fredz43
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Seems this has gone from a rant against one BMW dealer to a general rant against all dealers and all salesmen. I guess I am lucky to have a dealer within 10 miles of my house that I have done business with since buying my first new bike a 1973 Yamaha TX500. They have treated me well since then and I have bought a series of new bikes, mostly Hondas, from them over the years. It is a small town dealership that has loyal customers from a very wide area, including several large cities that have dealerships of their own. Sometime in the mid 1990's Motorcycle Consumer News asked it's readers to vote for their favorite dealership and this dealership in this small town got more votes than any in the USA. That is because of customer satisfaction.
As I have mentioned in another thread, I am retired and have helped them out part time over the last few years, mostly filling vacation relief in sales and in bike setup. It is a pleasure to work for them, because of the marching orders from the owners that we treat customers like we would like to be treated. We allow demo rides on anything we have, as long as you have a motorcycle endorsement on your license and are not a freaking idiot. Yes, there are a few of them from time to time. I have learned that good salesmen work hard at their job and take pride in being able to work out a deal to deliver someone's prize toy at a price they can afford. I also learned that it takes time and effort to learn everything there is to know about every product on the showroom floor. I think it would be much easier in a BMW dealer, for instance, with a limited number of models to be up to date on all of them. I have learned that it is much more difficult in a multi line dealership that handles several brands that includes everything from many models of cruisers, to tourers, to dirt bikes, to trikes, to utility 4 wheelers to sport 4 wheelers, etc, etc. The full time guys are up to speed on these, but as part time help, I sometimes have to ask a customer to please let me take a minute to look something up. At the same time I can say that I have sold more ST1300's than all the other salesmen combined, because I am very familiar with them, having owned three of them and am very enthusiastic about them. Same with the Super Tenere. When we had our Super Tenere on display last January, the district sales rep was there and I knew more about that bike than he did, but that was because I, like the rest of you had searched for every bit of information about that bike that I could find, because I had one on order.
I can also tell you that there are horror stories about customers every day. While most are upstanding, interesting people that it is a pleasure to talk to and perhaps do business with, there are poeple that come in with a superiority attitude and try to treat you like you are some kind of servant with nothing better to do than cater to their every whim. I had one last week that it turned out had nothing to do that afternoon, so decided to have me roll bikes out for him to ride. Now that is still not a problem, but his demanding manner of "start that up", "get that out", "that is a piece of shit", and other derogatory statements had me biting my tongue. In spite of that, he finally said he liked one bike and asked me to write him up a proposal, which I did. Yeah, that ia a great deal, I was told and he would be back in a couple hours with a check. Guess what, I never saw him again and he had a nice afternoon.
Now, I really don't care if a customer doesn't like a deal or can't afford it, but I appreciate it if they treat me with respect, just as I do them. Just tell me that, don't promise that you will be back in a few hours or tomorrow or whenever and then never show up and never call. I make the same amount of money either way, but don't like being jacked around.
Fortunately those are the minority and most are very good people, fellow enthusiasts. It is a great pleasure for me when someone comes in with a dream of owning their perfect bike and we can make that dream come true. To see the smile on their face when they climb aboard for their first ride on their new bike is priceless.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to express my point, having seen both sides in a motorcycle dealership, that while there are some salesmen that are a**es, there are also some customers that are a**es, just as in other walks of life, such as doctors, cops, lawyers, etc, etc. At least in business, we an take our business elsewhere, but don't let a bad experience with one business or one salesman automatically paint the rest of them with the same brush.
Now, I'll go back into my cave.............
.
As I have mentioned in another thread, I am retired and have helped them out part time over the last few years, mostly filling vacation relief in sales and in bike setup. It is a pleasure to work for them, because of the marching orders from the owners that we treat customers like we would like to be treated. We allow demo rides on anything we have, as long as you have a motorcycle endorsement on your license and are not a freaking idiot. Yes, there are a few of them from time to time. I have learned that good salesmen work hard at their job and take pride in being able to work out a deal to deliver someone's prize toy at a price they can afford. I also learned that it takes time and effort to learn everything there is to know about every product on the showroom floor. I think it would be much easier in a BMW dealer, for instance, with a limited number of models to be up to date on all of them. I have learned that it is much more difficult in a multi line dealership that handles several brands that includes everything from many models of cruisers, to tourers, to dirt bikes, to trikes, to utility 4 wheelers to sport 4 wheelers, etc, etc. The full time guys are up to speed on these, but as part time help, I sometimes have to ask a customer to please let me take a minute to look something up. At the same time I can say that I have sold more ST1300's than all the other salesmen combined, because I am very familiar with them, having owned three of them and am very enthusiastic about them. Same with the Super Tenere. When we had our Super Tenere on display last January, the district sales rep was there and I knew more about that bike than he did, but that was because I, like the rest of you had searched for every bit of information about that bike that I could find, because I had one on order.
I can also tell you that there are horror stories about customers every day. While most are upstanding, interesting people that it is a pleasure to talk to and perhaps do business with, there are poeple that come in with a superiority attitude and try to treat you like you are some kind of servant with nothing better to do than cater to their every whim. I had one last week that it turned out had nothing to do that afternoon, so decided to have me roll bikes out for him to ride. Now that is still not a problem, but his demanding manner of "start that up", "get that out", "that is a piece of shit", and other derogatory statements had me biting my tongue. In spite of that, he finally said he liked one bike and asked me to write him up a proposal, which I did. Yeah, that ia a great deal, I was told and he would be back in a couple hours with a check. Guess what, I never saw him again and he had a nice afternoon.
Now, I really don't care if a customer doesn't like a deal or can't afford it, but I appreciate it if they treat me with respect, just as I do them. Just tell me that, don't promise that you will be back in a few hours or tomorrow or whenever and then never show up and never call. I make the same amount of money either way, but don't like being jacked around.
Fortunately those are the minority and most are very good people, fellow enthusiasts. It is a great pleasure for me when someone comes in with a dream of owning their perfect bike and we can make that dream come true. To see the smile on their face when they climb aboard for their first ride on their new bike is priceless.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to express my point, having seen both sides in a motorcycle dealership, that while there are some salesmen that are a**es, there are also some customers that are a**es, just as in other walks of life, such as doctors, cops, lawyers, etc, etc. At least in business, we an take our business elsewhere, but don't let a bad experience with one business or one salesman automatically paint the rest of them with the same brush.
Now, I'll go back into my cave.............
.
