or how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
Brucie Bonus if you know where that quote is from. It’s a film, and you will have heard of the film. Answer at the bottom.
My car was given the last rites recently. It would have cost more to investigate the fault (overheating) than it was worth, so I scrapped it. The hunt for a new (to me) car was on.
It didn’t take long to decide on one. I needed an Estate for my training kit and still-at-uni children. Long story, short I’ve decided on a Volvo V60. Having a dealership a 10 minute walk away was helpful.
I rock up there and the salesman couldn’t have been more helpful, despite the downpour we experienced. I’m not one for dithering so test drove one and liked what I saw. Only downside was that the one at the dealership was OK, but there was a better one at a different branch. We agreed a price and he set about getting it delivered to this Branch for me to check.
We arranged for the car to be delivered to Branch, but when their driver arrived, the car was out on loan. “we’re not sure when it will be back”. I stated that that wasn’t good enough and after some pressure they sent a car down to replace the one on loan and bring back the one I was interested in the same day. It arrived that same evening (much to my surprise, knowing the M25) and I took it for a drive. Yes, OK. Bit of a squeak from the steering and all trims scuffed but that would get sorted. Not a good start, but they did get me the car eventually that day after some pressure.
I’m in a lucky position to be a cash buyer so the Dealership sent through the details and, as is usual, tried to upsell me some add-ons such as GAP insurance, tyre insurance etc. To upsell me this I had to answer a number of Y/N questions. These were designed to get me in the mindset of “ooh, I’d never thought about that, perhaps insurance would be good”. Nothing legally required by the FCA, not even if I was taking out a Loan. See what you think. Check out Q4!
I wrote back. “Nope, not interested in any add-ons, just lets do the deal”. Not a chance. Apparently I couldn’t proceed without answering the questions. What ensued was a stand-off as I refused to answer them and the Dealership insisting I do as they were FCA Regulated and had to ask – even though I was paying cash.
Long story shorter. Thursday I provided evidence they didn’t need to, they still said they did, Friday I cancelled the Order and ordered a car from Cinch, Monday they emailed to say that their Regional Office had said they didn’t need the questions answered “Do I still want to proceed?” and I declined their kind offer.
Lessons to be learned
- Make the buying process as easy as you can for your client. Cinch was 20 minutes from browser open to car bought – with no dumb questions inbetween. Amazon has its 1-click purchase. 4 Minutes has online ticketing purchase for its public courses. If someone needs an invoice instead, I don’t insist that they use their personal debit card and claim the money back, I’ll send them an invoice. It’s more effort, therefore less profit but it’s what the customer wants – an easy process. I’ll suck up the additional cost to keep them happy.
- The customer is not always right, but if s/he is, back down, grovel, admit you were wrong.
- If you disagree with the customer (prospect) find out what the issue is and work out a solution that works for them. Don’t stonewall, thinking that they will back down & order anyway. I guess they thought I was in a bind as I had no car and the “I’ll buy one from Cinch” threats were smoke and mirrors. Sometimes people will back down, but not always. I can be stubborn too and cars are a commodity. I preferred to be carless for a few days than carry on dealing with a Dealership that was blinkered to the Customer’s needs.
- If you didn’t win the deal, think why you didn’t and consider whether you could do better next time. When people contact you, they are already in a buying mindset. Don’t shake them out of that by taking time to reply, or making life difficult. Give them what they want.
Oh, and the quote? James Robertson Justice as Lord Scrumptious to Dick van Dyke as Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. With a little help from Truly, he did manage to save the day though. Just a bit of creativity and no obstinacy / arrogance won the deal.
