One of our cars died (let's just call it the expensive German sedan), and so we went test-driving today. Stop #1 was a Honda dealership, where we looked around a bit and then asked to go for a test drive. No one pounced on us, which was nice, but we were surprised to learn that we couldn't test-drive a Honda Fit because they weren't in stock.I have only experienced this one time before, last summer when we wanted to test-drive a Prius and they couldn't keep them on the lot. But I still don't get it... how can you sell a car if no one can test-drive it? It was quick and painless to test-drive, no hard sell, and we got a cold bottled water (although we served ourselves, no one offered us anything.)
We drove a Honda Civic Hybrid, a nice car. It didn't excite me, and the salesman was good but not great. He answered our questions, but didn't offer us much extra information. It was a bit disappointing to learn that the Honda's gas engine is always on, as that doesn't seem as "green" as you'd expect.
Next we went to drive the Scion xA, which is being phased out. And here we got a great salesman, someone who was excited about the cars and his job. Really fun car, sort of the poor-girls' Mini Cooper. He directed us on a special route to showcase various features of the car, accelerating up hills, handling over rough patches, handling on straightaways, etc. He went through all the features of the stereo, the three modes it offers, etc. If I was buying purely on the experience of the saleman's pitch, I would definitely have bought the xA. But I hated the way the A/C blew right onto my right hand, and the smog rating isn't very good.
So then we went to the next counter and got a Toyota salesman, in order to drive the Yaris. It's basically the same engine as the Scion xA, but in a different-shaped car so it gets better mileage. He didn't offer any of the points that the Scion guy did, so driving the car along the same route was missing all the cool sales information the first guy gave us. He did, however, find out that we were most interested in mileage, and began to pitch the Prius. I had driven a Prius last summer and didn't like the weird rear window or the unfamiliar, high-tech dashboard and keyless start, but by the time we got back I figured, Why not drive it again? The Prius is now widely available, Toyota having finally opened another plant, so they're giving good financing and even incentives. I was excited about the car, despite the salesman, and probably will be buying a Prius. But not one of these dealerships had such a fantastic experience to keep me from shopping around for the best price.Tip of the day: Passionate sales people really make an experience sing. For a high-priced product like a car, they don't make or break a sale, but they certainly help. Create more experience elements, like offering water or coffee, and provide more chances to touch the merchandise, so that people can picture themselves with the product.
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, Toyota, Honda, Prius
