Thoughts for improving the dealership experience

[habu987]

This will be my first Ram and first time being the primary driver of an FCA vehicle since I drove my mom's 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan back in the day. I've had mostly Japanese and Korean vehicles since then, but have checked out dealerships for pretty much every mainstream manufacturer besides BMW and Subaru.

Most of these ideas are targeted at the Laramie/Longhorn/Limited trim levels, since that's where Ram is making the push into luxury vehicle territory with features and pricing.

This is kind of a hodgepodge of ideas, but here's what I would do to improve the Ram dealership experience in habu's world:

• Take a page from the Hyundai/Genesis playbook and have a section set aside at the dealership for the high(er) dollar models, Laramie/Longhorn/Limited. Have a separate waiting area for those trims; have a special sales staff for solely those models and make sure they're experts on the vehicles; have service advisors that deal only with those trims.
• I know this would necessitate a lot of back end work to get it to happen, but institute a learning hour requirement for all sales staff--maybe something like each salesperson needs to take 10 hours of product training on Ram vehicles every year?
• Institute a valet program for maintenance on the Laramie/Longhorn/Limited trims where the dealership picks up your truck for maintenance and leaves a similar loaner in its place, then brings your truck back to you.
• At least on the top three trims, free scheduled maintenance for at least 36 months.
• Institute a paperless model where all forms for any transaction (factory order, regular purchase, service, etc) can be completed online and ahead of time, and payment can also be tendered online.

Thoughts?

 

[Edwards]

This older thread had some ideas:

https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/ram-dealer-premium-service.596/

 

[imadogman]

Maybe it would be best to isolate yourself in a Beemer or a Mercedes dealership.
Maybe this is a new thing, but it seems a bit snobbish to me. This is just my opinion, yours may vary.
If I were to enter a dealership in the hi-brow area, and was immediately escorted away from there because I didn't want to buy the "luxury" model, I would continue to walk out the door and take my money somewhere else.

 

[troutspinner]

This seems like a very individual desire.

Personally, I’d rather have an online configurator (that works) for every option I want. I click and build it to my desire, a real price tallies (not MSRP, say 20% under MSRP) and then the next screen for paying for it. Whether lending from them, other institutions, Black, Checking, whatever. Then it’s delivered to my local Ram Service Center. Note that I say service center, no reason for sales associates and supporting staff or the cost of them. Maybe a greeter to hand me the keys and go over delivery.

Once again, a very personal desire. We can all dream but FCA has a business to run and they run it as they see fit to satisfy all customers.

 

[Old Ray]

Good luck. The automotive retail market is a adversarial one, rather then offering the best possible price first (like most other retailers) they start high and negotiate. Fortunately for them, they have a captive market that has to have the newest and best (a human fault?) that apparently can afford it. Dealerships are based on pure greed, but if the demand wasn't there, the manufactures would have to adjust their marketing policy.
Pogo was right when he said "I have meet the enemy and it is us".

 

[SpeedyV]

This will be my first Ram and first time being the primary driver of an FCA vehicle since I drove my mom's 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan back in the day. I've had mostly Japanese and Korean vehicles since then, but have checked out dealerships for pretty much every mainstream manufacturer besides BMW and Subaru.

Most of these ideas are targeted at the Laramie/Longhorn/Limited trim levels, since that's where Ram is making the push into luxury vehicle territory with features and pricing.

This is kind of a hodgepodge of ideas, but here's what I would do to improve the Ram dealership experience in habu's world:

• Take a page from the Hyundai/Genesis playbook and have a section set aside at the dealership for the high(er) dollar models, Laramie/Longhorn/Limited. Have a separate waiting area for those trims; have a special sales staff for solely those models and make sure they're experts on the vehicles; have service advisors that deal only with those trims.
• I know this would necessitate a lot of back end work to get it to happen, but institute a learning hour requirement for all sales staff--maybe something like each salesperson needs to take 10 hours of product training on Ram vehicles every year?
• Institute a valet program for maintenance on the Laramie/Longhorn/Limited trims where the dealership picks up your truck for maintenance and leaves a similar loaner in its place, then brings your truck back to you.
• At least on the top three trims, free scheduled maintenance for at least 36 months.
• Institute a paperless model where all forms for any transaction (factory order, regular purchase, service, etc) can be completed online and ahead of time, and payment can also be tendered online.

Thoughts?

I am sometimes surprised at the disparity between individual dealerships, regardless of purchase price, and even within the same brand.

• A (huge) Cadillac dealership on the edge of town has a spacious and luxurious waiting room with high-end coffee machines, grab-and-go snacks and beverages, and so on. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it; the local Mercedes-Benz dealership doesn't come close. Maybe this is because that dealership was built specifically for Cadillac customers, i.e. they are not a multi-brand GM dealership.
• The local Audi dealership is small and offers virtually none of those amenities. They do offer Audi loaner vehicles if you schedule service in advance. We had to purchase our maintenance plan.
• The local MINI dealership offered a valet program (although I preferred them NOT to drive my Cooper S), in addition to free scheduled maintenance. They had their own showroom and staff at a dealership that also sells BMW and Cadillac vehicles.
• A few years ago, a large Honda dealership was built that offers a very nice lounge. Food and beverages are available...it almost feels like a mall or airport food court. It feels a little strange, given the price point of the vehicles sold there, but they must handle a high volume of customers.

Back on point...

• I think the fact that Ram has separated itself from Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Fiat is about the best we can expect in terms of giving the buyer a unique experience. At my local dealership, the Ram showroom and parking lot are isolated from all other brands. I like the truck-only focus.
• I would be shocked, frankly, if all sales reps aren't already required to take annual training. This is SOP for most sales organizations.
• The valet program is not a requirement for me. But I do expect a Ram loaner when I bring my truck in for scheduled service, especially under warranty.
• I will receive two years of free scheduled maintenance (standard for Texas customers, I believe).
• The paperless comment is interesting. I'd love to see Ram step up their game when it comes to ordering and tracking vehicles, as many other manufacturers do a better job of making this 'fun' for the customer. I also like to hoard airline miles and would appreciate using my credit card to drop my deposit, down payment, etc. I pay it off each month, but those big purchases translate to a bunch of miles.

 

[habu987]

Maybe it would be best to isolate yourself in a Beemer or a Mercedes dealership.
Maybe this is a new thing, but it seems a bit snobbish to me. This is just my opinion, yours may vary.
If I were to enter a dealership in the hi-brow area, and was immediately escorted away from there because I didn't want to buy the "luxury" model, I would continue to walk out the door and take my money somewhere else.

It's all about messaging and customer service, right?

If I walk into one of the premium section of one of these hypothetical dealerships and tell them I'm looking for a Tradesman model, them paging a non-premium salesman to come over and start that process for me would be no problem at all in my book. If I tell them I'm looking for a Tradesman model and they effectively tell me to go away, that's when I'd walk out the door.

Any dealership with customer service worth their salt would be able to assist customers politely and appropriately without being as obnoxious about it as in your example.

That hypothetical scenario is exactly what it's like at the Hyundai dealership I used to go to with my car. They had one section of their showroom set up for the two Genesis models and the rest was set up for Hyundai models. When you went in the front door, there was the reception desk and they'd route you to whichever side you were looking for. If you were just browsing, one of the Hyundai or Genesis salesmen loitering around would come up to you depending on which vehicle you were looking at, and they had their own seating areas. There was no shame, no distaste, and looking down on by the Genesis salestaff if you were looking at a $17k Accent.

 

[Agitated]

I think it's a horrible idea. If I go in and am interested in a base model work truck, I want to be treated the same as someone who is buying a Limited. Actually, I demand the same treatment. The salespersons just need to know more about the trucks they are selling. They all do go to training when a new model comes out. Some pay attention, some don't. Never be afraid to ask for a different salesman who actually knows his stuff.

 

[habu987]

I am sometimes surprised at the disparity between individual dealerships, regardless of purchase price, and even within the same brand.

• A (huge) Cadillac dealership on the edge of town has a spacious and luxurious waiting room with high-end coffee machines, grab-and-go snacks and beverages, and so on. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it; the local Mercedes-Benz dealership doesn't come close. Maybe this is because that dealership was built specifically for Cadillac customers, i.e. they are not a multi-brand GM dealership.
• The local Audi dealership is small and offers virtually none of those amenities. They do offer Audi loaner vehicles if you schedule service in advance. We had to purchase our maintenance plan.
• The local MINI dealership offered a valet program (although I preferred them NOT to drive my Cooper S), in addition to free scheduled maintenance. They had their own showroom and staff at a dealership that also sells BMW and Cadillac vehicles.
• A few years ago, a large Honda dealership was built that offers a very nice lounge. Food and beverages are available...it almost feels like a mall or airport food court. It feels a little strange, given the price point of the vehicles sold there, but they must handle a high volume of customers.

Back on point...

• I think the fact that Ram has separated itself from Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Fiat is about the best we can expect in terms of giving the buyer a unique experience. At my local dealership, the Ram showroom and parking lot are isolated from all other brands. I like the truck-only focus.
• I would be shocked, frankly, if all sales reps aren't already required to take annual training. This is SOP for most sales organizations.
• The valet program is not a requirement for me. But I do expect a Ram loaner when I bring my truck in for scheduled service, especially under warranty.
• I will receive two years of free scheduled maintenance (standard for Texas customers, I believe).
• The paperless comment is interesting. I'd love to see Ram step up their game when it comes to ordering and tracking vehicles, as many other manufacturers do a better job of making this 'fun' for the customer. I also like to hoard airline miles and would appreciate using my credit card to drop my deposit, down payment, etc. I pay it off each month, but those big purchases translate to a bunch of miles.

In my head I keep going back to Genesis and what it's been doing since it split from Hyundai. They offer things a lot of the other luxury manufacturers don't, like the valet program, I believe 5 years of free maintenance, etc.

Ram, well, all of the big three truck manufacturers, is turning into a luxury manufacturer at the high end of its lineup with its pricing and feature set. Hyundai came to that realization when it spun Genesis off that luxury buyers want more for their money in the dealership experience than those buying cheaper, mass market vehicles. The Genesis brand seems to be doing quite well for itself since it launched a few years ago, so why not have Ram do the same with its top dollar models?

In terms of training, I'm sure they're required to take something, but in my experience with almost universally clueless salespeople, it ain't sticking. My idea was more to create and execute an actually effective annual training cycle.

 

[SpeedyV]

In my head I keep going back to Genesis and what it's been doing since it split from Hyundai. They offer things a lot of the other luxury manufacturers don't, like the valet program, I believe 5 years of free maintenance, etc.

Ram, well, all of the big three truck manufacturers, is turning into a luxury manufacturer at the high end of its lineup with its pricing and feature set. Hyundai came to that realization when it spun Genesis off that luxury buyers want more for their money in the dealership experience than those buying cheaper, mass market vehicles. The Genesis brand seems to be doing quite well for itself since it launched a few years ago, so why not have Ram do the same with its top dollar models?

You don't see that happening with Ford, though, and the Limited (F-150 or Super Duty) is the most expensive truck on the road. GM does it, but they developed separate brands for that purpose. It is very common (around here) for the GMC and Chevrolet dealerships to be completely separate, and (as you know) GMC only offers trucks/SUVs.

I'm not sure how Ram would follow that model, unless they were to develop an entirely new level of separation...e.g. instead of Laramie Longhorn or Limited simply being a trim line for the Ram 1500, there would be a completely new model (e.g. the new "RAMstar Series" or whatever) that offers those trims (e.g. "RAMstar Longhorn"...I'm clearly making this up). Otherwise, we're just talking about the same truck with different trim specs, making it hard to justify a separate sales experience.

 

[imadogman]

In my head I keep going back to Genesis and what it's been doing since it split from Hyundai. They offer things a lot of the other luxury manufacturers don't, like the valet program, I believe 5 years of free maintenance, etc.

Ram, well, all of the big three truck manufacturers, is turning into a luxury manufacturer at the high end of its lineup with its pricing and feature set. Hyundai came to that realization when it spun Genesis off that luxury buyers want more for their money in the dealership experience than those buying cheaper, mass market vehicles. The Genesis brand seems to be doing quite well for itself since it launched a few years ago, so why not have Ram do the same with its top dollar models?

In terms of training, I'm sure they're required to take something, but in my experience with almost universally clueless salespeople, it ain't sticking. My idea was more to create and execute an actually effective annual training cycle.

I guess that you are willing to pay for this treatment (nothing is free)... you even pay for the clueless sales people. It would be nice to be treated like you are a valuable customer, no matter what price you pay for your new truck.
I know that some brands cater to a certain clientele...that is their choice.
Subaru...it's what Love is

 

[TimG]

I think that this comes down to individual dealership/owners leadership style.
For example, when I lived in Wilmington NC, there was only 1 CDRJ dealer in town, and their customer service across the board from maintenance to sales was absolutely abhorrent! When I moved to the middle of nowhere Montana, the only dealership even remotely close to me is absolutely awesome, providing loaners even for short duration repairs/maintenance, delivery of newly purchased vehicles to your home/office/ranch/wherever if you cant make it to them, they'll even come pick up your vehicle, do whatever maintenance is needed (oil change etc) and return it to you at no additional cost.
At the end of the day, its solely up to whatever standards an individual dealerships customers accept as allowable service. If they know they've got you cornered, they can get away with pretty much whatever they want. Conversely, if they value your business, they will do whatever it takes to keep you as a valued customer. (Your opinion/results may vary)

 

[356]

At Porsche, Audi, Mini, Corvette and Jaguar, I never heard the f-bomb, never saw or heard employees making snide remarks or gestures about customers, and never had to wait an hour for paperwork. Both of my Ram experiences have been like that. When I gave the salesman a less than perfect rating when I bought the 2012 (for the reasons above) he called me on the phone to complain. This time I just threw away the survey. Not a mature response, but I don’t want an antagonist relationship with my salesman or the manager since the truck still has some delivery issue to resolve.

Dealerships are like restaurant chains in that the management sets the standard. I chose mine for convenience, as it’s 1/2mile from work, which makes services easy.

 

[Pnorth]

This is a great thread! Just read it from beginning to end and it hit me a couple of replies in - what a great way to learn what your customers want! (FCA) Throw some radical ideas out there - or at least they seem so by the looks of the answers - and then you will get to know everything about the consumer experience and preferences. I know that I would do it if I were to get the job of trying to fix what clearly looks like a big problem at a lot of dealerships - lack of good, honest customer service and care! One thing is for sure - recent statistics show that really high incomers buy more trucks than any other vehicle at the moment - hence the high trim levels, but whether you buy a Tradesman or a Limited - the experience should be exactly the same good feeling, joy bringing, big smile, kid in a candy store experience for every customer, as well as the service thereafter.

 

[Accountant]

The main things I would want is simple.

1. Take the time to address my issue and do not come back with some bull sh!t answer like "it`s normal" or "could not be replicated"

2. If there is a problem, have ready access to parts needed so I can be back on the road in a timely manner.


This is where they should invest their money. No need to waste it to appease my ego. Just fix the problem. Waiting in a special area will still **** me off if my problems are not addressed lol.

 

[Lakewake]

One thing I have noticed since my last purchase in 2016, turn over at dealerships is ridiculous, at least in my area. The sales rep that worked with me on my new truck back in June now works at Hyundai. My old Chevy rep that helped me on my 16 Z71, he has left auto sales all together, and he loved working at that dealership. I hope Dealerships figure out a compensation package that will keep sales reps there. I do not want a rep that just got hired doing a walk thru with me on a 60k truck.

 

[Edwards]

I'm with you there. I ordered from a high volume dealer in Houston and since it has taken so long I'm now on my 3rd sales rep because the previous two are no longer there.

I did raise a little heck with the 2nd replacement so now the GM is my rep.

 

[marcd118]

The person who sold me my truck is no longer with the dealership. Heck I dont think he made it a month. The service department I bought mine from has been a nightmare. Im trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but after all my issues are resolve after my next visit Tuesday, Im never going back to them. Its a shame because I think the American car dealers are really falling behind in regards to service.

 

[habu987]

A friend of mine's uncle ran a dealership back in the 90s/00s out in the Midwest. Might still run it, couldn't tell you. No idea what brand he sold, but his sales model was that all sales staff were provided a modest salary and got a fixed commission per type of vehicle sold. Don't remember the exact figures, but I wanna say it was something in the ballpark of a $150 bonus for every sedan sold and a $200 bonus for every SUV sold, on top of a ~$1500/month salary. I could be totally off base with those numbers, but those sound vaguely familiar.

I knew several folks who were salesmen there at the time and they never mentioned anything about turnover, and all stayed there for the 6 years I lived there.

 

[SpeedyV]

A friend of mine's uncle ran a dealership back in the 90s/00s out in the Midwest. Might still run it, couldn't tell you. Nodea what brand he sold, but his sales model was that all sales staff was provided a modest salary and got a fixed commission per type of vehicle sold. Don't remember the exact figures, but I wanna say it was something in the ballpark of a $150 bonus for every sedan sold and a $200 bonus for every SUV sold, on top of a ~$1500/month salary. I could be totally off base with those numbers, but those sound vaguely familiar.

I knew several folks who were salesmen there at the time and they never mentioned anything about turnover, and all stayed there for the 6 years I lived there.

I'm thinking that the rise of large dealership franchises has contributed to increased turnover and declining customer service. The "mega" dealerships aren't always bad, of course, but it was more common for small family dealerships to have the same personnel (and customers) for decades. Unfortunately, those days have all but disappeared.