It may seem obvious, but General Motors employees make for some very difficult car buying customers. WardsAuto sat down with Mike Boguth, vice president and dealer-operator for Hamilton Chevrolet.
Hamilton Chevrolet sits just outside of the famed GM Warren Tech Center, and Boguth stated the employees bring unique challenges to the sales force.
“There’s no argument this is an excellent market area. The challenge is that the GM employee team is very demanding,” he said in an interview.
“They know how the cars have been engineered and how they’re supposed to work, and when they’re not working that way they’re very demanding in the service department. Our goal has always been to rise to the level that’s needed to take care of their complaints. That sometimes poses a challenge because many employees ‘know somebody.'”
Not only do the employees know the vehicles like the back of their hand, but employee discounts run rampant. But, Boguth manages. He stated 65-percent of GM employees use some sort of discount when they come into his store to purchase a vehicle.
“It’s a lower margin than a non-GM-employee-discount sale would be. We’ve set up our expense structure knowing what that margin is going to be and we’ve succeeded in being profitable throughout our 60-year history.”
Still, Hamilton Chevrolet thrives, as it has since it opened its doors all the way back in 1956.
Comments
It is not just GM employees.
The fact many people who work in the automotive industry know things that can make it challenging for the dealer.
Add on top of this the web also now even places tools in the hands of the average person where they can get info they never had before.
When I go in for a service issues I generally have it sorted out and even often supply the TSB# to resolve it. There have been times I have found the TSB they did not find or even contacted people in GM engineering that had helped with a solution and contacted the dealer with the fix.
Too often even good dealers are not always as diligent or prepared as they should be. Many sales people just do not know the product as most are never there for very long.
Running and working at a dealer is not an easy thing pay can be low for many jobs and the training is nil. It is up to the employee how prepared for the job they become.
Many here on this site know more than many sales staff and product information.
Forum web sites today have people that can quote RPO numbers from memory and we have some sales staff that hardly know what options are available.
I agree completely!
Sad to say the majority of car salesmen don’t know jack about the product they are trying to sell. I know Hamilton Chevy well and I think they are an exception given their proximity to the GM Tech Center. Other dealers not so much.
I’ve been in the car business for 20 years and I can tell you firsthand they are the worst. And their complaints are usually about things the dealer has no control over like fit and finish of panels and factory issues, not dealership issues. As a salesman, our only complaint is why not pay attention to these things at the factory and when you find issues with build quality let the correct superiors know. If they want a perfect car, why not make sure every car is perfect.
There has been room for improvement on both sides.
Not every car is bad nor is every salesman or dealer bad but each do have representation in the area of needed improvement.
Same with customers. Most are reasonable , some are gullible and some are informed. Then there are some you could set yourself on fire and give them the car for free and they would still be unhappy. Their expectations are so over the top and above what should be expected. They are not the majority but they are out there,