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-   -   How long do you think Dealer Standards will be in Hibernation? (http://www.dealershipforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2890)

XDCX 01-24-2012 10:32 AM

How long do you think Dealer Standards will be in Hibernation?
 
The recent report in Automotive News indicates Chrysler has suspended Dealer Standards until at least the end of the First Quarter. That begs the question; How long do you think Dealer Standards will be in Hibernation?

From a financial standpoint it benefits Auburn Hills to "slow walk" the redevelopment of Dealer Standards so they don't have to pay any incentives to their dealers. That said, if increasing SSI/CSI is one of Marchionne's biggest priorities I'd think they'd have a completely revamped program ready to go on April 1, 2012.

What's your prediction? Please take our poll and share your thoughts.

jayhawk 01-24-2012 12:53 PM

as always , its the dealers fault. products fail, parts are unobtainable, blame the dealer. dream up some tiered incentive that will drive most dealers and managers to sell their souls to get to the next level of payout,, blame the dealer. it never ends, its always the same, its always the dealers fault. the definition of insanity rule definitely applies here.

CL Pgh 01-24-2012 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XDCX (Post 27370)
... if increasing SSI/CSI is one of Marchionne's biggest priorities I'd think they'd have a completely revamped program ready to go on April 1, 2012.

How can D.S. be suspended due to customer satisfaction scores leveling off… when customer satisfaction score's are barley even calculated into our D.S. score cards??? 700 points are needed to get a Dealership into the payable field… yet only 15 of those points were earned or lost due to Customer Satisfaction surveys.

I think Chrysler needs to first decide what Dealer Standards is actually for… Chrysler or the Customer? At a max of 15 points being driven directly from the customer’s surveys… actual customer satisfaction scores weren't exactly on Chrysler's radar.

Moparguy 01-25-2012 07:15 AM

Chrysler just does not get it. it takes 10 years for a culture change to take place in a company. Smaller companies can react faster, but change does not come quickly or easy. if they want true change...it has to start at the top, and the top begins with Sergio. the bottom line is that dealers and dealership personnel do not respect Sergio. He dresses like a bum and is many times not clean shaven. How can you enthusiastically follow a leader who does not respect the office he holds or hi own appearance. Allen Mulally, Lee Iacocca and most all highly placed corporate executives look the part and therefor command respect from the people they work with. Sergio is a laughing stock by just the way he looks and carries himself. How does he expect his dealers to look and act the part of a premium car dealership when the guy at the top who looks like a bum. E second part of the equation boils down to money. Chrysler dealers have been beaten down for so many years, have had to scrimp and cut costs at every corner, and have had to sometimes hire less than stellar staff to fill openings, that we are unable to make the move up scale because we are unable to attract higher quality and more ethical workers.
Look into the Chrysler dealer sales staff and you will find a high level of transient sales staffers who bounce from dealer to dealer, some with drinking problems, broken homes, divorced, living from paycheck to paycheck and so on. Why...because we are unable to pay big money to attract a higher level of employee because we sell our cars at invoice or less. The buy a rebate get a car mentality at the home office has caused us dealers to hire people that maybe we should not just to fill the seat. This less that stellar sales force causes dealers to put more pressure on Fixed Ops to carry the ball during the slower sales periods and this leads to undue pressure put on Service Advisors to sell more and take care of the customer less. Dance or get off of the dance floor is the saying. Guests get chewed up and spit out to get the next one in the chair and out the door. Think about it. How long is and advisor going to spend with a customer that isn't going to spend any money because they have coupon for a $19.95 oil change that includes a free 27 point check up and a tire rotation included. We used to charge an hour labor for the 27 point check up until Chrysler decided that we should give it away free. Does your doctor provided you with a check up for free...why should we. A free check up has no value to the customer and the tech do not perform it with diligence because they do not get paid for it. if you are. Flat rate tech, free check ups and free tire rotations eat up time and cost the dealership money...with little return. Sergio is a bum and Chrysler's view on "Great Guest Service" is a joke and they prove it everyday by the level of poor service that they provide their dealers.

jayhawk 01-25-2012 09:12 AM

moparguy--- i agree with most of your comments [as usual]. you may be being a little harsh on sergios apppearance though. today, all the cjdr honchos seem to dress in the euro/casual style adopted by the montezemolo's and briatore's of the world. personally, i'd rather work with a serious man in casual dress than a plastic phony in a suit any day. i'm sure my feelings are clouded in that we have always dressed in sweaters and polo's to better blend in with the customer body we work with. ciao baby!!

XDCX 01-25-2012 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL Pgh (Post 27384)
How can D.S. be suspended due to customer satisfaction scores leveling off… when customer satisfaction score's are barley even calculated into our D.S. score cards??? 700 points are needed to get a Dealership into the payable field… yet only 15 of those points were earned or lost due to Customer Satisfaction surveys.

I think Chrysler needs to first decide what Dealer Standards is actually for… Chrysler or the Customer? At a max of 15 points being driven directly from the customer’s surveys… actual customer satisfaction scores weren't exactly on Chrysler's radar.

Great comments. :)

Given that Dealer Standards assigned so few points to Customer Satisfaction scores it does make Auburn Hill's decision to suspend the program suspect.

XDCX 01-25-2012 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayhawk (Post 27392)
moparguy--- i agree with most of your comments [as usual]. you may be being a little harsh on sergios apppearance though. today, all the cjdr honchos seem to dress in the euro/casual style adopted by the montezemolo's and briatore's of the world. personally, i'd rather work with a serious man in casual dress than a plastic phony in a suit any day. i'm sure my feelings are clouded in that we have always dressed in sweaters and polo's to better blend in with the customer body we work with. ciao baby!!

I'm in agreement with this. ^^^^^^

Although I'm not a fan of Marchionne's I don't have an issue with his appearance. In fact, I always thought the whole "sweater thing" was just an effort on Marchionne's part to distract the press and have them waste their ink on his attire instead of the real issues.

Concerning the rest of Moparguy's comments, I'm in full agreement. Hot product will attract talent on the retail side - it always has. I remember when Chrysler was red-hot in the late 90s dealers were getting salespeople and managers from Ford, Honda and Toyota stores because they knew they could make more money working at a Chrysler store.

On a final note, I read one of the comments following the story in Automotive News where the author noted that the OEMs with the poorest Customer Satisfaction numbers are also the ones who rely most heavily on stair-step incentive programs. (Chrysler, Nissan and KIA) Maybe the execs at Auburn Hills should look in the mirror when they're looking for the root cause of customer satisfaction issues.

Moparguy 01-26-2012 11:25 AM

Thanks for the confidence vote, but I am old school and I prefer to deal with a professional looking executive rather than a slouch. In my store, Managers wear a shirt and tie and the staff that works one on one with the guest wear a polo or dealership embroidered dress shirt without a tie. I feel it is important for the guests to be able to tell the Management team from the front line. Whatever works, works, but a chief executive that does not respect the position or the underlings he commands by not looking the part is not acceptable to me. As a graduate of the Disney Institute...we are on stage everyday for our guests and it is important that they see we are a serious business tha provide the best guest serivice before, during and after the sale. That should hold for the home office and the executive staff. I was intimidated by Iacocca but respected him immensely. I wouldn't offer Sergio a cup of coffee if we were in the same line. Euro look or not...he looks like and unshaven bum.

XDCX 01-26-2012 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moparguy (Post 27440)
Thanks for the confidence vote....

Please don't take my comments personally and remember I agree with most of what you say. :)

In fact, I'm inclined to agree with your comments regarding Marchionne's appearance but I still think it's largely a diversionary attempt on Marchionne's part. Think of how much time the media has been spent studying what type of sweater Marchionne wears, whether he's lost weight, how many hours he sleeps, how many cigarettes he smokes, how often he shaves, etc. To me, it's all just wasted ink. (Or pixels if you want a computer metaphor.)

The last I heard, Fiat's losing market share in Europe, their dealers are starving, Fiat's failed to develop a viable strategy for China and one of their strongest markets for generating corporate profits, Brazil, is going to be swamped with competitive product that will likely reduce Fiat's sales and cut into their margins. In my opinion, that's what the press should be writing about.

I think there's a reason Marchionne likes to create distractions and to a large degree it appears to be a successful tactic.

79LilRedExpress 01-27-2012 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XDCX (Post 27449)
In fact, I'm inclined to agree with your comments regarding Marchionne's appearance but I still think it's largely a diversionary attempt on Marchionne's part. Think of how much time the media has been spent studying what type of sweater Marchionne wears, whether he's lost weight, how many hours he sleeps, how many cigarettes he smokes, how often he shaves, etc. To me, it's all just wasted ink. (Or pixels if you want a computer metaphor.)

Here is an interesting side note for the purpose of humor only.

The salesman working the Cleveland, (Ohio) auto show will be wearing black sweater vests.... :rolleyez:

chryslersrt8 01-27-2012 01:27 PM

The great,magnificent, and almighty powers of Auburn Hills seem to be convinced dealers are THE reason for low satisfaction scores.

Dealers need new palaces and act like mindless troles and do whatever the factory commands on high. After all if they proclaim it we should drink their kool-aid. Never mind if their plan doesn't work...it's not their blood, sweat, and money that is invested. And the factory doesn't make mistakes. The Caliber, Magnum, 604 trans, the 2.2 engine, not to mention many other things were the dealer's fault. And if the factory way still doesn't work, threated bankruptcy, get a bailout from the government, get rid of the problem dealers and start all over...no harm no foul!

Hey Auburn Hills...build world class vehicles, build them with quality, price them accordingly, and leave the selling to us!!!!!!

DealerEx 01-28-2012 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8 (Post 27476)
The great,magnificent, and almighty powers of Auburn Hills seem to be convinced dealers are THE reason for low satisfaction scores.

Dealers need new palaces and act like mindless troles and do whatever the factory commands on high. After all if they proclaim it we should drink their kool-aid. Never mind if their plan doesn't work...it's not their blood, sweat, and money that is invested. And the factory doesn't make mistakes. The Caliber, Magnum, 604 trans, the 2.2 engine, not to mention many other things were the dealer's fault. And if the factory way still doesn't work, threated bankruptcy, get a bailout from the government, get rid of the problem dealers and start all over...no harm no foul!

Hey Auburn Hills...build world class vehicles, build them with quality, price them accordingly, and leave the selling to us!!!!!!

AMEN BROTHER!! :thumbsup:

XDCX 09-04-2012 12:09 PM

DealershipForum members predict the future.....
 
I was checking IP Addresses this afternoon and had to chuckle when I noticed that someone was reading this thread.

Granted, there were not a lot of responses to the poll but there's no question that the members at DealershipForum could read the writing on the wall. Dealer Standards was forever dead and Auburn Hills was just "stalling" so the dealers would get used to the non-issuance of Dealer Reward funds before they pulled the plug.

XDCX 12-16-2015 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XDCX (Post 27370)
The recent report in Automotive News indicates Chrysler has suspended Dealer Standards until at least the end of the First Quarter. That begs the question; How long do you think Dealer Standards will be in Hibernation?

From a financial standpoint it benefits Auburn Hills to "slow walk" the redevelopment of Dealer Standards so they don't have to pay any incentives to their dealers. That said, if increasing SSI/CSI is one of Marchionne's biggest priorities I'd think they'd have a completely revamped program ready to go on April 1, 2012.

What's your prediction? Please take our poll and share your thoughts.

Did anyone guess 2 years and 11 months? :parnoid:

jayhawk 12-16-2015 09:51 AM

any manufacturer mentioning customer satisfaction/dealer standards while having vpg's or any form of multi tier pricing totally pegs the b.s. meter!! spend some time in the real world, these programs destroy ours and the manufacturers credibility for generations. chasing numbers makes us untrustworthy.


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