone b) don't show to the test drive.
oldnbold said:
Unfortunatly they don't get to make the decision on this, its generally a manafacturer requirment, and something that they carry out secret shops on, you can usually tell the secret shop ones, just like you can when they turn up in person. so these will get actioned, just to "play the game".
I was asked by Jaguar to be a secret shopper - but the difference was I was a well known regular customer at the dealer so wouldnt have been an obvious secret shopper. The deal was to wear a mic and hidden camera then go in and book my car in for service and other bits and bobs, ask some difficult questions and record the whole thing. Ok, not buying a car but even so its a bit sneaky. They offered me £100 to do it.I said no.
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