Dealer put "Anything less than a 10 on the survey is failing" on my Invoice.. How about delivering service that warrants a 10?

[AussieJLOverland]

Look let's keep it simple, if I take my JLU in for a service & it's all done right in a reasonable time without any drama then they get a 10. The fact that they wash it and vac it is no never mind to me because I don't take it there to be washed & vacuumed I take it there for it to be serviced & repaired. Is it a nice dealer touch to pick it up washed & vacuumed....sure it is but it's not why it's there & they could hand wax & polish it for me but if they didn't do the repair or service right then no amount of detailing my jeep is going to get them a 10! To me a 10 is just a "did we do the job right & in a reasonable time frame & without drama" kinda thing. It sounds like a lot of people here wouldn't give a 10 even if the sales person sucked their dick after every service or repair. I think some people's expectations are a bit high for what dealers need to do to get a 10. Do some dealers suck....sure they do, I've had some poor experiences at the dealer myself but there are some good ones too. At the end of the day they just do what's required of them to get the job done & move on to the next job. Dealers can make the experience better by offering a cup of coffee while you wait, a comfortable waiting area, courtesy car & good communication but beyond that what more do you want than the job done & done right the 1st time. If they did the job right then give them a 10, if they didn't then give them an appropriate lower score based on what occurred.

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[AussieJLOverland]

It's been a well known fact for decades that spare parts & service are the most profitable part of a dealership & often carry the dealership. That is probably part of the problem these days because manufacturers now offer fixed price servicing, extended warranty etc which all cut into a dealerships profitability. Look at my deal in Aus...fixed price service for 5 years, warranty for 5 years which leaves dealerships with little room to move to make money from parts & service. As a previous poster commented, why would a dealer prioritise my fixed price $299 service when another customer has a job out of warranty they can do & charge $2000 for or even a service that they can charge full price for that's not fixed price by jeep themselves (room to rip off the customer for more $$$). I think a big part of the problem is the system of prices/parts/service/warranty costs between the dealers & jeep (FCA). Dealers can't rort the system as much & make more money with long term fixed price services & warranty set by manufacturers these days & it's hurting their bottom line. They have to work harder to make less money now. It's no excuse for crappy service of course but I think it's part of the problem these days.

 

[AferVentus]

And then there’s this BS from my dealer. Nothing screams desperation like direct texts such as this.

 

[willcasp]

And then there’s this BS from my dealer. Nothing screams desperation like direct texts such as this.

It would be more beneficial if they asked this up FRONT, more along the lines of "Hello AferVentus, we would like to be sure that the service experience you are ABOUT to receive will completely satisfy you. We will do our best to deliver that experience, please let us know if we are straying from your expectations so that we can correct problems right away"...

That attitude may actually result in a "Completely satisfied is a 10" sort of experience.

 

[AferVentus]

It would be more beneficial if they asked this up FRONT, more along the lines of "Hello AferVentus, we would like to be sure that the service experience you are ABOUT to receive will completely satisfy you. We will do our best to deliver that experience, please let us know if we are straying from your expectations so that we can correct problems right away"...

That attitude may actually result in a "Completely satisfied is a 10" sort of experience.

Yup. This showed up today a week after I picked up the new 4xe.

 

[mark203]

A couple of things come to mind working through this thread.
First is the whole thing about tying incentives to the outcomes on surveys. There is a ton of very robust research that has established that when incentives are tied to OUTCOMES, people will engage in any BEHAVIOR necessary to get the outcome. Can you spell ENRON?

Unfortunately our business culture in general tends to disconnect process from results, and only pay attention to results - in this case survey scores. In my consulting practice I have seen this again and again in all kinds of businesses. Nobody looks at HOW the numbers were achieved, and short term results can always be reached at the expense of long-term reputation.

Problem is that it is a LOT harder to incentivise a specific way of engaging people, and harder still to consistently train to it, and harder again to do that when there is an arms-length relationship between (in this case) the dealer and FCA. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, only that it requires a fair amount of work, experimentation and learning. I work on this stuff a lot.

The other thing is the whole idea of a luxury brand. This is a lesson that Toyota learned a long time ago when a couple of attempts to launch a luxury brand failed. The famous story is that they then sent a few people on a research mission to the USA to learn what customers actually expected from "luxury." They paid these guys to live in Beverly Hills. What they learned was that is was a lot less about the car, and much more about how they were treated as customers. Toyota has known how to build high-quality vehicles for a long time. What they did, though, was spin off the Lexus brand as a separate network of dealers with different standards for how they dealt with these premium customers.

I have never owned a Lexus, so can't speak personally to this - nor can I say that things haven't changed, but that is the story of how the brand got established.

So... the rumor that Jeep is looking to spin off the Wagoneer into its own network of dealers aligns with this, though considering that existing dealers are already handling the brand, the reputation may have already been anchored.

 

[aldo98229]

A couple of things come to mind working through this thread.
First is the whole thing about tying incentives to the outcomes on surveys. There is a ton of very robust research that has established that when incentives are tied to OUTCOMES, people will engage in any BEHAVIOR necessary to get the outcome. Can you spell ENRON?

Unfortunately our business culture in general tends to disconnect process from results, and only pay attention to results - in this case survey scores. In my consulting practice I have seen this again and again in all kinds of businesses. Nobody looks at HOW the numbers were achieved, and short term results can always be reached at the expense of long-term reputation.

Problem is that it is a LOT harder to incentivise a specific way of engaging people, and harder still to consistently train to it, and harder again to do that when there is an arms-length relationship between (in this case) the dealer and FCA. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, only that it requires a fair amount of work, experimentation and learning. I work on this stuff a lot.

The other thing is the whole idea of a luxury brand. This is a lesson that Toyota learned a long time ago when a couple of attempts to launch a luxury brand failed. The famous story is that they then sent a few people on a research mission to the USA to learn what customers actually expected from "luxury." They paid these guys to live in Beverly Hills. What they learned was that is was a lot less about the car, and much more about how they were treated as customers. Toyota has known how to build high-quality vehicles for a long time. What they did, though, was spin off the Lexus brand as a separate network of dealers with different standards for how they dealt with these premium customers.

I have never owned a Lexus, so can't speak personally to this - nor can I say that things haven't changed, but that is the story of how the brand got established.

So... the rumor that Jeep is looking to spin off the Wagoneer into its own network of dealers aligns with this, though considering that existing dealers are already handling the brand, the reputation may have already been anchored.

Indeed.

Which begs the question: if we only pay attention to the results, then why send out a long ass survey...? There are much better, more cost-effective and less intrusive ways to get to that “score.”

With regards to positioning Wagoneer as a luxury brand: unless Stellantis is serious about giving Wagoneers only to dealers with a track record of superior customer service, this whole luxury brand thing is just a big joke.

My local Jeep dealer, which has got to be among the 1% worst dealers in the entire country, is now exhibiting a Wagoneer. If they can get a Wagoneer, anyone can get a Wagoneer. The only requirement to become a Wagoneer “luxury” dealer is to have a pulse....

 

[JEEPIDON]

Any dealer that solicits a high satisfaction score more than likely doesn't deserve it. If they have to ask for it then it's obvious they didn't earn it.

Not necessarily true. There is a lot of pressure for the sales rep to get a survey filled out by the customer, a good share simply ignore them. However, if the customer agrees to fill out the survey why not ask them to give you a good score?

Give a score that is warranted not just a blind 10 because most of the "perfect 10's" are discounted in the final analysis.

 

[JEEPIDON]

Indeed.

Which begs the question: if we only pay attention to the results, then why send out a long ass survey...? There are much better, more cost-effective and less intrusive ways to get to that “score.”

With regards to positioning Wagoneer as a luxury brand: unless Stellantis is serious about giving Wagoneers only to dealers with a track record of superior customer service, this whole luxury brand thing is just a big joke.

My local Jeep dealer, which has got to be among the 1% worst dealers in the entire country, is now exhibiting a Wagoneer. If they can get a Wagoneer, anyone can get a Wagoneer. The only requirement to become a Wagoneer “luxury” dealer is to have a pulse....

Agreed! I have directly the opposite relationship with my dealer.....they have treated me like royalty over the last 12 years. Service has been phenomenal, they know how much oil to put in because their software prints the service ticket based on the VIN of the vehicle (don't understand why other dealers don't seem to have this same system) and they call me the day before my appt. to confirm and ask if I need transportation after dropping the vehicle off. (10 mile radius they provide drop off and pick up).

I thought in the beginning Jeep announced that only the premier Jeep dealers (by volume and positive feedback) would be allowed to participate in the Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer ventures. This original qualification seems to have evaporated and I agree if you're not up to treating luxury customers like they have been....well that could be short term success.

Regardless of who's selling them, I cannot justify a freakin' $110,000 vehicle that is based on the RAM 1500! How can a Grand Wagoneer be double the price of a fully loaded pickup? Same drive train, electronics, warnings, driving assists, etc. (It does have power adjusting head rests though!)

 

[willcasp]

...
I thought in the beginning Jeep announced that only the premier Jeep dealers (by volume and positive feedback) would be allowed to participate in the Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer ventures. This original qualification seems to have evaporated and I agree if you're not up to treating luxury customers like they have been....well that could be short term success.
...

We already have a data point for the "Luxury Dealership" experience with Stellantis. Maserati and Alfa Romeo are directly owned by Stellantis. The same majority owner of Stellantis is also a majority owner in Ferrari.

It doesn't bode well for this Wagoneer concept.

My friends who own these current Stellantis luxury brands seem to feel the service experience at the dealerships has been going down hill over the past few years. Not that Alfa Romeo of Maserati have ever been stand outs in the quality department to begin with.

 

[Chazdog]

I've been wondering why my sales guy isn't responding to my emails. Neither has the GM of the dealership, whom I have a good relationship with. I think that it comes down to the post purchase survey that I completed semi-honestly last summer. They asked for nothing but 10s and because of the good buying experience I had with them, I figured why not. When I was filling it out, I couldn't put a 10 for the service waiting area. It needs an overhaul and I figured a 9 might help them see this. A 9 mind you. Well that did it, I think. I am now on their shit list. BTW, I lied through the rest of the survey indicating with 10s that they had done all of these things for me that they were supposed to do but definitely didn't.

They seem to be overly beholden to FCA and these useless survey results. As a result, they come off as thin skinned and unprofessional when anything but 10s come their way. Sad because I liked these guys but I am obviously dead to them now.

 

[Sublime]

I'm all surveyed-out. I refuse to do surveys for anyone anymore.

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

The follow up call reminding me that anything less than 10 was a failure was also excellent. They were particularly peeved when I asked if their managers were responsible for the toxic approach of demanding customers lie through the surveys if anything was not actually a quality experience. So I said I would be sure to forward FCA their coaching email and the phone experience information. The law keeping businesses like that as the guaranteed middle man in this kind of deal needs to be removed, the managers responsible for this type of system deserve to be jobless.

 

[Murphydog]

I've been wondering why my sales guy isn't responding to my emails. Neither has the GM of the dealership, whom I have a good relationship with. I think that it comes down to the post purchase survey that I completed semi-honestly last summer. They asked for nothing but 10s and because of the good buying experience I had with them, I figured why not. When I was filling it out, I couldn't put a 10 for the service waiting area. It needs an overhaul and I figured a 9 might help them see this. A 9 mind you. Well that did it, I think. I am now on their shit list. BTW, I lied through the rest of the survey indicating with 10s that they had done all of these things for me that they were supposed to do but definitely didn't.

They seem to be overly beholden to FCA and these useless survey results. As a result, they come off as thin skinned and unprofessional when anything but 10s come their way. Sad because I liked these guys but I am obviously dead to them now.

Totally hear ya, remember it is corporate who drives the reward or punishment of the surveys, and it is very 1 sided. Effectively it means from the HQ point of view ANY problems the customer sees must be the dealers fault. I know, I know with most Jeep dealers it is their issue, however let’s say you are still irritated that your custom order took 6 months and didn’t get any communication from the factory, so you mark a few 9 s or less on the survey about it. No one at the factory gets dinged, nobody in customer care gets dinged, but the dealer? They take all the heat.
Because of that I simply don’t do surveys anymore

 

[wolf]

Not necessarily true. There is a lot of pressure for the sales rep to get a survey filled out by the customer, a good share simply ignore them. However, if the customer agrees to fill out the survey why not ask them to give you a good score?

Give a score that is warranted not just a blind 10 because most of the "perfect 10's" are discounted in the final analysis.

No such thing as a 10. Maybe a 8.5

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