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A Big Old Can of Nonsense: Who Needs Loyal Customers Anyways?

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With all of the recent epiphanies that thought leaders in ours and other industries that businesses should be spending time and effort cultivating relationships, spending money and basically treating customers right, I thought it time to re-visit this whole “customer loyalty” phenomenon. Customers don’t really care about car dealers, do they? I mean, dealers are ranked below Congress in surveys about trustworthiness. They don’t like coming to dealerships for ANY reason much less to buy a car. In fact, companies are popping up out of the woodwork with the sole benefit of making it possible for people to buy cars WITHOUT going to dealerships.

We know through many articles and trends that customer loyalty is dead. The Gen Y and Millennial generations could care less who they do business with. Sure, they’ll show up for that $19.95 oil change special but is it because they’re loyal? No! It’s because it’s a deal. And believe me when I say that they will eagerly go to another dealership the next time they need their vehicle serviced that offers a coupon or special when you don’t have one at that time.

People need to buy – and service – cars and regardless of whether you’re a franchised, independent or buy here, pay here lot, dealers are all they have. It’s way too much work for consumers to obtain financing, process paperwork and facilitate a private party sales transaction. In addition, most of these are “as-is” transactions so they’re essentially throwing the dice hoping they aren’t getting a lemon.

As for service, there’s a Jiffy Lube or other independent auto service center promising convenient, fast and friendly oil changes upon demand. Sure, maybe they’re using generic parts that might not fit perfectly but are serviceable. Who cares? They’re cheaper, right? Who needs certified technicians, nice waiting areas or free coffee? They’d rather go buy a $12 Triple, Venti, Half Sweet, Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato than drink the Keurig produced coffee dealers provide for them.

As a business, dealerships have been wildly successful acquiring new customers for the past decades. It’s easy. Sure, maybe it’s gotten more expensive over the years but what’s $640 per customer when dealers can high gross them on the huge profit margins manufacturers give them to work with.

And rewards? Really? Dealers are seriously expected – yes, expected – to give away free stuff to customers who happen to give them money? Get serious.

The bottom line is that dealers sell and service cars. Dealers have this industry so tightly wrapped up and in control that even Elon Musk with all his money, influence and consumer backing can’t even manage to convince many states to let him sell his cars direct to consumers. The new companies promising excellent customer experiences and complete online transactions account for such a small percentage of sales that they’re inconsequential. Consumers HAVE to buy their cars from a dealership and they certainly have a monopoly on warranty and recall work, too.

So let’s all just calm down and sit back while OEMs take used car inventories online and auction prices skyrocket (goodbye used car grosses), the NHTSA opens up recall work to independents (see you later recall revenue), the CFPB begins to regulate consumer financing (so long F&I reserve), new car front end margins shrink (you didn’t have these anyways) and complete online buying experiences become the preferred car purchasing experience…

Wait a minute. Who needs loyal customers? Dealers do.

Compliance: Can You Be Harassed By A CRM?

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UnlikeFor the past 2 years, one of the items on my daily to-do list has been grading Internet leads for DealerKnows Consulting. This process involves assisting DealerKnows in monitoring the progress of their clients through monitoring the ISM’s lead handling within the CRM. This provides valuable insight into what exactly is happening with leads (i.e. is the store following the process installed through DealerKnows and, if not, what exactly is happening) and indicating where additional training is needed.

In one particular client ‘s CRM, I started noticing one of the employees tasked with responding to, and communicating with, Internet leads inputting questionable notes into the CRM. Keep in mind; he was not doing anything inappropriate in his communication with the customer but, at times, expressing his frustration and/or opinions of customers through notes in the CRM.

Notes like:

  1. F$@k this bitch!
  2. Screw this mooch!
  3. What a stroke!
  4. I hope this customer gets fired for being an a$$hole!

Now, I was in retail a long time. I understand his frustration. That being said, I mentioned to him and his manager that he shouldn’t be using derogatory terms in the CRM. First, this particular store works as a team (ie. the leads aren’t solely one person’s responsibility). Whoever is working when a call or email needs to be made handles it. In the past, this team was a bunch of guys. Recently, a female was added. I mentioned it again within the context of the fact that the notes bring negativity into the lead for the next person who looks at it. In addition, it could offend someone else looking at the lead within the CRM. Even a female member of DealerKnows chimed in that the notes offended her.

The real question, however, is not one of appropriateness but rather one of compliance and liability. I was curious as to whether there could be harassment or employment issues. In that spirit, I decided to contact an expert in automotive dealer compliance. I contacted the founder of Dealer Compliance Consultants, Jim Radogna, a longtime auto guy with over 15 years experience in just about every dealership management position, over 6 years experience in assisting dealerships with compliance as well as an avid writer and frequent speaker in the automotive industry.

His answer was simple:

“It doesn’t matter where offensive material resides. It can be comments in a CRM that others can view – on a computer screen, mobile device or hanging on a wall – if anyone sees it and is offended by it, it can create a hostile work environment and put the dealership at risk.

People often have such different perspectives on behaviors that it is easy to offend someone through ill-considered attempts at humor, teasing or sarcasm. Remember that only the impact, and not the intent, matters in determining if a reasonable person would consider the behavior to be harassment.”

I was in retail. I get it. Sometimes customers can be frustrating. Sometimes we (being salespeople, managers, etc.) express our frustrations verbally and, perhaps, everyone on the team (or within hearing distance) is okay with the language or sentiment.

The bottom line is that allowing or condoning this type of behavior only accomplishes two things:

1. It permanently etches that customer in a negative light for any future employees. Think about it… perhaps the employee who inserted the notes gets fired (not that anyone EVER gets fired or leaves dealerships) and a new employee is tasked with going through and/or following up with these leads. Do you think these notes will encourage them to follow up or discourage them? Would they be quicker to mark them “Lost” and move on? What happens if you want to do some data mining and try to resurrect some leads? Negativity is a virus. It spreads easily. Allowing anyone to cultivate negativity in your business is simply a recipe for failure – not only for them but also for all of your employees.

2. It creates liability for the dealership. Allowing anyone to continue with this behavior transfers liability to you and, as a manager, to the dealership. Those notes may seem harmless now but when a harassment or hostile workplace environment lawsuit is filed, it could get quite expensive. In addition, by allowing these types of notes, you could technically be cultivating a PERMANENT hostile workplace environment. If you fired the offending employee today and two years from now another employee comes across these notes (perhaps by getting a new lead from the same customer… not like that ever happens) and is offended, what then? What if that that customer eventually buys the car and your dealership uses your CRM for service and a service advisor, cashier or other employee is exposed to those notes?

Imagine this scenario: An employee writes something offensive in Sharpie on the wall in the bathroom. It doesn’t offend anyone and nobody cleans it off. Three years later, a new employee comes along, reads the note and is offended.

What then?

It makes no difference WHEN the notes were made or whether the person who wrote the note(s) works there any longer. It is still the dealership’s responsibility and it would still be held responsible (and liable) for the existence of the notes.

My advice is simple:

If you wouldn’t hang it on the wall in your office for anyone to see, don’t put it anywhere – and that includes inside your CRM.

A Seamless Buying Experience Trumps the Race to the Bottom

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Business man with the text Good Service Makes The DifferenceLarge companies seem to be adopting the mentality that an excellent customer buying experience will lead Millenials and other car shoppers to rethink the old stereotypical process of buying vehicles. In the past, customers had retail experiences filled with Sharpies, high-pressure sales tactics, long waits and upsells in finance which ended up filling entire days in many cases and left consumers with bad impressions of the buying process. As the Internet evolved and offered consumers with alternatives, transparency in information and ways to circumnavigate as much of that process as possible, dealers found themselves altering their strategies.

A wide spectrum still existed amongst dealers in exactly how far they were willing to take the process with some willing to be completely transparent & provide information online to those who only pretended to be helpful but truly only offered invitations to the dealership disguised as transparency. Some large dealer groups are trying to transition as much of the buying process online as possible now (a la MakeMyDeal etc.). Of course, the largest complaints I hear from dealers is the whole “race to the bottom” involved when encountering cross-shoppers. It’s always another $100 that it would take to make the deal on vehicles already being quoted into holdback.

What if, however, instead of transitioning the process online to make it more efficient for consumers, you transform the in-store process instead? Both would achieve the same goal of offering a pleasant and efficient buying experience without the involvement of Sharpies and countless trips to “talk to the manager.”

A solution may already be available.

I had the pleasure of sitting with Jason Barrie of DealerTrack who showed me some incredible innovative technology – some of which is available now and some which is coming soon – that would essentially transform the buying experience into one of consumer choice and efficiency. This tablet based sales process completely and seamlessly integrates everything from the initial pencil – leases and purchases – with multiple options for a consumer to choose the one that best fits their financial budget. Yes, I understand that this is very close to e-pencil products that have been around for quite awhile. What makes this unique is that it eliminates the back-and-forth that most consumers hate and transforms the buying process from adversarial to one that is consultative. All of the options are configured by the sales managers prior (in the sense of how much leeway – if any – they allow the salespeople to have in the process) so there is no loss of control and/or fear of a salesperson ditching gross to win a sale taking the easy path.

Since the customer’s information is already in the system, soft pulls on credit are performed and, once a deal structure is chosen, they are automatically submitted for approvals by the dealer’s lenders.

The process continues into F&I as all of that information is immediately available to the F&I manager via tablet and aftermarket products, including explanations and videos of the features & benefits of each, are available via a menu based system. Customers can pick and choose the products they are interested in which instantly shows them how additions/subtractions of those products affect their payments.

Once the consumer has solidified his or her choices, the contracts are immediately produced WITHIN THE TABLET for the consumer to sign without the phone book of paperwork necessary currently. Of course, compliance requirements still allow dealers to have physical copies for records but it creates a more pleasant and interactive experience on the consumer facing side. After all is said end done, deals are then submitted for e-funding through the chosen lender.

There’s no doubt that individually many of these products exist. What impresses me most is the seamless experience this complete integration brings to the in-store buying process and it’s potential to create a customer experience that is enjoyable and pleasant. Ultimately, whether we are talking about shifting car sales (and processes) completely online or transforming the in-store experience, it all boils down to one thing – consumers want a more efficient, faster and enjoyable buying experience.

Rather than shift focus to an online buying process, why not make it easy and pleasant for consumers to buy from you in whatever manner they want – online or in-store.

I’m writing this from the 2015 NADA Convention and felt compelled to urge dealers to go check this out at the DealerTrack booth #2219S – You don’t have to join the race to the bottom to create a better customer experience. You just need the right tools and this, my friends, is an excellent tool to implement.

[Note: In no way was I paid or otherwise compensated for this opinion nor was the article written at anyone’s request.]

Effective Communication: Stop Playing the Telephone Game

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Bush telephoneMost of us are familiar with the telephone game. For those that haven’t played, the game is very simple. A group of people stands in a line. A simple sentence, starting with the first person, is whispered into the next person’s ear one by one until the message reaches the end of the line. Typically, the sentence that is revealed by the person at the end of the line is significantly different than the one that was started with.

Just as in the game, this phenomenon of simple miscommunication exists in the workplace. Once you realize just how easily spoken communications can be changed inadvertently, the importance of effectively communicating is reinforced. Car dealerships are particularly prone to this given the complexity of many of the activities occurring. If a salesperson misunderstands the sales manager when working a deal with a customer, it can alter the rapport and general experience for that customer significantly. When a service advisor communicates with a customer ineffectively, the same thing can happen.

The obvious solution is accurate and detailed documentation in every customer and internal transaction. That being said, there are simply too many things happening and sound bites of information being exchanged that recording everything would be laborious and inefficient.

The solution lies in ensuring that you have processes and technology in place that record and track everything related to a customer’s transaction with your dealership in the most time-efficient manner possible. In addition, you should take the time to train your staff some basic effective communication skills. Simply understanding these basic concepts will help avoid misunderstandings.

  1. How You Relay Information Matters – People learn and retain information in different ways. Think about when you were in school. Did you retain information better by reading the textbook or listening to the lecture? The same applies in the workplace. Some people retain information better and more accurately when it’s delivered to them in a visual manner while some prefer to have it spoken to them. By learning how each of your co-workers best process information you’ll increase the effectiveness of communications and decrease the likelihood of mistakes and misunderstandings.
  2. The Content Relayed Must Be Tailored for Each Individual – This simply means that everyone must be cognizant of the knowledge level of the person that they are speaking to. A service advisor and technician can have much more complex and technical conversations about what’s going on with a customer’s car than they may be able to with the cashier or receptionist. A finance manager may be able to interact with a sales manager on a higher level than they can with a customer or salesperson. When you are interacting with someone and they will be relaying information to another person, make sure that you are speaking to their level of knowledge so that they understand what you are saying. Most miscommunication occurs simply because the recipient didn’t understand exactly what he or she was told and this can cause a lot of problems that could have been avoided. This is especially true when the information is being relayed to a customer.

By understanding these two fundamental concepts, you’ll be able to increase the effectiveness of communication between all employees and reduce the probability that miscommunications occur. By doing this, you’ll create a powerful environment that will allow you to operate more efficiently which will translate into a more efficient workplace, better customer experiences and increased revenue.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

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16-aroundtown-will-you-still-love-me-tomorrow-482x298Salespeople often get frustrated and discouraged by their inability to reach online customers that submit a lead. Many have processes in place that send auto-responders, templates, schedule tasks and impose time limits. Despite the time and effort spent creating quotes, emailing and attempting to reach customer, frequently there is no response. The customer does not answer the phone or return the call.

Why?

Let’s examine this from the customer’s perspective. They’re at some point in the buying process. Whether they’re just beginning their research or are ready to buy, they’ve either landed on your website, or any of the countless car shopping portals and microsites which have calls-to-action for price quotes and information. They submit their information with certain expectations. There is an expectation of reciprocity on the part of the customer. They’re giving you their information in return for you providing them a price quote or answering their questions. They don’t know that their information is being sent to 4 dealerships. Very quickly, auto-responders from these dealerships that contain generic messages explaining why they should buy a car from them bombard their e-mail inboxes. Sadly, most of the time these e-mails don’t contain the actual pricing or answers they were seeking.

Shortly thereafter, their phone starts ringing. These calls are continuous throughout the day, from dealerships calling all-hours of the day, regardless of appropriateness of the timing, such as right in the middle of dinner or at 8:00am.  The consumer receives a string of voicemails from salespeople asking for return calls. In the beginning, they may plan on returning some calls. However, as the voicemails continue along with an overwhelming flow of manual e-mails sent by the salespeople and automatic e-mails sent by the dealer’s CRM, they start to get annoyed. Occasionally, they get the answer or price quote they were seeking. However, it’s buried amongst a barrage of e-mails so is easy to miss. Frequently, the questions are not answered and pricing never sent. What they do get, however, is a ton of irrelevant e-mails, invitations to come to the dealership and voicemails from salespeople. Most templates (manual, automatic and automated) are written as if they were sent by the ISM so to the customer, it looks like this salesperson is continuously e-mailing them yet never providing the information they requested or answering their questions. They get frustrated in the process.

Imagine if you had submitted a lead to a company you wanted information from and suddenly started getting bombarded by e-mails and phone calls, but received no actual information or answers. Wouldn’t you get annoyed?

In no way am I implying that you shouldn’t attempt to call a customer. Of course you should. You just need to be aware of the time of day and what normal people may be doing at that time. Ensure your timing is appropriate. Yes, you should respond quickly to leads. I’ve found that responding to a customer in less than 2 hours can increase your closing ratio. However, turn off your auto-responder and make your first e-mail one that is personal and includes either the quote or information they requested. By doing this, you’ll immediately stand out from the pack. Customers will appreciate it and be more receptive to you. When you leave a message, tell them that you just sent them an e-mail with the pricing or answers they requested and would like to verify they received it. That you would like to know if they need additional information instead of a generic “Call me” type message.

When a customer is on your lot, is the first step in your sales process to tell them how wonderful your dealership is? No. It’s typically to meet and greet them. Why would it be any different online?

In today’s age of transparency and easily accessible instant information, car dealerships are the one retail business that doesn’t conform. Change the way you interact with your potential customers and be different then your competition.  You’ll see more responses, build rapport faster and see your closing ratios increase.

[Update 11/19]: This comment was made when someone shared my post. I thought it was relevant to hear an actual consumer chime in.

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Did Google Just Hide Your Dealership’s Emails?

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[UPDATE: I discovered that how Google is determining what goes into the “Promotions & Offers” tab are emails that include CAN-SPAM regulated unsubscribe links. Well, that’s pretty much every dealership in the universe.]

As you may or may not know, Google introduced a new feature to their web-based Gmail interface. Tabs. It’s like a non-spam spam filter. This is what it looks like:

The idea is that it will help people manage their inboxes better by separating different “types” of e-mails. There are four tabs:

  1. Primary: According to Google, the e-mail that you “really, really want” goes there.
  2. Social: This is where Google is going to deliver e-mails from social sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. You know, all of those notifications.
  3. Promotions & Offers: This is where all the e-mails from retailers advertising goes. You know those “sale” e-mails, coupons, etc. (I bet you can’t guess what else will go here.)
  4. Updates: According to Google, this is where “updates, bills and receipts” will go.

What does that mean for dealerships and e-mail marketing? [Read more…]

Why Not Paying Attention Is Costing You Money

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It’s the last few days of the month and the store is either below the number of sales they should have or they’re close to hitting a unit goal for some stair-step money. The sales manager is pushing everyone. He’s pushing the salespeople to not let any customers walk without not only a turn but also talking to a manager. He’s holding meetings to review all the deals that weren’t made during the month frantically trying to see if any can be revived. He’s listening to phone calls on their call recording service to hear if there were any phone calls that were mishandled and could be deals. He’s combing through the Internet leads to see if there were any deals that they were close on but didn’t make. Every minute of those last days matter. As stress and frustration (mixed with just a little sweat) mount, he’s fielding calls from his GM, possibly his owner and definitely his OEM rep who are continuously inquiring where the numbers are and pushing him to reach his goal, increase sales, and reduce the heat sheet. While the sales manager continues to down Red Bulls and triple-shot lattes, he’s making salespeople call everyone they’ve met this month. He’s throwing out spiffs that are higher than normal. He’s spot-delivering anything that “might” stick and throwing deals against a wall that for the first three weeks of the month he would turn away. The last day of the month comes and goes and it’s time for “the reckoning”. Maybe he made his number, maybe he didn’t. What he does know is that on the last few days of the new month, he’ll be doing it all over again.

Why did I tell this story? Because we all know that this is exactly what happens in a high percentage of dealerships across the country. Depending on ownership/management, some of the same pressures will always exist. This is the car business and no matter what you do, on those last few days of the month, more is expected.  I don’t have a magic solution to all of these problems but I believe that there are things that you can do – whether you’re a Sales Manager or an Internet Director – to avoid a few of these each and every month.

Almost every dealership does two things: use a call tracking service and buy third party leads. Both of these cost money and, in most cases, dealers might as well be lighting that money on fire. Many Sales Managers and Internet Directors don’t bother listening to their staff’s phone calls or looking at what the Internet Managers are doing with the Internet leads that they’re spending a bunch of money on. At least they don’t until those last few days of the month when, most of the time, it’s too late.

Managers should be listening to phone calls and paying attention to their Internet leads daily. I’m pretty sure that this is not an original idea. I’m also pretty sure that many managers agree and have the best of intentions to do so. However, from my experience, I also know that both the story above and the fact that these two things aren’t getting done are, in many cases, fact.

Let’s assume, for a minute, that Mr. Sales Manager truly doesn’t have the time to do some of these things. There is so much floor traffic and deals lined up to be desked that he literally doesn’t have the time to monitor everything. In these cases, the enlightened dealers will outsource some of this monitoring. The unenlightened ones will turn a blind eye… until those last few days of the month when the days magically turn longer and Tylenols transform into Tic Tacs.

For the enlightened ones that are truly under-staffed, help is available for two of the most time-consuming activities I’ve described: call monitoring and Internet lead monitoring.

The first service I would recommend is Phone Ninjas. Their service is phenomenal in not only listening to your phone calls but providing your staff training on how to handle calls through both in-store training and during each lead they review during the month. I have no idea how much the service costs but my guess is that the extra car deal or two you get every month would probably cover that expense.  You can see and hear and example of a call here. [Coaching Review]

The second service is Task Teacher by DealerKnows. This service will go into your CRM and analyze Internet leads based on a process and send you individual reports on how the Internet Managers handled the leads. The reports include valuable coaching feedback for the salespeople on how they could do better in the future and inform you of not only how well they are doing but could also help you identify deal(s) that could be saved whether they weren’t because they weren’t handled properly or because the customer had issues that were never addressed.

Dealers spend a lot of money to drive phone traffic and receive Internet leads: tens of thousands of dollars a month and, in some cases, more. If you can’t pay attention, at the very least get someone to pay attention for you….

… or you can keep buying triple-shot lattes and Red Bulls at the end  of every month while you start listening to these calls and reading these Internet leads and realize just how many deals you “could” have made had you paid attention.

[Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Phone Ninjas. In fact, the owner, Jerry Thibeau, won’t even invite me to dinner with the rest of the “cool kids” when those occasions arise. That doesn’t mean his service is bad (hence the recommendation), it just shows that, eventually, I’ll get voted off the island at tribal council. I am, however, affiliated with DealerKnows and while my recommendation could be interpreted as a pitch, it really isn’t intended to be. I recommend this service because I know it intimately and, as far as I know, it’s the only one of its kind.]

 

The ‘Car Dealership Expose’ Book You’ve All Been Waiting For!

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In the car business, just about every dealership has “that” employee. You know, the one that complains about everything. The one that’s never happy. The one most sales trainers, consultants and managers would call “cancer”. The advice that 99% would give in regards to “that guy” who, no matter what you tried, just isn’t positive and seems to hate everything would be to fire him. The last thing you need is some jaded veteran salesman spreading dissension and negativity around your dealership.

The guy who says things like these:

“Any sales managers know if the car dealer or general manager are screwing the salespeople by using hidden packs or inflating reconditioning costs of used vehicles, but they do not have the balls to say anything. Their balls have been cut off by the dealer or his puppet general manager before they get their titles.”

“25% commission after the $500 pack means, your dealer is taking away $125 of your hard earned money on every vehicle that you sell. If you are selling 12 units, you get screwed $1500 a month which translates to $18,000 a year, just like that!”

“Car dealers do not allow salesmen in the business office not because they are afraid that the salesmen may screw the girls that are working there, they are not allowed because dealers are afraid the salesmen may look at the files and figure out how they are getting screwed on their commissions.”

Do you know this guy? Do you have one at your dealership? Have you heard of this Great White Shark who lives in car dealerships?

Well, Jaws wrote a book. No kidding.

The book, titled “Kar Guys” and written by Mehdi Roufougar is scheduled for release (according to his Facebook page and Twitter account) .. “soon”.

[Note: There are more choice quotes that I didn’t mention as well as a glowing recommendation of the book from somebody.. probably his neighbor.. on his website if you feel the need to spit your coffee at your computer monitor.]

It’s target audience isn’t consumers. It’s not meant to “educate” people how to buy cars or anything like that. This book’s sole purpose is to “enlighten” commissioned employees of car dealerships in the many ways they are, have been, and will continue to get screwed by their employer.

I was going to contact the author to talk to him regarding his book but his website advised that:

“Any dishonest car dealer,corrupted general manager,crooked sales manager or kinky closer who got offended from the kar guys book or this website feel free to call 1-800-kiss my ass.If the phone is busy,hang up and try again may be away from my desk or on the other line talking to another asshole.”

…so I changed my mind.

Someone this jaded, bitter and hostile would never believe that I really just wanted to talk to him about his book, motivations to write it, and what he hopes to accomplish.

My guess is that it was cheaper to write a book than to continue therapy.

:: face palm ::

Santa Doesn’t Visit Car Dealerships

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Coming from a retail background, I can attest that working in sales at a dealership is hyper-competitive. The whole ‘hero to zero’ mentality is meant to motivate salespeople and not let them mentally back off or take the next month easy because they were top salesperson and/or got a fat paycheck. Now, I know that there are some dealerships where this environment doesn’t exist now as it’s been a little while since I actually sold cars but I do know that this environment exists in many stores to this date.

What made me think of this was when a friend was thinking of planning a ‘Secret Santa’ and ‘cookie exchange’ for the holidays. I had no idea what she was talking about which boggled her mind. You see, these things just didn’t exist in retail. I never wanted to give presents to other salespeople nor did I ever receive any. Now, I’m a pretty giving person. I like giving people gifts and making their days a little brighter, it just never happened. Yes, there were times when I was given Christmas bonuses by employers and, while I appreciate money, it doesn’t ‘feel’ quite the same as being given a gift that took some thought regardless of how much the gift cost.

I remember, in my early days in retail when I was a green pea, literally ducking staplers that a sales manager was throwing at me. Public verbal lashings, which included many curse words, weren’t uncommon. Finding innovative ways to take other salespeople ‘off-the-market’ was encouraged and bragged about. Skating another salesperson was commonplace and arguments over customers and deals were daily occurrences.

Learning that these holiday activities not only existed but were fairly common in workplaces was foreign and it made me reflect on just how much I missed out on in my life. We all talk about the high turn-over of salespeople in dealerships and try to find ways to increase employee retention but I don’t think I’ve ever read, or heard, about a dealership cultivating and encouraging an environment like this. Sure, I’ve heard the whole ‘work as a team’ speech many times but, ultimately, that sentiment lasts only until the next deal dispute happens.

The spirit of the holidays, and a conversation with a friend, saddened me. I sincerely hope that my sharing sparks thought in those still out there in the retail sales environment missing this just as I did.

For many salespeople in retail environments, it’s not beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

When Charity Isn’t Charity: A Contrast in Two Auto Manufacturers

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Every time our country experiences a natural disaster, many businesses rally to assist those affected. These shows of empathy and the willingness to help their fellow human being are great and can show true character from the company.

Recently, due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, automotive manufacturers joined these relief efforts.

An interesting contrast exists, however, in two major automotive manufacturers philanthropic strategies.

Toyota pledged to donate $1 million to assist in Hurricane Sandy relief efforts and to also match employee contributions to relief efforts and organizations.

Nissan took a different route by offering “deep discounts” on vehicles to consumers affected by Hurricane Sandy.

As I read these, one struck me as a genuine act of kindness and an effort to ‘give back’ to the community while the other struck me as a thinly-veiled grab at some publicity and an effort to stimulate some sales. Can you guess which is which?

I don’t know about you but if I were affected by Hurricane Sandy with results ranging from flooded houses to no electricity and fuel rationing, the last thing I’m probably thinking about is buying a new car. Sure, maybe my car is underwater and totaled and I will need one eventually but is it truly philanthropic to offer what amounts to ’employee pricing’ to affected consumers? Nissan is already blaming slow sales on Sandy. Now, it appears as if they are attempting to stimulate sales by capitalizing on it.

“Employee-pricing” just doesn’t seems like philanthropy to me, personally. I know that, in many cases, a consumer can negotiate a price below what an employee would have to pay. Most auto manufacturers and/or car dealers have offered employee pricing to their consumers at some point in time as simply a normal sales promotion. What turns this oft-used sales promotion into an act of charity all of a sudden? Nothing.

Both companies have offered to assist customers of their respective lending arms with payment extensions and flexibility, which is great, but only one of these “efforts” seem like a true charitable gesture…

..and it’s not the one offering a discount on a new car.

 

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