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      11-21-2012, 09:30 PM   #17
Sherweeeny
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Drives: 340i
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ozorion View Post
Not too young - early 30s, but I just noticed I looked a lot younger than most of the people in the new car sales area. I was also wearing work shorts and a t-shirt though so I probably didn't look like a prospective new Audi buyer.

Speaking from a sales rep point of view - there's something to be said for profiling a prospective customer, but you need to be careful about forming judgements based on superficial observations. I suspect this is what the Audi guys did in my case.
ah yeah, fair enough, im younger than you too, but still, anyone could be a potential purchaser

Quote:
Originally Posted by J1n View Post
I really dislike age discrimination
yeah definitely, its not really something to go by when trying to determine the relevance of a person

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sephanite View Post
posted in the fb link. I think i was closer to going to audi than u
id say about the same haha, pretty similar story too

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spikey View Post
mmmm I think it's a fine line between profiling and stereotyping...

Me, well I'm not that old, not that well dressed and generally not that keen looking when going into dealerships/retail shops. I say not that keen looking because I think that there's always other options so I try to keep an open mind about dealing with people who don't/won't budge.

This probably works against me most the time cos the sales reps from whichever retailer I'm at, generally looks at me and thinks I'm some punk wasting their time. To that, I'd have to say doesn't bother me too much. I do get a little annoyed sometimes but I'm used to it and like I said, I don't really dress the part. So at the end of the day it's their loss of business so oh wells. But when I do get a sales rep that doesn't treat me like a timewaster, I really appreciate it and don't give them a hard time with any bargaining etc and usually buy something anyways. In this day and age, most the time before heading into a retailer I've already done my research and pretty sure I know what I want. I just need someone to physically show me the product and confirm what I know. Sounds crazy right? Yet so many retailers still get it wrong ....
The keener you are, the more you get ridden so its hard for the customer too to tell them they are interested, but not THAT interested


Quote:
Originally Posted by ozorion View Post
I've found it odd where I work because about two thirds of my customers are your typical tradespeople - electricians or data/comms guys that get about in stubbies and t-shirts and drive Ford Transits or Hilux utes. I thought more of them would be impressed with my new car but it turns out they all drive Bimmers or Mercs or Audis on the weekend. Most of them are self-employed, do a lot of cash-in-hand work, and generally aren't too bad off. They look like one thing during the week but when they're not working, they're probably as likely a looking BMW buyer as anyone else.

Regarding good sales reps, I was very disappointed with my overall experience with BMW, despite loving the car. I started out making enquiries at Trivetts Classic in Parramatta and the sales rep there was awesome - always had time for me, was very prompt with returning calls and emails and arranged several test drives (including taking my wife out for a test drive while I minded our baby).

However my employer suggested that I get a price through their fleet purchasing company, which I did, getting a $7k discount. Before I knew what was going on, my order was placed with BMW North Shore. I called and apologised to the rep at Trivetts because I had wanted to buy from him, but had little control after the order was placed. He was very understanding and congratulated me on the new car.

The rep at North Shore BMW was their fleet sales rep, so he was obviously used to dealing with bulk orders, orderers who weren't the final driver and generally hands-off customers. I never felt like he tried to build a rapport or did much to cement the seller/buyer relationship. He also made two mistakes on my order (that I managed to correct before they went to the factory), was very poor about returning emails and phone calls, and made me feel like I was an inconvenience whenever I managed to catch up with him.

After it was all said and done though, I was happy with the final outcome, and I've got five years before I need to decide which BMW dealer to go to next.
You get a bigger discount with the fleet purchasers however you really have to know exactly what you want and to not expect much service at all. If you do get a little bit of service along with it, which it seems youve got, then thats a bit of a bonus imo!
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