[tmtitash12]

One evening me and my brother decided to visit Audi, BMW, Merc and jeep showroom, have a look at their cars, i didn't have any intention of buying any car at that time.
Merc and BMW people didn't entertain us at all, didn't even let us see the CLA and 3 series GT, but coming to Audi and Jeep, they know how to treat a person even if they are not prospective buyers. I went to their showroom 4 years ago, and Audi did give us a test ride for A4 and WE, encouraged us to take test rides of other cars, offered us coffee and packaged drinking water, explained every feature in detail, explained us what to do in case we get stuck in the middle of the road, Audi really offered a 'Premium' experience for Premium car.


Now coming to Jeep, we were interested in the baby Jeep, Compass Trailhawk model, the sales executive immediately took us to the car, opened the driver seat and told me to sit in it, while being seated inside he explained all the features then encouraged us to take a test drive, he asked for my driving licence and then made us fill a form for test ride then took us to a long test ride, around 20kms long through city and highways both. In the end the sales exec said it doesn't matter if you can buy the car today or not, if you're coming to our showroom you're a prospective buyer, maybe 5 years from now when you think you can afford you will come to us and maybe buy the car and then encouraged us to take test ride of jeep Wrangler which i politely declined because driving a Wrangler was above my skill level.

I made myself a promise that day, to never visit the same Merc and BMW showroom again.
Four years passed since then, and now I have booked my jeep compass Trailhawk from the same showroom and Mr Debangan (the same sales exec) was there to tell me that he knew one day i would be back to their showroom to buy the car. It was a wonderful experience with jeep and Audi.

[aashishnb]

Here's a different take, it works for the dealer either ways in most cases (unless of course the buyer does a Maharaja - buying & using multiple RollsRoyce cars for garbage collection, eventually getting an apology from the company, or so the story goes.)

Scenario 1. They are correctly able to 'size you up'. A lot of people may feel a little out of place & leave. Positive for dealer - salesmen able to spend time on higher probability customers.

Scenario 2. They are unable to 'size you up'. Your ego gets hurt by the treatment. To teach them a lesson, you buy one right then & there, no questions asked, for the price they want. Positive for dealer - one more sale, in all likelihood without any discount & much negotiations. There are no 'tips' in our country and most likely the same salesperson will still get the 'commission'.

Scenario 3. They are unable to 'size you up'. Your ego gets hurt but you are sane. You go & buy next door.

Within the specific circumstances, chances of 2 happening is probably higher than 3, given that the person came there in the first place and rage makes us do crazy things. Majority of memes/videos would also show the same thing i.e. buyer taught the salesman a lesson.

[Tuborog]

Interesting stories all around!

I remember, ~2 years back (pre-COVID), I wanted to check out Hyundai Venue for my father in law. I went there in my brand new Civic, which sales guy definitely saw (I parked in from of the dealership gate).

After walking in the dealership, I asked for having a look at Venue. I was asked which car I drive and asked to wait. After 10 minutes of wait, I checked with them again, but no one came even after 20 minutes. I was dressed properly and with branded clothes, someone who can afford Venue comfortably. Dealership was not very busy (it was ~4 PM) and I could see few sales guys chatting up in a corner.

To sum it up, despite being a decent prospective customer, nobody attended, even after polite reminders and follow ups. This is exact opposite of what we are discussing and wanted to cover other end of the spectrum.

[BulZire]

Originally Posted by tmtitash12

I made myself a promise that day, to never visit the same merc and BMW showroom again.
Four years passed since then, and now I have booked my jeep compass trailhawk from the same showroom and Mr Debangan (the same sales exec) was there to tell me that he knew one day i would be back to their showroom to buy the car. It was a wonderful experience with jeep and Audi.

The best showroom and Test drive experience I had so far is absolutely with JEEP only. May be around 2 years back I and my friend casually visited the JEEP showroom in electronic city on a Saturday evening at 7 PM to check the Compass. It was late and the showroom was already getting ready to close for the day , saw few SA's and staffs were packing their bags to leave . The moment we entered the showroom , There was a SA who greeted us as if we were the first customer in the morning and spent nearly 20 mins to explain the car spec's . then he asked us if we would like to take a test drive, Definitely we didn't expect this question from him at that time. we did test drive the car for 45 mins to 1 hour with mix of highway and rural roads, SA was happily accompanying us explaining all the features and car's capabilities. The SA was in his 45's and technically very knowledgeable than any other SA i have met so far. He never hesitated to answer our queries and encouraged us to take the car to absolutely broken roads to feel the suspension. Finally we reached back to showroom around 8.45 PM and he happily sent us off saying please come back if you decide on the Compass. No unwanted talks, no unwanted marketing, no unwanted promises from him in any point during our interaction with him.

[Sach_511]

Originally Posted by Tuborog

Interesting stories all around!

To sum it up, despite being a decent prospective customer, nobody attended, even after polite reminders and follow ups. This is exact opposite of what we are discussing and wanted to cover other end of the spectrum.

Haa haa, they have not changed a bit last 10-12 years, I have a same experience couple of times in Hyundai showrooms (I posted on another forum as well), ended up buying from a Maruti couple of times.

[apachelongbow]

Salesmen are tuned to read your body language. It's an art which is picked up during the course of their work. It's similar to how a dog can sniff out if you love dogs or are afraid of them and react accordingly.
The salesman behaviour is little to do with your attire or appearance, it's tied to how serious of a customer or potential customer you are.
Think from a salesman point of view. You (the potential customer) is merely a target for his monthly /annual bonus. The more sure he is of getting your sale, the better his treatment of you. Would you allow a casual wanderer/jaywalker to enter your office premises and waste your time? Most likely you will politely steer him out. That's what a good salesman does.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Salesmen are tuned to read your body language. It's an art which is picked up during the course of their work. It's similar to how a dog can sniff out if you love dogs or are afraid of them and react accordingly.
...
Most likely you will politely steer him out. That's what a good salesman does.

Ideally, but my experience is that most provide absolutely no value add to the buying process. They really have no clue how to interact with customers, much less sizing up someone. Salesmen literally have no idea of the vehicle they are selling, I wish I had bought my Sonet online, it would have been a much better experience.

Rudely steering them out instead of doing their jobs and making a sale.

[sauravpat]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Ideally, but my experience is that most provide absolutely no value add to the buying process. They really have no clue how to interact with customers, much less sizing up someone. Salesmen literally have no idea of the vehicle they are selling, I wish I had bought my Sonet online, it would have been a much better experience.

Rudely steering them out instead of doing their jobs and making a sale.

I also believe that most members on the forum can sell cars better than these sales employees to rational and well read customers.

Sadly, that is a really small subset of car buyers in our country. I agree about the lack of value addition in the buying decision. Most of the salespeople do not say a word more than what is already there on the website or brochure. But again, only enthusiasts like us read everything in detail.

People walk into showrooms without knowing which car they have gone there to check out. They will go to the showroom and decide based on what the salesman says. And this forms a larger percentage of customers. Consequently they do play a large role in the car buying process. Whether that role is right is another question entirely.

The average consumer cares about how big the sunroof and touchscreen is and what the mileage is..not much more.

One thing I have learned on TBHP is that having good relationships with sales/service people at these dealerships will eventually help us when something goes wrong on our car. The human element will still help in this case I guess.

Maybe with advancements in AR we will be able to experience the car from our homes soon. Observe the jnterior, check if the car fits in a parking space, etc and then the only real thing that would be left is a test drive. Maybe that can be done using an appointment system and salespeople may get phased out.

I personally feel that a competent salesman is a boon because buying a car is a momentous occasion and having a human who can be contacted immediately be responsible for it wins over clicking some buttons on the screen. However if these people do not substantially up their game soon, the convenience of technology will surpass their utility really fast.

[akshaydandekar]

Well, when I went to a TATA Showroom for the very first time to check out the Nexon (which I now proudly own), I got out of an autorickshaw bang in front of the showroom gate. I wasn't wearing branded clothes or snazzy shoes, just a simple t-shirt and denims with comfortable shoes.

I know the SA saw me getting out of the autorickshaw, as the guy was haggling for change and it took me a while to get him the exact fare. The moment I stepped into the showroom the same SA asked me 'Sir hope no problem getting the change'. Although I was a bit flushed, he politely asked me which car I was interested in, and spent the next 30 minutes explaining the features et al of the Nexon. I was honestly smitten by the Safari and when he saw that, BANG! I was provided all the details, even the finance options (even after letting him know it was way out of my budget), an offer of a test drive as well!

After that experience, I did not go to any other showrooms to get a better price or a better deal. His attitude and attention to detail sealed the deal for me.

[Latheesh]

Treating bad?
I was accused of theft (€30 shirt) in a big European clothing store (H&M), and they searched my backpack in front of other customers. They did not even apologize. Funny part is I had prepaid card in my pocket which had enough cash to buy the entire corner of that store.

Last year took auto to VW and Honda showrooms and cheap bicycle to Skoda. Honda and Skoda experiences were very good but VW was average.

[dileepcm]

Originally Posted by tmtitash12

Merc and BMW people didn't entertain us at all, didn't even let us see the CLA and 3 series GT, but coming to Audi and Jeep, they know how to treat a person even if they are not prospective buyers.

Let me bring in something similar from Abroad (Netherlands). It looks no different from my personal experience. While I was shopping for my then new office lease car in 2016, I have been to pretty much every showroom out there. Merc and Opel experiences were worst of all (even far below Toyota/Kia/Suzuki/Nissan). Audi was the best. Volvo was next. Pretty much every other one did better job than that of Mercs. Merc had no welcome attitude, no coffee, very limited test drive options, almost no follow up or eagerness to sell anything. Finally I ended up with a Volvo V40CC as the car suited me better, but I was really sad to let Audi experience go.

[souvikjana83]

In my opinion, an interaction with salesperson or experience at showroom should never affect the car buying decision. Yes, it will reflect how good or bad you feel during that moment but it's just one moment or two in lot many years.

It may happen that the poor showroom or salesperson experience will deter you from buying and owning a great car (Merc example). It may also happen that sweet talk from salesperson or a great showroom experience may make you buy a car which might not be the best car and you may regret it later.

What one should remember is the product they are evaluating and at the end of the day it's the product that you are going to buy. Not the salesperson or the showroom.

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

It's similar to how a dog can sniff out if you love dogs or are afraid of them and react accordingly.

Why would a person go near dogs if he's afraid of them?

The salesman behaviour is little to do with your attire or appearance, it's tied to how serious of a customer or potential customer you are.

The duty of a Salesman is to attend anyone who is interested in a car irrespective of seriousness.

Think from a salesman point of view. You (the potential customer) is merely a target for his monthly /annual bonus. The more sure he is of getting your sale, the better his treatment of you.

A salesman has to think from the customer's point of view and not the other way around. Customer is the King not the Salesman.

Would you allow a casual wanderer/jaywalker to enter your office premises and waste your time? Most likely you will politely steer him out. That's what a good salesman does.

Why would a casual wanderer enter office premises? He would most likely enter a shop or a mall. A good salesman is the one who delights anyone who enters the showroom. Even if the product is bad, a customer should be bowled over by the salesman and make a purchase.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by souvikjana83

What one should remember is the product they are evaluating and at the end of the day it's the product that you are going to buy. Not the salesperson or the showroom.

Let me offer the other side of the coin to this line of thought. It's based on two assumptions:

1. The differences between cars at the same price point is minimal. In some sense, there are very few "bad" cars and very few "exceptional" cars in the market and you wouldn't really have a noticeably different experience with a different product.

2. The sales experience tells you a lot about company culture at the dealer. In particular, if they're that rude to you before buying the car, what hope do you have in getting them to play nice after you've already bought it and need good after sales?

Personally, I buy into both the above assumptions and if I get poor treatment at a dealer, I will almost certainly buy from a rival company/dealer. Perhaps my ego is just too big to accept shitty treatment in a buyer's market

[MarutiGuy1977]

On similar lines. Around 4 years back, we were coming out of UB City and the Lamborghini showroom was right there. And that evening, one beauty was parked inside. It did not miss the eyes of my then 6 year old son who screamed out loud and asked me to stop the car. I pulled up by the side and my wife took my son to see the car. The showroom was closed and they were just looking at the car from outside the glass window. And they were shooed away by the watchman "dekhna allowed nahin hai, jaao" or something to that effect.
My son came back heartbroken to the car. Consoled him and we moved forward. At the corner of St. Marks junction is the Audi showroom. This time my wife asked to stop the car. She told that she would take my son inside. I was in no mood but did pull over and she took him. Surprisingly they didn't return for 10+ minutes.
They narrated a very positive experience in the Audi showroom. It was obvious they had gone to show the cars to the kid. And they told the salesperson in so many words. They let me son take him time and see the cars and let him sit in one also. Couldn't have asked for more that day.