Good thing I knew what I wanted…

Because the sales person I worked with to get my new compact SUV didn’t know much about the product or the sales process. Here is my experience when buying a new vehicle recently. Be warned, this could be happening at your dealership.

In the end of last year, I was in an icy head-on collision that totaled my little coup that I had been driving for about a decade. It was sad for the car and luckily, no one had major injury. So, as I moved into the space of replacing my lost little car with something bigger and safer; I had my father and partner test drive about a half dozen vehicles for me (different story, different time… I can only drive with adaptive hand controls) to get it down to the final two for me to go test ride in. Here is how the day of purchase unfolded.

I went to the first dealership and was greeted by a new sales person. He was very courteous, asked the right questions, sat us down and talked through the options available. I only had one question that he had to walk away to consult his manager about and it was brief. On the test drive, he asked us questions to learn about who we were – which made the experience of riding in a car with a stranger better. After the drive, I knew that I probably wouldn’t buy that model as it didn’t fit what I wanted. Off to the next dealership!

As I walked into the next dealership, I was welcomed by a greeter (strong start) and she paired me up with an available sales person. Before we had been introduced, I already knew I would likely be buying the car from that dealership, that day.

Next, as we sat down with the available sales person, he opened the conversation to let us know he had only been working there for about 3 weeks and was brand new to car sales (not building my confidence). As we started to look at the available on-site inventory for test drives, he mentioned models that weren’t what we were asking for and struggled with navigating their product software system and had to go ask for help. It felt as if most every question I asked, he has to go ask someone else for the answer. About an hour into being at the dealership, we got into a vehicle. I knew immediately that was the one I wanted to get as it fit my needs well, yet he was still trying to tell me about the differences between the model we were in and the top trim package. He was trying to sell me on features and benefits like he was reading it from his phone in the back seat. It was an un-natural conversation and shut me down even more. When we got back to his desk, and we were talking colors and interior, he was showing me the wrong color pallet for the model year I wanted, frustrating. When we were about to start on the paperwork part – the closing – he was pulled away to help other sales people move cars around. What!?! Was this a part of hazing the newbie, and he didn’t have the ability or confidence to say no. So, we waited.

After we met with the business manager to finalize the financials and warranty, we were told to wait next to my new SUV that was washed and ready for delivery. Where was my sales person? Where was anyone? I had been at the dealership for nearly 5 hours; I was tired, hungry and ready to be anywhere else at that time – and I was yet again waiting for my sales person.

Still waiting on that follow up call… or not. I had been loyal for service to this dealership for the last decade with my coup, and decided that I wouldn’t be bringing my new vehicle back for service as this experience changed my relationships with that dealership location. While I am still brand loyal, this was an example of undertraining of new staff cost the dealership a decade long loyal customer from any future service revenue.

How long are you training your staff before releasing them out to contact with your customers? And what is the real cost of under-training your new staff – or not having regular trainings to remind your team about best practices that make your dealership better than the rest? Something to think about the next time someone feels “too busy” to train a new or junior staff person.