What We Can Learn From Stupid Car Sales People

3. Communicate! When there is a screw-up, keep the customer informed and don’t ever, ever, EVER tell a client that you’ll call him right back and then not call him right back. Be impeccable with your word.

As an epilogue, I took delivery of the car (I’m sleeping on whether or not I like white-gold) and went out to do some errands. When I returned, there was a strange VW Passat in my driveway. My first thought was, “That is the exact right thing for the dealership owner to do: Jump in a car, drive the 30 minutes, and take care of the problem yourself!” Alas, it was one of my daughter’s girl friends over for a visit. Yet another opportunity missed. I guess stupidity flows from the top.

A happy customer tells his wife how happy he is. An angry customer tells EVERYONE and anyone who will listen. Mistakes happen. Things hit fans. But when you make mistakes and do not tell the client, they seem bigger than they really are.

You need to look at a problem as if it is an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of service we all claim to provide. Make it your goal to come out better BECAUSE of the problem than if the job had gone off without a hitch. I wish the dealership would hire me to tell them what they did wrong. Instead...

The first thing I did when I accepted the car was to take the dealer’s nameplate off of the back, snap it in half, and had it back to the delivery boy, who giggled as he left (I tipped him 10 bucks. It wasn’t HIS fault). I will likely keep the car. I think that is the best thing for me at this point. The best thing for the dealership is to listen to my complaints and make corrections.