A friend of mine recently asked for my help; she was looking to opt-out of her company car scheme and buy a vehicle of her own. After conducting research online she discovered two used vehicles of interest at a main dealer; she then telephoned the dealer to arrange to see them.
When we arrived, everything was as you’d expect (plush décor, great coffee etc.) but something fairly fundamental was awry. The first car we looked at (and the one which was her preference) was unprepared. So, despite having been marketed and advertised online the car was in no fit state to be shown to a retail customer – every wheel was curbed, the interior showed all the signs of a very hard (and not particularly cherished) life. It also drove accordingly.
So, that left her with the other choice that happily was prepped. Following a test drive she fell in love with it and made it very clear to the Sales Executive that subject to the figures adding up she was buying today and wished to take delivery in 48 hours. Its worth mentioning at this point that the Sales Executive was new to the brand; he was honest about the fact he was still learning about his products but what he lacked in knowledge he made up for in enthusiasm.
Enter the Business Manager… Now, despite having told him the budget she needed to stick to (and the worked example that was on their website) he proceeded to come in with a monthly figure 25% higher. Then followed lots of pained noises (from him, not us) and various attempts at trying to move us north of the figure. I asked him how long the car had been in stock and it transpired it was 24 hours away from being overage. Miraculously she got to within her budget with no additional deposit.
The next hurdle was return to invoice GAP. She had already told him that he had a captive audience on this product and that (particularly as the car was on PCP) it was something that she wanted to have for her own peace of mind. The price of this was over £500 (!) so we asked him to sharpen his pencil and we’d talk when she came in to collect.
The handover day arrived and then commenced the battle – 30 minutes ensued before he arrived at his best price, which was double the cost of the same policy if purchased online. Now here’s the rub – both myself and my friend work in the automotive industry and having both been in vehicle sales roles understand and empathise with the challenges that the role presents. In light of this she told him that she fully understood why his policy was more expensive and that she would be prepared to pay more for it – the online provider’s price was £130 but she was prepared to pay £250 for his.
He spent 15 minutes tapping away on his laptop (we thought that he was refining his offer) before he proudly turned his screen around and showing us Google Earth and an aerial picture of the premises that the other provider trades from followed by an attempt to discredit them based on this. Now, if you do a Google Earth search on my business you’ll find a 5 metre by 3-metre building at the bottom of my garden that is my office; it has no bearing on my ability, knowledge, professionalism or client focus.
Interestingly, aside from consistently stating that their policy was underwritten by AXA, he was unable to tell me any benefits that his product had over the one she was considering (which incidentally has a 5-star 2017 Defaqto rating).
At this point my friend actually asked him to desist as it was (and I quote) “killing the buzz of collecting my new car”. She proceeded to be shown the controls of the car whilst I purchased the other GAP policy on my phone.
On reflection it’s not hard to identify where this all went horribly wrong and it is (as always) the basics. Aside from the unprepared car, this is all about the sales experience and the lack of awareness that the Business Manager had about the impact his behaviour was having on the customer. My friend will not remember this purchasing experience because of the enthusiasm of the Sales Executive but the behaviour of the Business Manager. The lack of empathy, absence of listening skills, poor product knowledge and the amateur attempt to discredit the competition all point towards a real training need. However, when times get tough one of the first ‘costs’ that gets cut in business is training. Funny old world, isn’t it?