RE: New car discounts??

["James M. De Arras" <jmd@westlab.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Williams [mailto:mike@urquattro.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 4:49 AM
To: James M. De Arras; Browning David (TVCS) ; q-list 
Subject: RE: New car discounts??


> Sorry if that offends you...

It doesn't offend me, it amuses me.  Cost accounting gone out of control!
My company once figured it cost $125 per invoice printed, and so stopped
sales under $200.  Guess what!  The cost per invoice printed went UP, and
sales went DOWN!

The only meaningful number is the dealership PROFIT divided by the number of
walk-ins.  That shows how much each walk-in brings to the bottom line.  More
traffic is the goal of a good sales effort.


>As far as talking to customers, i agree, but honestly, sometimes i am 
>just not in the mood to talk cars again with someone, especially 
>considering that in general, people just f*ck me around.  Im sorry, 
>usually im upbeat, friendly, and quite helpful, but sometimes the 
>behavior of customers plain pisses me off.

[...]

Pardon my blunt opinion, but it doesn't sound like car sales is a good
career choice for you.  That's the way the game is played, sometimes.  As a
customer, it's MY money I'm spending, I get to decide how and where.  If
your internal procedures make it a pain to answer his questions, I suggest
the procedures are at fault, not the customer.

Jim