RE: New car discounts??

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <199908170853.EAA03041@audifans.com> Michael Williams writes:

> Wanna know where that number i gave came from?  It came from VW, the guy
> who taught me all about the new A4 platform cars, in a customer service
> class, told me that that was the average cost of each person walking
> throuh that door.  YOu can disbelieve it all you want...no, each customer
> will not add 600 dollars to the cost, but on average thoughout the year,
> that is what it costs...

I'm currently involved with a client company that can't see this,
either.

They talk about a sales visit costing $500 - so they won't visit
customers where the immediate prospect of business is less than a $4000
margin.  Potential future business is ignored.  Their revenues have
gone down by over 60% in the last four years.

The fallacy is in the calculation - overheads divided by visits.  Every
time you don't make a visit, your cost per visit goes up.  The answer is
not to turn people away, because that _increases_ your cost per visit.
In Germany, dealerships have open days with free beer and sausages for
anyone currently driving a car of their manufacture.  Free strut insert
checks using an accelerometer, free light alignment, etc.

Anyone carrying a driver's licence is a potential customer.  If not now,
then later.  Selling is a business of highs and lows - both are part of
the job.  If the guy goes off and buys somewhere else, then try and get
his finance or warranty business - you can get a great deal of
satisfaction proving him wrong in going elsewhere.

--
 Phil Payne
 UK Audi quattro Owners Club
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 0870 0883933