New Purchase Ford/Dealer Survey

[BroncoAZ]

The dealerships live and die by the surveys these days. Usually surveys have one or two questions that count towards the Net Promoter Score, and the rest doesn’t matter. The NPS is used to calculate bonuses or lack thereof. Many customers use the survey to leverage the dealership to give them better service or a better deal. It’s dirty, but how business is done these days. My SOP is to fill out the survey and then go back after the fact if there is a problem. I ask them to address the problem and reference the glowing survey I left them despite the issue. Sofar it’s worked well to get legitimate issues corrected and the management appreciates the approach.

My employer also uses the NPS to calculate bonuses for me and my team. I occasionally get blasted by someone who didn’t even interact with me during my consulting visit, and lose significant money because of it. I also run into someone who gives me a great survey on all but that one question that matters, I still get screwed.

 

[realjones88]

Personally I would ask them to throw in something in exchange for changing your survey (if you wish to do so). The only reason they are calling you about it is their money might as well ask for something in return...you can say that's dishonest, but so is calling to guilt trip a customer into higher scores...it's all a game

At some point surveys became "perfect or nothing." If you aren't going to leave all 10s the dealership would rather you not even fill it out. It's ridiculous that you can't put anything remotely negative or less than perfect (despite your experience sounding as such). The sales guy or dealership will probably lose commission or bonus from your survey with a couple 8/9s instead of 10s.

 

[LorenzoValla]

Personally I would ask them to throw in something in exchange for changing your survey (if you wish to do so). The only reason they are calling you about it is their money might as well ask for something in return...you can say that's dishonest, but so is calling to guilt trip a customer into higher scores...it's all a game

At some point surveys became "perfect or nothing." If you aren't going to leave all 10s the dealership would rather you not even fill it out. It's ridiculous that you can't put anything remotely negative or less than perfect (despite your experience sounding as such). The sales guy or dealership will probably lose commission or bonus from your survey with a couple 8/9s instead of 10s.

The whole thing seems to be absurd, and Ford must know it. The fact that getting less than perfect scores is going to seriously hurt the salesperson or dealer is ridiculous. Not only is any process never going to be perfect on a routine basis, but buying a car usually sucks to begin with and now they want us to tell them how great the experience was unless there was something significantly wrong.

 

[Kashoggio]

I’ve been to Chuck E. Cheese’s with the kids and they ask me to fill out these type of surveys... it’s unreal. Information is the new gold

 

[911 Crazy]

I’ve been to Chuck E. Cheese’s with the kids and they ask me to fill out these type of surveys... it’s unreal. Information is the new gold

You mean Charlie's Pizza Hell, don't you?

 

[LorenzoValla]

I’ve been to Chuck E. Cheese’s with the kids and they ask me to fill out these type of surveys... it’s unreal. Information is the new gold

Agreed. I tend to ignore most surveys b/c I feel like they should figure out that on their own, without burdening me. And, the questions on surveys are often off target for what I think is important anyway.

 

[LorenzoValla]

Personally I would ask them to throw in something in exchange for changing your survey (if you wish to do so). The only reason they are calling you about it is their money might as well ask for something in return...you can say that's dishonest, but so is calling to guilt trip a customer into higher scores...it's all a game

When the sales manager called, he first said something like "what can we do to make things right?" or something like that. My immediate impression was that he was willing to give me something in exchange for redoing the survey. I didn't respond to that and instead just asked him if there was something about what I wrote that he didn't understand, etc.

Just to be clear, I was not mean spirited in my survey (or to the SM on the phone) and I tried to nudge towards being positive when I could. Oh, and the 3rd thing that happened is they lost my deposit check. I had to put in a stop payment on that check and re-do the deposit. Even though that's annoying, I chalked it up to shit happens.

Now, one real good thing about the process was the delivery. I did the sales negotiating via text and scheduled the delivery to my house. I explained that I had a short window because of meetings and was actually caught off guard when the guy showed up exactly on time. Since I had been getting the impression that the three stooges were involved all along, that was a shocker. And even better, the guy was super polite and professional (not a sales guy, or at least not my sales guy) and we did the whole thing in about 10 mins. Of course, there was nowhere in the survey about delivery service b/c this is likely new or unusual for most Ford dealers.

Lastly, for those of you who haven't done a car purchase over the phone or via email or text, I highly recommend it if you already know what you want. When doing this, I haven't tried to play multiple deals at once and while that might be tempting, I don't think it's fair to the sales person. Like them or not, they are putting time and effort into making a deal and I think it's important to approach these situations with the mindset that you'll complete the deal if satisfied. JMO.

 

[MDJAK]

When the sales manager called, he first said something like "what can we do to make things right?" or something like that. My immediate impression was that he was willing to give me something in exchange for redoing the survey. I didn't respond to that and instead just asked him if there was something about what I wrote that he didn't understand, etc.

Just to be clear, I was not mean spirited in my survey (or to the SM on the phone) and I tried to nudge towards being positive when I could. Oh, and the 3rd thing that happened is they lost my deposit check. I had to put in a stop payment on that check and re-do the deposit. Even though that's annoying, I chalked it up to shit happens.

Now, one real good thing about the process was the delivery. I did the sales negotiating via text and scheduled the delivery to my house. I explained that I had a short window because of meetings and was actually caught off guard when the guy showed up exactly on time. Since I had been getting the impression that the three stooges were involved all along, that was a shocker. And even better, the guy was super polite and professional (not a sales guy, or at least not my sales guy) and we did the whole thing in about 10 mins. Of course, there was nowhere in the survey about delivery service b/c this is likely new or unusual for most Ford dealers.

Lastly, for those of you who haven't done a car purchase over the phone or via email or text, I highly recommend it if you already know what you want. When doing this, I haven't tried to play multiple deals at once and while that might be tempting, I don't think it's fair to the sales person. Like them or not, they are putting time and effort into making a deal and I think it's important to approach these situations with the mindset that you'll complete the deal if satisfied. JMO.

When you say fair to the salesperson, I agree. If they take me for test drives, etc, they’ve put in some effort.


And it’s of course not them doing the pricing. But they do carry the often BS message from the manager.

When I recently bought a 2020 BMW M5, I said give me your best price. Don’t waste my time. Sticker was 111,790. He came back at around 109k and offered me 75 for my 911 in trade. An hour prior, Porsche offered me 85. I laughed. I said your offer is making me want to walk. You need to come up substantially on trade, which they did, to 82k (porsche was being generous at 85 I felt), and you need to offer a real discount on M5.

He said, toeing the company line, we don’t really discount M cars. Well that is complete bullspanky. I said I don’t know if that is so. I will go to another dealer. If it is true and you are within a thousand of them, I’ll be back. But if not, bye bye.

They came down to 104 from 111,790, and up to 82 on trade. I felt it was fair.

Now I learn there are car brokers who charge you $399 to find you the best deal. You only pay if you get the car/truck. On mine, they could have gotten 11.5 percent discount, meaning I paid at least 2k too much. Live and learn.

 

[TXRaptor]

Lastly, for those of you who haven't done a car purchase over the phone or via email or text, I highly recommend it if you already know what you want. When doing this, I haven't tried to play multiple deals at once and while that might be tempting, I don't think it's fair to the sales person. Like them or not, they are putting time and effort into making a deal and I think it's important to approach these situations with the mindset that you'll complete the deal if satisfied. JMO.

I think you did the right thing with your survey response and I would not let them pressure you into changing it.

On the topic of car buying, I have purchased more than 10 new cars over email. I do all of the research up front and decide on the exact colors and features I am willing to accept. If I need to test drive one, I choose a dealer near my house that has similar features knowing full well I may not buy from them. This is part of a salesman’s job to show people their vehicles for sale, so I do not feel obligated in any way.

Once I have decided on the vehicle, I use the mfg site to search inventories and contact as many dealers in my state who have one within my range and negotiate with each one of them individually. I treat it like a business transaction and whoever gives me the best deal wins my business. (And yes, I do pitch them against each other when necessary, as it is all part of the process) I do not go into the dealership to sign the paperwork and pickup the car until I have everything in writing. With my emails in hand, I have never had a dealer not honor the pricing, although some have tried.

Some dealers do a great job with their “Internet” sales by hiring competent managers who understand this aspect of their business. If a dealer is not willing to negotiate online, they are crossed off my list and I move on with the ones who will. I never have trade-ins and I never buy anything extra from the dealer. I tell the finance manger I am a “bottom dollar buyer”, so they do not have to pitch me on all of their services.

As you said, it is a great way to buy a car and removes the uncomfortable negotiation tactics used by dealers when you try to buy a car in person.