[JakiChan]

My SA indicated that there's supposed to be some new way for customers to track their car through the process, but that she hadn't been trained on it yet. I have my Commission Number, and given that the Porsche Delivery app for iPad asks for the commission number, but doesn't give any tracking data.

My SA is the Internet Sales SA, and she's pretty busy and I hate being a pest, so if there's some way I can check the delivery dates on a regular basis that'd be awesome. For example, making sure the car is going into the body shop when it's supposed to, etc.

 

[lajoiedp]

When you find out, let us know. Right now I have to ask my SA for updates. My car should be leaving the port next week.

 

[GTS Daddy]

There is no way for consumers to track their ordered cars in real time. We are discussing it but it’s nowhere near consumer ready.

 

[TEST DRyVer]

There is no way for consumers to track their ordered cars in real time. We are discussing it but it’s nowhere near consumer ready.

GTS Daddy is correct. I've been hearing rumors about Porsche creating a process for their guests to check on their order status, but there's no such thing in operation at the moment. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one... Maybe by the time you order your next Porsche :nerd:

 

[JakiChan]

Maybe an enthusiastic rep on here can help me so I don't bug the nice lady at my dealership?

 

[lajoiedp]

Maybe an enthusiastic rep on here can help me so I don't bug the nice lady at my dealership?

I used to feel like I was bugging the SA when I asked questions or for a delivery schedule update, but then I realized that answering client questions and providing periodic updates is part of their job. I was having trouble getting my SA to respond to a simple question or two after I placed my order, until I got tired of chasing him for answers and sent the following email to the GM about the problem.


"I have sent 3 emails (see below) to (SA) over the last week and have not heard back from him once. Is he still with your dealership? Perhaps you can answer the questions I asked?


I have to tell you, I've been in sales my entire career (33 years) and I take great pride in getting back to my clients within hours (if not minutes) from getting an inquiry. No customer (or prospect for that matter) should not have to wait a week or more to get an answer to some simple questions. This has happened more then once since I've placed my order with your dealership and I'm getting pretty frustrated (when I should be getting excited about my vehicles arrival). I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, but if this is an issue specific to (SA), perhaps I can be assigned another sales associate going forward?"


Since that email everything has changed. My SA has been very responsive. Never feel like you are bugging your SA. They are there to serve you (or they should be) and making $$$ off of your business - let them earn it!

 

[Porsche2018]

I used to feel like I was bugging the SA when I asked questions or for a delivery schedule update, but then I realized that answering client questions and providing periodic updates is part of their job. I was having trouble getting my SA to respond to a simple question or two after I placed my order, until I got tired of chasing him for answers and sent the following email to the GM about the problem.


"I have sent 3 emails (see below) to (SA) over the last week and have not heard back from him once. Is he still with your dealership? Perhaps you can answer the questions I asked?


I have to tell you, I've been in sales my entire career (33 years) and I take great pride in getting back to my clients within hours (if not minutes) from getting an inquiry. No customer (or prospect for that matter) should not have to wait a week or more to get an answer to some simple questions. This has happened more then once since I've placed my order with your dealership and I'm getting pretty frustrated (when I should be getting excited about my vehicles arrival). I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, but if this is an issue specific to (SA), perhaps I can be assigned another sales associate going forward?"


Since that email everything has changed. My SA has been very responsive. Never feel like you are bugging your SA. They are there to serve you (or they should be) and making $$$ off of your business - let them earn it!

Same problem I had so instead of buying my 718 CS 20 minutes from my home I had to travel 3 hours away. This time I am using the local dealership and working directly with the sales manager, who by the way, is both helpful, and responsive. This lack of responsiveness is far to common, unfortunate indeed. I am not in sales but respond immediately when people contact me and need my assistance.

 

[lajoiedp]

Same problem I had so instead of buying my 718 CS 20 minutes from my home I had to travel 3 hours away. This time I am using the local dealership and working directly with the sales manager, who by the way, is both helpful, and responsive. This lack of responsiveness is far to common, unfortunate indeed. I am not in sales but respond immediately when people contact me and need my assistance.

Unfortunately I didn't get the lack of response from the SA until after my order was placed, otherwise I would not have ordered from them. They are 2 hours away (I had other dealers who were within an hour) but they gave me the best discount. In my experience with salespeople, the ones that are less successful are very shortsighted, in that they only focus on activities that can affect today's sales and don't consider how their actions (or lack thereof) today can affect future sales.

 

[Porsche2018]

In my experience with salespeople, the ones that are less successful are very shortsighted, in that they only focus on activities that can affect today's sales and don't consider how their actions (or lack thereof) today can affect future sales.

That is a very thoughtful and insightful comment. I am not sure if the Porsche dealerships foster a culture of indifference but I encountered an air of condescension far to often and at this point I have communicated with quite a few Porsche dealerships. I guess most Porsche SAs like spitting in the wind or thumbing noses at wealthy clients.
I have related in the past the a problem we had at a dealership in San Antonio Texas that would not let my wife and I test drive a base 911 together.....shortsighted indeed.

 

[GTS Daddy]

Great insight here. There is also the side of the SA of course. There is no specific case that I will refer to but I have noticed the customers that get the best service are the one's that are paying a fair price for the services rendered. Think about it. With some exception, each one of you here does something to earn the money to pay for these great cars. What if your supervisor or your client said to you they would pay you 50% or even 75% less for the same job you were just paid full price for? What if this pattern continued and you knew which jobs were getting paid <50% and which jobs were paying your full wage? Which job would you inherently put more effort into?

You car argue as I know you will, but most of you will have a difficult time to honestly answer both equally. You get what you pay for.

Reflecting on this short-sightedness comment as mentioned above, it must be very easy to understand why there is such little participation on the forums from those of us from the other side of the deal.

In every aggregation of likes on the internet, there is vicious division to either one side or the other. It is cultured to become less tolerant and less understanding to the other party. I could list multiple examples, but this forum is educated enough to comprehend where I am going with this.

 

[GregW]

Great insight here. There is also the side of the SA of course. There is no specific case that I will refer to but I have noticed the customers that get the best service are the one's that are paying a fair price for the services rendered. <snip>

Absolutely.

I've said it a couple of times--search for the best service, attitude and price. The very best price only is likely to cost you down the track.

I got (compared to the US) a minuscule discount. I also received about $1500 worth of extras, I get greeted with great enthusiasm and a barista made espresso every time I visit the dealer, as much help as I need in mastering the Boxster's complexities, invites to special get-togethers (such as meeting Porsche race drivers) with great food and fine wine, and IMMEDIATE attention for the one warranty issue I had (a broken wire that required a steering wheel swop for diagnosis and a disassembly of my wheel to re-wire the switch), and they were happy to set the headlights the way I wanted.

 

[JakiChan]

Great insight here. There is also the side of the SA of course. There is no specific case that I will refer to but I have noticed the customers that get the best service are the one's that are paying a fair price for the services rendered. Think about it. With some exception, each one of you here does something to earn the money to pay for these great cars. What if your supervisor or your client said to you they would pay you 50% or even 75% less for the same job you were just paid full price for? What if this pattern continued and you knew which jobs were getting paid <50% and which jobs were paying your full wage? Which job would you inherently put more effort into?

You car argue as I know you will, but most of you will have a difficult time to honestly answer both equally. You get what you pay for.

Reflecting on this short-sightedness comment as mentioned above, it must be very easy to understand why there is such little participation on the forums from those of us from the other side of the deal.

In every aggregation of likes on the internet, there is vicious division to either one side or the other. It is cultured to become less tolerant and less understanding to the other party. I could list multiple examples, but this forum is educated enough to comprehend where I am going with this.

For the record, my SA has been terribly nice. This dealership has gone to bat for me more than once. I attribute this to the relationship. I can think of, between my father and I, 6 cars we've bought from this family (not counting my car on order). The family whose name is on the dealership went to our church, and we all carpooled to Catholic school. One of the two brothers who started their dealership group was at my EVERY time I've asked for data I've been told that I'm not bugging her, she's used to this level of high-touch in these sales clearly. I simply don't wish to take advantage of her kind nature and chew up too much of her time because I'm not patiently waiting for my car. I didn't beat them up on price. They came back with an offer so far below what anyone else had offered that I was honestly shocked.

My SA is wonderful. She clearly loves the brand, but I know that I'm an impatient a-hole. There's nothing I can do but wait until July.

 

[GregW]

If all of that⬆︎ is true, she'll not mind an enquiry about the car's status. I reckon it took my dealer less than 2 or 3 minutes to update me (each time:laugh.

 

[JakiChan]

If all of that⬆︎ is true, she'll not mind an enquiry about the car's status. I reckon it took my dealer less than 2 or 3 minutes to update me (each time:laugh.

Yeah, but I'd ask every day if I could. I'd love to be able to check myself somehow. I suppose I only need to check in next when I'm supposed to move to V250 later this month.

 

[lajoiedp]

Great insight here. There is also the side of the SA of course. There is no specific case that I will refer to but I have noticed the customers that get the best service are the one's that are paying a fair price for the services rendered. Think about it. With some exception, each one of you here does something to earn the money to pay for these great cars. What if your supervisor or your client said to you they would pay you 50% or even 75% less for the same job you were just paid full price for? What if this pattern continued and you knew which jobs were getting paid <50% and which jobs were paying your full wage? Which job would you inherently put more effort into?

You car argue as I know you will, but most of you will have a difficult time to honestly answer both equally. You get what you pay for.

Reflecting on this short-sightedness comment as mentioned above, it must be very easy to understand why there is such little participation on the forums from those of us from the other side of the deal.

In every aggregation of likes on the internet, there is vicious division to either one side or the other. It is cultured to become less tolerant and less understanding to the other party. I could list multiple examples, but this forum is educated enough to comprehend where I am going with this.

I'm not sure I totally agree with your assessment. Again, I've been in sales my entire career. Some of my customers over the years negotiate price more than others. As a salesperson I have the option as to whether or not I want to meet their price. The price we ultimately agree upon has NEVER affected the way I service my clients after the sale. Why? One, because the price being paid includes a certain level of expected service and responsiveness, and two, if I want any chance of future $$$ I have the foresight to know that how I service them now will have a direct impact on that happening (or not).

 

[Porsche2018]

A professional provides the same level of service to all their customers, clients or patients for that matter. That is, in my mind, what defines a true professional.

 

[Sails Call]

I bought a monkey once and the store wouldn't take it back.

 

[Porsche2018]

I bought a monkey once and the store wouldn't take it back.

Well, maybe, just maybe it's because you tried to return a Gorilla. After all lets be reasonable, the banana consumption rate (bananas/meters) is completely different.

 

[JakiChan]

A professional provides the same level of service to all their customers, clients or patients for that matter. That is, in my mind, what defines a true professional.

Perhaps, but even with vendors that I've spent millions and millions of dollars with, I've found that I get more love with honey than vinegar. So I'm trying to curb my baser nature and be low maintenance, because when I needed them to go above and beyond they did so. In fact, since my company connections helped me get an allocation I was told by my company to send them some swag, which I am doing.

 

[GregW]

Perhaps, but even with vendors that I've spent millions and millions of dollars with, I've found that I get more love with honey than vinegar. So I'm trying to curb my baser nature and be low maintenance, because when I needed them to go above and beyond they did so. In fact, since my company connections helped me get an allocation I was told by my company to send them some swag, which I am doing.

The basic psychology of "reward" generally increasing positive regard is indisputable.

Porsche knows this, and sends goodies before purchase and after delivery.