Could your dealer have done better?

[hottub.pool_boy]

Sales? Communication prior to delivery? Delivery? Communication after the delivery?

As a dealer, what can we do to make the experience perfect?

If this post does not follow posting guidelines, please forgive me and remove it.

[stuart]

I for one think it is a great post...Let's hope we get some great feedback!

[Ruby]

OK this might be stretching because I had a really good experience with my dealer and I really had to think about this question.  There were 2 things about my dealer that could've been improved.

1.) When we were closing the deal we brought in a fair offer (we thought).  We asked for an xtra set of filters thrown in and a ducky.  He wouldn't budge.  He said if he did it for us, they would have to do it for everyone and it adds up.  He said that they had a sales meeting, and everyone agreed to no freebies and he had to follow that because no one could do it.  I've been able to negotiate  better than that at Best Buy!
I wasn't going to back out of my tub just for that, but it still left kind of a "feeling"  NOT EVEN A DUCKY!!


2.) He said we would be able to take delivery in 10-15 days.  I heard him fine, but hubby heard 10 days.  The tub didn't get here til the 15th day.  Days 10-15 were the worst for me because I had to listen to him piss and moan.  The moral of this is TELL THE CUSTOMER 15-20 DAYS and let the customer be excited when it shows up in 15.

Other than these two things, our dealer was/is great.  He was very patient with my newbe questions and my  husbands impatience.


Oh, one other thing.... I have read on here that some dealers provide robes/towels/bottles of water for their wet- testing guests.  Mine didn't do it, but I think it's a cool touch.  It gives the customer that "special" feel, and I think that's important.


Ruby

[Brewman]

Things went fine.  Sales was patient, answered my questions, and were not at all pushy.
Pre delivery inspection, and delivery went without a hitch.  They said they'd call when they knew for sure they'd be at my house, and they did.  They showed up on time on the day scheduled.

I don't expect perfection, I expect professionalism and reasonableness from both sides.  If you say you are going to do something- do it.  Even if it's just a phone call to keep a customer in the loop if they are waiting for the spa to come from the factory.  
What really impresses me is if I know my spa is a custom order or has to come from the factory for whatever reason, call periodically just to keep in touch, even if just to say it'll still be a week or two.
Be pro-active in communication.  Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you'll do it, and we'll get along just fine.  
Lie or ignore, and we have a problem.

[jsimo7]

The dealer where my spa came from did very good. The negotations went well and easy. The delivery was within 15min of the scheduled time. Setting the spa in place went as she said it would. The delivery person spent about 2 hrs filling and advising about the chems. Never felt he was rushed or wanted to go until we understood his advice. Good so far!! (6mos of ownership)

[stuart]

The dealer where my spa came from did very good. The negotations went well and easy. The delivery was within 15min of the scheduled time. Setting the spa in place went as she said it would. The delivery person spent about 2 hrs filling and advising about the chems. Never felt he was rushed or wanted to go until we understood his advice. Good so far!! (6mos of ownership)

This brings up an interesting question...

Did your dealer give you an exact time for delivery or a 2-3 hour window?

[Brewman]

We got a "window".  And I consider this very realistic, since they had a delivery before us.  They called when they knew the first delivery was a slam dunk, gave an estimate for arrival, and were quite prompt to that estimate.  
Again, I wouldn't get mad if they got delayed as long as they kept me posted.  If they had blown past the estimated time significantly without calling to let me know of the delay, I'd have been upset.

[jsimo7]

This brings up an interesting question...

Did your dealer give you an exact time for delivery or a 2-3 hour window?

I was the only delivery for that evening and they gave me the exact time, and then called me when the delivery person was pulling out of there parking lot.
I guess I was a lucky one !

[drewstar]

Let's see:

Salesperson  cancelled the hot tub orientation at the last minute, after my wife and I had taken the afternoon off from work.  Salesperson informed me they couldn't do it because they had to do an inventory that night. My wife was *ahem* less than pleased to be told we had just lost several hundred dollars in consulting fees to take time off and  make arrangments for this "oreintation" only to be bumped  because the sales clerk needed to count the rubber ducks in the back room.   The owner of the store stepped in and resolved the problem and salvaged our relationship.

3rd party contracted by the dealer to deliver the hot tub damaged my brand new driveway. Still trying to resolve this, not really a dealer problem,  but considering I said it wasn't necessary to bring in a 5 ton crane to deliver a tub in my back yard and was told "don't worry".  Ok. Sure. arrrgh!

Still, I'd go back to my dealer.   I wouldn't deal with thier trucking company, and I woudn't deal with the salesperson who cancelled on me but the owner has proven to be a decent man, and the salespeople who I did  deal with were fair, proffesional and pleasent.

[Bill_Stevenson]

Here is what to do:
1.  Do what you say you will do.
2.  Deliver on time.
3.  Provide orientation at delivery, but since the tub is not up and running until after delivery, make sure you call the customer a few days later and ask how everything is going and offer to go through it all again.  My dealer actually offered to come back out to the house on his own time after the tub was connected and filled to make sure that I was comfortable and all my questions were answered.  I did not need this attention, but the offer was very appreciated.
4.  If something goes wrong, get the service guy out to the customer right quick, same day or the next day if at all possible.  I had a noisy valve, called the dealer to see if it was something I could adjust or fix myself, he had a service guy out there the following day, parts were ordered, I was told how long it would probably take and the fix was in on time and with NO hassle.
5.  Stay in touch with the customer either with a phone call or a mailing.  My dealer sends a newsletter out once in a while, which has news of new models, a satisfied customer story, or a neat custom installation, articles such as how to know that your ozonator is working and water treatment tips.  The newsletter always has some sort of a special offer such as a 10% off on accessories or a coupon for chemicals.

Here is what not to do:
1.  Make a promise you can't keep.
2.  Miss the delivery commitment.
3.  After the sale silence.
4.  Forget to return phone calls.
5.  Not fix a problem, quickly, properly and with a minimum of aggravation.

Basic stuff.  Two rules apply (this is for every business).  Rule 1, the customer is always right.  Rule 2, when the customer is wrong, refer to Rule 1.

Regards,

Bill

[jersey]

Don't over promise. I was told that my tub would be here in 3-4 weeks. I didn't get it until just under 8 weeks. Just be honest. My guy would not have "lost" a sale by telling my 6-8 weeks. And I would not have been pissed off when we were pushing 6 weeks. I no longer trust or even like him. When I would call and try and find out any info. I got the brush off or not even a return call...... He got my money ( I made the mistake of paying in full in cash) and couldn't be bothered anymore.......Hind sight is always 20/20, If I could do ita all again I would have gotten the same tub but not from that dealer. I should have known when the first time we stopped in he was walking around in a bathing suit and bare feet . His toe nails were longer than my finger nails and Filthy dirty as were his finger nails. My husband said I was being a snot. Maybe I was but..................  

[stuart]

I was the only delivery for that evening and they gave me the exact time, and then called me when the delivery person was pulling out of there parking lot.
 I guess I was a lucky one !

One of the worst things a dealer can do is set themselves up for failure...Even if there is only one delivery the coordination of that to hit an exact time is tough! Always, always give a window of time and then try to show up in the front end of that window.

[SDguy]

This is a great topic hottub.pool_boy. As well as the reponses-great advice...

[stl-rex]

From my shopping experiences, don't arbitrarily bash the competition.  The Master dealer said that Arctic didn't know how to build a tub and that Hotsprings was overpriced junk (as he rolled his eyes).  He lost all credibility as I knew from my research that neither was true, and he lost a wet test.  Master has some nice features and might have received a second look otherwise.

I think it's perfectly fine to differentiate your product with your features and to market what you think are your advantages, real or perceived.  But be positive about it.

[Duffman]

I'm curious if anyone has witnessed this orientation method.

The Jacuzzi dealer in Fairfax, Virginia will not provide an orientation at the time of delivery. In fact, he will not give you the starter chemical pack that comes with the spa until you to go back to the store on a Saturday, after the delivery, to sit in on a group orientation class.

I spoke with a customer that complained his spa sat empty in his backyard for nearly three weeks because his schedule didn't allow him to make it back to the store for the first couple of Saturday's. After the class he was advised to purchase a number of other accessories and left rather frustrated  (nice sales tactic  ).

The reason he didn't get information from Jacuzzi customer support or elsewhere was because the dealer told him not to fill the spa or add chemicals until he took the class.

During our chat is was clear that if he could do it again, the chemicals would have been purchased off the shelf, he would have said "forget it" to the starter pack and then would have received chemical advice elsewhere. I didn't ask if he was led to believe the warrranty required that he take the orientation  

Between his newbie concerns and his chem pack being withheld by the dealer, this customer lost a few weeks of long awaited soaking. Too bad.

I'm sure the dealer does this to save time and money, but in my mind it is a poor customer service approach. It certainly gives the impression that personalized service is not a priority (kind of like Best Buy  ). This and the lack of business information on the internet (e.g., Better Business Bureau, forum info, etc...) are my main concerns with this dealer.

I just gotta know... Is this common practice?