This weekend, I attended the grand opening of the Hoffman Auto Group's "smart center" in Hartford, Connecticut. Two smart cars filled the appropriately diminutive showroom floor: the Passion coupe and a Cabriolet (no Pure). The first salesman was desk-bound and down, fiddling with his phone. When I asked about the smart's EPA mileage, he quoted me the wrong numbers, which were, of course, too high. A bit later, he disappeared, leaving two salesmen at the far end of the showroom. I busted-up their little confab to ask about available heated seats. Salesman B's thick German accent was, again, brand appropriate. But I got the distinct feeling I'd interrupted a more important conversation. Salesman-averse customers were SOL. Sales brochures were conspicuous by their absence. Even the Monroney sticker was MIA; the cars' windows were rolled down. The comments I overheard from the public in attendance were largely positive. Imagine how many sales leads were lost due to a lack of attention. Or was it arrogance from a dealership used to selling higher end (read higher-profit) cars such as Audi and Porsche? Perhaps it’s a matter of wen kümmert es?
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Why are they even bothering with gas powered Smart cars in the US? There’s no point to them. The fuel economy isn’t that great for the size and weight of the thing, and most people are afraid that they’d be crushed by an SUV. For the same general price, you can get a Yaris or a Fit. To differentiate it, they should be offering the diesel option like in Canada. Stupid car companies.
They must be the guys from the lingerie department. Real car salesmen would be stuck to you like remora.
brettc: To differentiate it, they should be offering the diesel option like in Canada.
I’d have to agree. We saw a diesel smart a couple of months ago while spending a weekend up in Maine. A guy had driven it down from Canada. He thought it was a great car. (It was festooned with advertising for his company.) Too bad the diesel smart is not available here in the U.S.
Note: See this TTAC news blog: Daimler…drove three of them from L.A. to Detroit. The company claims the diesel Smart clocked-in at 59.8 mpg while the gassers delivered 49 mpg.
I’ve read that smart is “considering” bringing the diesel version here. It could be that it’s not “clean enough” for the States, I don’t know. Perhaps some of our enlightened Canadian friends can fill us in on that score.
They’ve had the Smart diesel in Canada now for 2 or 3 years. I don’t know that they’ve even offered the gas version for sale here. I guess it’d probably due to the different regulations regarding clean diesel, but at the same time, we’ve had the ULSD here for 2 or 3 years, too, maybe longer.
Maybe Smart is just stupid…
Car salesmen who can sell a 50k plus car will not want to waste their time selling a Smart. They will all be sure that while they are wasting their time with a Smart buyer, they are missing out on a much bigger commission.
Mini was smart to demand seperate facilities.
I think Landcrusher has a very good point about Mini being smart demanding separate facilities.
I’m intrigued to find out how Smart does in the US – my 2c is that it’s very unlikely to work but does anybody know how successful they are in Canada?
My experience in a smart/Mercedes dealer in Canada was quite the opposite. My father was interested in one (and in no way looks affluent) and the salesman obliged us with many details about the convenience and even technical features of the car. He even told us to avoid the fully automatic transmission and choose the semi instead. Perhaps they have separate departments here.
That being said, I’ve heard some potential smart customers say that fuel-economy wasn’t their biggest concern when I criticized smart USA for not offering the diesel. I won’t be buying one if it gets less than 60mpg city.
Landcrusher: Car salesmen who can sell a 50k plus car will not want to waste their time selling a Smart. They will all be sure that while they are wasting their time with a Smart buyer, they are missing out on a much bigger commission.
Mini was smart to demand seperate facilities.
Okay, your logic is a fairly common perception.
I’d agree about the seperate facility, but I was in a smart-center building, which is seperate from the other brand’s buildings, but are right next door.
However…
It’s wintertime, so dad (or mom) decides to leave the Porsche in the garage today and drive junior down to the smart center in the family beater.
They’re looking to get junior a car that would be ideal for tooling around in say, NYC while the kid is attending say, Columbia University.
The smart car salesperson (who usually sells Porches) could clock the beater in the parking lot, the dad (or mom) in their weekend duds, and make an assumption that here’s a customer who’s hardly worth the effort.
Or, the “smart” salesperson could make no assumptions and treat this hypothetical customer with complete respect, and make a (low-commission) sale.
Who’s to say that the parents, who may well bring in dual incomes, each in the high six figures, won’t be back when it comes time to trade in the old Porsche for a high-commission new one? (Ex. See storminvormin’s comments above.)
Anyone who’s been in sales should know: make no assumptions about the customer. Not based on appearance, not what he or she is purchasing; nothing. Treat each and every customer like they are your sole lifeline to gainful employment– because they are. Period.
Or employ some young, hungry, but well-trained, people with aspirations of selling Porsches some day— and tell them no cell phones when a customer is within say, a 20 foot radius. Or else.
Finally, tell the Porsche salesman to get back to the Porsche store, where he can be among customers more in keeping with his vaunted station in life.
But that’s just me.
I’m intrigued to find out how Smart does in the US – my 2c is that it’s very unlikely to work but does anybody know how successful they are in Canada?
Mercedes was planning on sales of 800 cars per year when they first brought them in in late 2004. Sales have run 3000-4000 per year since then.
Sales seemed to have legs, as the biggest sales month was in May of 2007, three years after introduction (after which the dealers started running out of new cars).
Glenn,
My logic is not a common perception, and your story is only indirectly related to it.
First, I watch companies make this mistake all the time. They try to rely on the professionalism or greed of their sales people to get them to sell some lower commission items.
The problem is the sales people are unconsciously working on a formula that includes a calculation of the value of their time as well as a return on EFFORT. Not ROI, ROE. They will often not take a bird in hand for $20 per hour on the chance that a $40 per hour opportunity may be missed. Why? because no sale is certain, so they are playing the odds that they calculate at that moment. You can’t armchair the decision and say they are stupid because you will make assumptions they did not. Always.
Your example is just a guy who is either having a bad day, or is just a putz. No system of commissions can overcome the 5% dirtbag rule. 5% of them (or more) are going to be dirtbags.
The relation is that both of these rules fall under the biggest rule that everyone needs to know. Bad sales experiences are almost always a result of BAD MANAGEMENT. Whether or not the sales person is a jerk is usually irrelevant. If he was a jerk when he was hired, it’s the manager’s fault. If he became a jerk afterwards, WHO DO YOU THINK CAUSED THAT? The only thing management cannot stop is when a reasonably good employ has a bad day and acts like a jerk when they usually act okay. It happens.
In the end you are 100% right about how you should react. You should consider taking your Porsche business to a company under different MANAGEMENT.
Landcrusher: Bad sales experiences are almost always a result of BAD MANAGEMENT.
You’ll get no argument from me on that point. :-)
P.S. My “common perception” comment was not meant to insult. My apologies if you took it as such.
Ah, I see what you were saying now.
I didn’t take it as an insult, but I didn’t get the nuance and thought you had run off in the wrong direction.
No worries.