Manufacturer & dealer forum representatives...
Discussion
I guess a lot of senior people in the dealer networks are completely unaware of forums like this, although I'm sure there are plenty that are, but they won't see any value in employing someone to be a rep on forums.
The one dealer you mention could be one step ahead of their rivals, but as a commercial exercise I would say it is still unproven.
I accept that you have had a good experience, but it will take time and more evidence that it is money well spent before others will follow.
Boring rant to follow, be warned:
When I first started at BMW many moons ago, back in the days when supply was limited and discount was unheard of, brand values was all you ever heard about, it was drummed into you all day long.
Customers were given a small gift when collecting a new or used car, the sales manager would make a point of meeting every customer, on handover we would personally introduce them to a named person from the service department, follow up calls etc etc.
Staff had to sit a test at BMW UK to even be able to work for a dealer. (Sales at least, don't remember about other departments). Lots of quality training followed.
Each dealer was paid a big bonus for its customer care score, based on a survey of every customer carried out by BMW UK, each salesman would be paid a bonus based on his/her personal performance.
You can be sure customers were happy. Don't get me wrong with limited stock there was little pressure to do a deal at any cost, so you were either there to buy a car or not, but for those who did buy they were treated well.
A good professional salesman could still make someone feel welcome, comfortable and at ease, then give a good service, and be knowledgeable, therefore adding value without having to discount.
A few years later BMW decided it wanted to go for more volume. All of a sudden you could get most cars quite quickly, lots of new models were introduced, discounting became the norm. You couldn't compete with good service, if the next dealer was selling the same car cheaper.
BMW dropped the customer care bonus. Nearly all the small independent dealers were bought out by the big PLC groups (for me one of the worst things that ever happened for customer service).
With shareholders to think about cost cutting became the next way to make more profit.
All the small perks for customers were dropped. By doing this someone in head office can quickly work out how much money he has saved, but there is no quick way to work out the £ value of the good will created by all the small things that used to happen previously. (this is the bit I was thinking of when I read the OP, whilst good, difficult thing to value)
Wages were squeezed, and all the good performers went on to more prestige brands, worked for themselves (or both in my case) or changed career completely. Mainly all that seem to be left are no more skilled than half decent retail staff. No offence to anyone still in the network, but if you were there at the time you will agree with me.
Anyway that my mini rant about main dealers over now. s
t (mostly) the lot of them.
And another thing:
I was in an Audi dealer a few weeks ago, having a car serviced. The service advisor (desk monkey) had never the heard the term "CVT" when I quizzed him about the latest gearbox's.
Not sure where all that just came from, but I feel better now.
The one dealer you mention could be one step ahead of their rivals, but as a commercial exercise I would say it is still unproven.
I accept that you have had a good experience, but it will take time and more evidence that it is money well spent before others will follow.
Boring rant to follow, be warned:
When I first started at BMW many moons ago, back in the days when supply was limited and discount was unheard of, brand values was all you ever heard about, it was drummed into you all day long.
Customers were given a small gift when collecting a new or used car, the sales manager would make a point of meeting every customer, on handover we would personally introduce them to a named person from the service department, follow up calls etc etc.
Staff had to sit a test at BMW UK to even be able to work for a dealer. (Sales at least, don't remember about other departments). Lots of quality training followed.
Each dealer was paid a big bonus for its customer care score, based on a survey of every customer carried out by BMW UK, each salesman would be paid a bonus based on his/her personal performance.
You can be sure customers were happy. Don't get me wrong with limited stock there was little pressure to do a deal at any cost, so you were either there to buy a car or not, but for those who did buy they were treated well.
A good professional salesman could still make someone feel welcome, comfortable and at ease, then give a good service, and be knowledgeable, therefore adding value without having to discount.
A few years later BMW decided it wanted to go for more volume. All of a sudden you could get most cars quite quickly, lots of new models were introduced, discounting became the norm. You couldn't compete with good service, if the next dealer was selling the same car cheaper.
BMW dropped the customer care bonus. Nearly all the small independent dealers were bought out by the big PLC groups (for me one of the worst things that ever happened for customer service).
With shareholders to think about cost cutting became the next way to make more profit.
All the small perks for customers were dropped. By doing this someone in head office can quickly work out how much money he has saved, but there is no quick way to work out the £ value of the good will created by all the small things that used to happen previously. (this is the bit I was thinking of when I read the OP, whilst good, difficult thing to value)
Wages were squeezed, and all the good performers went on to more prestige brands, worked for themselves (or both in my case) or changed career completely. Mainly all that seem to be left are no more skilled than half decent retail staff. No offence to anyone still in the network, but if you were there at the time you will agree with me.
Anyway that my mini rant about main dealers over now. s
t (mostly) the lot of them. And another thing:
I was in an Audi dealer a few weeks ago, having a car serviced. The service advisor (desk monkey) had never the heard the term "CVT" when I quizzed him about the latest gearbox's.
Not sure where all that just came from, but I feel better now.
Edited by kentmotorcompany on Wednesday 22 December 23:07
TN,
Interesting idea. My guess would be that employing someone to do such a job would be expensive, and they would need to be both clue-y and have the ear of people with real power in the dealerships. Therefore you'd want someone who could string together a decent sentence and understand both sides of the argument; i.e. not a cheap person to employ.
Such a job would probably have few prospects, so I'd wonder where such a person would expect to 'move on to' in due course. Some other automotive customer service role maybe, but what what?
All in, it just sounds expensive. A good idea, no doubt, but expensive. Some more details of the person who now does that role would be interesting; how old, what experience, what qualifications etc etc etc.
Oli.
Interesting idea. My guess would be that employing someone to do such a job would be expensive, and they would need to be both clue-y and have the ear of people with real power in the dealerships. Therefore you'd want someone who could string together a decent sentence and understand both sides of the argument; i.e. not a cheap person to employ.
Such a job would probably have few prospects, so I'd wonder where such a person would expect to 'move on to' in due course. Some other automotive customer service role maybe, but what what?
All in, it just sounds expensive. A good idea, no doubt, but expensive. Some more details of the person who now does that role would be interesting; how old, what experience, what qualifications etc etc etc.
Oli.
Negative Creep said:
Must be a pretty thankless task being a forum rep. I can imagine having to take a lot of flak from posters whilst having to watch what you say very carefully indeed
Definitely. There's plenty of keyboard warriors out there to have a dig at your business, with no real basis or consequence.I think the person in question has been appointed as a remedial action to counter the swell of negativity about the franchise.
I know we had some pretty poor experiences from 2 of their locations when looking at AUC Z4s.
Glad you had a positive outcome but I think they have a long way to go to dispel their reputation.
I know we had some pretty poor experiences from 2 of their locations when looking at AUC Z4s.
Glad you had a positive outcome but I think they have a long way to go to dispel their reputation.
I have NO knowledge of the workings of a dealer network but as an outsider
and a potential customer it sounds like it could be good for PR if nothing else
and maybe provide some real world feedback to the producers to improve
future vehicles.
And i guess it could be helpful in some situations for folks to see issues
being dealt with in an open forum to inspire a bit of brand confidence.
edit for speeling
and a potential customer it sounds like it could be good for PR if nothing else
and maybe provide some real world feedback to the producers to improve
future vehicles.
And i guess it could be helpful in some situations for folks to see issues
being dealt with in an open forum to inspire a bit of brand confidence.
edit for speeling
Edited by FranKinFezza on Wednesday 22 December 23:50
kentmotorcompany said:
Quite a lot
That was one of the most insightful posts I've ever read on here.Audi UK in particular if anyone is reading, your dealership staff is appalling, and has been since roughly the time of the introduction of the first generation TT.
I have to deal with main dealers on a daily basis and shudder whenever one of our customers wants to order an Audi.
Good car sales staff are incredibly rare these days and the reasons given in your post are absolutely spot on. We have seen decent sales people replaced by the equivalent of broadband company call centre workers.
If you find a good sales person stick with them, it's worth a few quid.
That said they aren't all useless, I've recently found a Jaguar salesman who did what he said he would (recommended by an excellent Volvo salesman in the same group) and guess who'll be getting a call next time I need a Jaguar. Most Porsche sales people seem to be excellent.
Anyone wants their details PM me and I'd be happy to pass on the info.
Edited by mattviatura on Thursday 23 December 07:44
I work for a major computer manufacturer & we have people in marketing who keep an eye on twitter, facebook etc. & respond or escalate as needed. All the staff have to undergo basic training but we're then allowed to respond/interact as necessary.
Some of us are media trained to talk to the media direct on behalf of the company.
Some of us are media trained to talk to the media direct on behalf of the company.
miniman said:
zcacogp said:
My guess would be that employing someone to do such a job would be expensive
We charge between £350 and £550 per day, a reasonably busy forum (nothing like PH, just a "normal" volume of use) typically takes 1-3 days per week to manage. 
) but let's take the midpoint of those figures - £450/day, 2 days/week, = £900/week, around £50,000/year. That's a reasonable chunk. You'd need to be pretty confident of a decent upturn in sales to justify such an outlay. OK, in the world of car dealerships this is probably only a small chunk of cash, but you'd need to demonstrate some real returns before anyone will commit to such an expenditure.
If I run a blandbox dealership in smallsville, a forum rep will bring a very small benefit for all blandbox dealerships in the country, therefore my benefit will be small. And it will only reach it's (small) maximum over time, as the person gets accepted in the forum and the benefits start to accrue. There's not much in it for me. If, on the other hand, I spent that £50,000 on a large billboard advert on the smallsville ringroad, everyone in smallsville will see it, and everyone will know about the great deals I am giving on the new range of blandboxes. This is far more likely to create more sales for me, in a much shorter space of time, than the forum rep. Which will I therefore choose?
Bear in mind that on-line forums are still niche things, which most car owners don't look at. (I once heard that over 90% of drivers on the UK roads have no idea how to open their car bonnet.) They are almost solely the preserve of enthusiasts, who are probably much less likely to be swayed by what a paid representative is going to say and be far more interested in other enthusiasts' opinions, magazine reviews and so on.
Much of this is guesswork, but it's an interesting point.
Oli.
insanojackson said:
or the sites for the manufacturers could have their own forums with trained staff as admin?? similar to what vodaphone do
It'd also help if said sites were comprehensive, listing available options etc. and up to date.At least one major UK manufacturer's website still has a car listed which is no longer available.
Ozzie Osmond said:
kentmotorcompany said:
Anyway that my mini rant about main dealers over now. st (mostly) the lot of them.
Now you wouldn't just happen to have a vested interest in making that statement would you, Mr independent auto trader??t (mostly) the lot of them.As a small independent I doubt I would ever be competing for the same customer as a main dealer. My stock profile is quite different also, it will be hard to find an similar car for sale at a main dealers to anything I have in stock.
I still deal with main dealers quite a lot when buying stock, buying parts, and getting cars serviced. I would have more of a vested interest in saying nothing.
Also I'm one of the few posters on here who chooses to be less than anonymous, so my interests are not disguised in any way.
Just saying as I see it.
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