Haunted by a Car

I reported on Dim Bulb a few weeks ago about my wife's car accident (she’s fine), and how our insurance company did its best to avoid, ignore, or mislead us.  While that hasn't changed, I can add a new player to the narrative: the spooky dealership that is using its CRM to haunt us.

It all started with a phone number, which I believe my wife had to give to the Volvo dealership in order to test drive a car.  She liked the car, but was in no rush to buy a new vehicle.  After the drive, she thanked them, and went on her way.

We've received four phone calls from the dealership in the last 10 days.

This behavior borders on stalking, in my book.  It sure isn't doing anything good for the Volvo brand, let alone getting the dealership any closer to selling a car.

The calls are all scarily the same: "you were in X days ago, and we were just wondering if you have any more questions, or are any closer to making a decision."  The callers are friendly enough (and not always the same person), and they don't push it when my wife says "not yet."  Because she's too nice, and doesn’t add "and if you call me again, I'll have your dealership firebombed," they keep at it.

It's process without purpose.

Somewhere on the dealership's computers, there's a CRM software tool.  Or maybe it's  simply a checklist on the sales manager's clipboard; either way, it dares salespeople to continually reach out to would-be customers.  My wife ceased to be an unknown when she gave them our number.  Now, she's a lead, and that means they can treat her differently than they would a stranger.

Only they're treating her worse.

They'd never harass a real friend or associate as they do us.  At least they wouldn't call with the same dumb, pointless questions -- effectively asking "will you please buy something from us?"-- and they'd probably ask for permission to call again (vs. taking the lack of an angry response as an invitation).

If they're going to pursue a sale, at least they should try to be more effective:

• Make an offer.  There should be some obvious purpose to the outreach contact other than the dealership’s need to sell more cars.  Why isn't the call to tell us about a new offer, or some other time-sensitive information?
• Change it over time.  Instead of being treated like a generic, first-timer entry on a phone call list, couldn't the dealership customize the offer depending on when my wife visited, or how many times it has called us?  Simply noting that there was a call a few days ago would be a nice start.
• Find a middle ground.  It's highly unlikely that anyone, including my wife, is going to answer one of those dealer's calls and say "gee-wiz, now that you mention it, I certainly want to buy a car from you right now!"  So how about offering a middle ground...some action that isn't as pointless as hanging up with no next-step, and not such an onerous next-step that requires we write a giant check.  Is there a safety briefing we should see?  A white paper we should read?
• Be willing to stop.  "No" is a hard word.  That's why people sometimes don't say it, but rely instead on showing it, hopefully, with their actions.  After a few calls (at most), the dealership should put us on some other abuse list, and stop spending good money after bad on us.  At this point, not only are we not going to buy a Volvo, but we might not ever buy from the dealership that insisted on haunting us.

Proactive marketing is a good thing, and having the ability to talk one-on-one with a would-be customer is a gift in the bright light of our economic hard times. 

Too bad our local Volvo dealership chooses to turn it into a haunting.

Comments

[BIG Kahuna]

You're dealing with car salesmen...enough said.

They're all the same. Unfortunate but true. If I had a nickel for everytime I heard:

"what do I have to do to get you in this car today"...