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      12-18-2012, 10:57 AM   #18
BavarianFanatic
Too much is never enough
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BimmerHJ View Post
Logically it's true, but we all live in human interacting world. Not in robot world...

Salesmen may be compensated for being friendly and helpful after sales.
If I get a very good and reasonable after-sale follow-up from the salesman for minor troubles with the car, I will definitely deal again with the same sales person when I buy another car for myself or my family members or re-new my lease and/or even recommend the sales person to all my friends or colleagues.

If I get the not-so-good after sales experience from my sales person as OP had, then I won't deal with that sales person again. Never! And will spread out the bad reputation to my friends or families.

For me, my sales person is very helpful after sales. He addressed and forwarded my complaints to service department in a prompt manner and took care of all the very detailed things even though they were minor issues.

So, just "Don't bother the salesmen after sale is done!" attitude is not going to help your future sales performance and compensation, unless you really don't want see the annoying customers again.

See my response above. Of course after-sales support is very important, but in the correct context. He's complaining about squealing brakes and a noisy wire tie. None of these issues was significant enough to involve the salesman. This is akin to crying wolf.

I personally spend an incredibly great amount of time dealing with things after the sale. Unfortunately, I also have several folks who follow the OP's lead by getting me involved when I just shouldn't be. The problem is that this detracts from the time I have available to handle new sales opportunities and grow the business.

Here's something to keep in mind - it's very common that the "annoying customer" as you've put it (or as I would say, a demanding customer) is also very demanding during the negotiation of the sale. This means that you'll be spending a lot of time working with someone who is very difficult to please when you've made the minimum margin on their transaction. Does this make much fiscal sense?

To be frank, I evaluate my account list annually and I "grade" all of my customers based on sales volume, margins and time investment. Without fail, those with an exceptionally high time requirement are the lowest margins. Often even net negative because we end up providing more than was owed in a futile attempt to appease them. As I'm sure just about everyone can relate, I barely have enough time to handle all that I must in a given day. With that said, how do you think I prioritize my time? I can assure you it's working with the folks at the opposite end of the spectrum. My best customers are the ones that are REASONABLE in their expectations and the ones that are understanding when things don't go as initially planned.

I should also mention that I'm NOT in the automotive industry in case anyone's ready to throw the car salesman dagger at me. My work is in a realm orders of magnitude greater than what we're speaking of here.

Bottom line - be reasonable in your expectations of products and people. Sure there are folks out there that are just plain horrible when it comes to customer service. But remember, they're often that way because they've become jaded and /or have a hair trigger from having dealt with folks that are a tad too demanding. Take a breath and proceed carefully with discipline and respect. Take a brief second to consider the situation in a logical manner devoid of emotion. Trust me, you'll go farther and be cared for better than you ever could have imagined.

Best of luck with your new Lexus!
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