“You’re Fired”
ABC News
“NEW YORK — General Motors Corp. on Friday told about 1,100 dealers, or nearly 20 percent of its U.S. network, that they will be fired by the automaker late next year because their sales are weak.”
I had to wonder… “How long have sales been “weak” and what have they been doing to strengthen them?”
The Bearer of Bad News
The article said that the bad news was delivered by way of a FedEx letter to GM franchises around the country. Can you imagine losing your business by mail? I suspect the same form of poor communication existed before the firings came. It’s far too common for businesses and managers to overlook shortcomings until after it’s too late. Then they react dramatically, and in case cowardly.
Managers have a responsibility to point to problems and seek solutions early in the game.
“Have I got a deal for you?”
Selling cars is a tough business, and car salespeople are known for their less than desirable approach. It’s time to overhaul this industry from the bottom up. Fewer dealerships doing things the wrong way is not the answer to the problem. People buy people before they buy what they sell.
May 16th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Truer words were never spoken. When we went car shopping, we were appalled by the ridiculous and insulting way we were treated by car salesmen. We finally went to Subaru for our company wagon, then I wound up with a Saturn wagon. Even the Toyota and Nissan guys were no better at trying to rake us over the coals. We were trying to pay cash and they were not even listening to us. They kept telling us how much our payments were going to be.
Saturn has been fantastic. It is heartbreaking to see what has been happening in the car industry, yet they brought it on themselves. Clean up your act, get your thumbs out of your armpits and never build in obsolescence again. And, fix all of the other problems too.
May 16th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Great points Ron. Unbelievable that they would deliver such bad news in a letter.
I also agree strongly about the sales process. The whole system is a game. It is an exhausting unpleasant adversarial experience. What business would want to put their salespeople in an adversarial role against their customers?
May 16th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I absolutely hate going into a dealership to buy a car. I do most of my bargaining with the salesman on line. That way when I get to the dealership I can pick the car up with very little hassles. My husband hasen’t entered a car dealership in over 25 years. He really finds the whole experienceand very uncomfortable. The sales experience is usually very unprofessional and sleasy salespeople try to attack you on entering the lot. My father-in-law always calls and tells the salesman what he wants and have it ready to go when he gets there. Unbelieveably he tells them the money is no object just have the car ready and he will bring the check. This industry needs a makeover for sure. IT could be a great experience if it was handled right.
May 17th, 2009 at 10:44 am
I was a car salesman, i agree with what is said here, and one thing in defense of the salesmen. Not every customer is an angel like described here. it does become a game of hate the salesman before entering the lot, lie to him as much as possible, dont allow him to present the product but instead babble forever your emotional feelings withouit listening at all to the salesman etc, and walk out at the drop of a hat because i feel entrapped. when i sold, i knew my product, i listened to my customers desires keenly, following their biorythms closely so i could direct my presentation to suit what i percieved as their wants. people dont blurt out these things, you have to read between the lines. i always strived to serve my customers as they wanted, and often was appauled at how they often did not give me a chance but rather chose to control the situation and haveing no trust in me. people judge other people sometimes too quickly without giving them a chance. although it is true that a customer owes me nothing and i owe him everything, one thing he should exercise is respect, not pre judging everyone forever due to past experiences and igving his fellow human being a fair chance without running him over in the parking lot. i tried not to get bitter being constanly treated in this way and observed many other salesmen getting deeper into playing games, trickery etc. not every salesman is sleasy, that i can say for sure.
May 2nd, 2012 at 8:32 am
I think I have met that guy in the photo. It’s undeniable that car salespeople have ruined this industry far more than the economy or the manufacturers.