Dealers Are Here To Stay
Bob Dilmore
I wonder if you are as tired as I am of automobile dealers getting a bad rap! The situation seems to have heated up with the advent of e-commerce as would-be-futurists predict that dealers soon will become as extinct as dinosaurs. According to many, people will be buying their next vehicle from Big-deal.com. What is so amazing about all of this is that the Big-deal dot-coms remain in business through successfully selling stock in companies that never have made a profit-one of the biggest Ponzie schemes ever foisted on the American public.
From Harvard e-commerce seminars to Wall Street Journal articles, even in letters from your "friendly stockbrokers," the news is that soon you will never again have to deal with that unscrupulous car dealer. E-commerce will solve all of your problems, save you thousands and end forever the hassles of negotiating a car deal. All of this dialogue is from people deemed to be intellectual and visionary (including dot-com losers and telephone soliciting stock peddlers).
What a bunch of hogwash!
Does it surprise you that no one seems to be taking a stand for dealers? The public relations effort for dealers is sadly lacking. You would think NADA would launch an effort to tell the public the truth about dealers and dealerships.
Dealers in small- to medium-size communities are the largest contributors to the local tax bases and extremely important to the tax base of large municipalities.
Dealers provide employment for a large percentage of the work force.
Dealers have always been the most generous of all local businesses in their support of community efforts.
Surveys prove that 85% of consumers who do business with these rascal dealers are satisfied with both sales and service. Most national CSI and SSI averages are above 90%. Imagine for a moment what the customer satisfaction icons scores might be from a sampling of people with whom you do business:
- Doctors
- Lawyers
- CPAs
- Stockbrokers
- Builders
- Realtors
- Office Equipment Dealers
- Any utility company
- Most any other business.
Ever try to do business with the phone company? They fired all humans a few years ago and you now have to be satisfied searching your way through a maze of voice mail. I just got socked for a $25 charge Hewlett Packard assesses when you call to find out why their machine doesn't work, after 20 minutes of electronic voice mail hunt-and-peck.
And, does anyone think buying a car via e-commerce will be any different?
I have to wonder if any of these folks who would do away with dealers have thought through the consequences if, in fact, there were no more dealers:
- Substantial unemployment
- Loss of tax base
- No more benevolent contributors from the auto retail industry side
And where would we find convertibles to transport the "Homecoming Queen" in our parades?
NADA and dealers nationwide, large and small need to get off their duffs and make the public aware of who dealers are and how important they are, not only locally, but statewide and nationwide.
Actually, when I measure the quality of service extended from most retailers, dealers are head and shoulders above most. But, we need a campaign to convince everyone dealers are here to stay and thank God they are!
Bob Dilmore is chairman and CEO of Management Performance Group. bdilmore@dealeronline.com
