Team-BHP - 'Dress Code' when visiting car showrooms for a test-drive?

I have had quite a few cars - some of them costing in excess of a crore - delivered to my residence to be kept over the weekend and returned on Monday.

In most cases i do not visit the showroom nor do they know me from Adam.

In one case, after the initial call, the dealer sent over two reps to meet me. They came over, not in the performance car, but in one of the rep’s personal cars. This was obviously to check out the customer and decide whether they could take the risk of handing over an expensive car to somebody they didnt know for a whole weekend.

After the visit, the car costing in excess of a crore was delivered to my residence the next weekend and taken back on Monday.

So it’s got nothing to do with the way one dresses. It’s more to do with the way you carry yourself that gives the dealership the signal as to how they should treat you.

As for the dress, I never go beyond jeans and T shirts. Chappals, torn jeans and a general unkempt look could be part of the reason for some folks being treated the wrong way.

After all, clothes do make the man.

Nothing wrong with clothes in my opinion, but even shorts or floaters should be neat and tidy. The way temperature is soaring and shall continue to, in coming years, sales floor which discriminate people based on clothes should be made aware [maybe officially too] to let this prejudice not come in way of treating walk-in customers.

There are many examples. And not just related to automobiles. A friend's dad who is the highest income tax payee amongst doctors here has got himself the highest variant car / SUV the showroom floor could offer as he was miffed by the treatment despite dressed appropriately [as a sales representative, I would have loved to offend if I could gauge this before hand :D]. With the same friend I was at some place and to kill time, we decided to walk in a merchandise store, he was apprehensive that we would have to buy something to justify the walk-in.

We went in, 2 sales guys came, I politely said, we are just here to look around and not necessarily buy something, to which they smiled and asked, that would you like one of us to accompany you and show you around or would you like to be on your own? ~ 20 mins later, we walked out with a couple of Polos and linen shirts.

I walk in with my best friend to the local Hyundai showroom. He has finally come back to base, but not many guys know him [its a small place], we express interest in Tucson and they said, they would get back, My friend did not utter a word. I get a call back from sales manager insisting to know, who the gentleman was. He was dressed smartly [of-course as he was on his way to his clinic] but the way one carries himself is enough to hint the sales people if they have been on sales floor for long to gauge by their way of interaction and not necessarily the way one dresses.

I personally prefer to go over in smart casuals. My job does not require me to dress formally & nor do I like formals much [thanks to heat & humidity].

Unless, sales floor come up with a dress code like 5 stars, they should welcome who ever walks in.

General Motors had a 10-page policy for dress codes! Mary Barra changed it to two words = Dress Appropriately :thumbs up. I'd say the same for visiting car showrooms, or any other workplace as well (e.g. government offices). Like it or not, as humans, we all have our prejudices and assumptions. When I was in a sales role in my plywood & education businesses, I most definitely was influenced by the customer's dress code. I don't visit car showrooms at all because I get all the media cars at home, but when I do, it is usually a Team-BHP t-shirt (that's all I wear during the day, 7 days of the week), smart denims, smart shoes & a branded watch. It's actually my staple attire for most of my daytime outings.

Plus, think of it from the salesman's point of view. Truth is, there are many tyre kickers & time wasters in car showrooms worldwide.

My personal attire policy is thus = better overdressed than under, be it a friend's birthday celebration at home or a wedding function.

Not the clothes but most sales guys will be keen to know what's your present ride and then they try to figure it out. I think Nexa and some other companies get this information on the customer enquiry/ contact card filled.

I have never got a car at my home or office for a test drive. I always make a plan to visit the showroom to have a feel of the other colours/ variants or compare with a totally different model. Most experiences are positive even when I have casually walked in my shorts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMG Power (Post 5078836)

Usually, such benefits are not available to normal folks and are usually passed if you happen to know someone in the brand or higher up at the dealership unless you are a blogger or an auto journalist. I am not sure if I can get such offers :coldsweat

I am old school when it comes to dressing, not only for visiting car showrooms, but others occasions as well. Dressing well can go a long way in creating and forging relationships and leave a lasting impact. As humans we are most likely to judge someone not only from their dressing, but also from their physical appearance in terms of grooming and cleanliness. Although one need not wear formal dress, it is always important to look neat and clean. Even with the casual dress code, there is a fine line on what is suitable.

One also has to think from the perspective of the showroom guys. They probably see a lot of time wasters and they cant afford to waste time on another. Not to say that dressing properly will surely get their attention, but then the chances of getting attended are higher. Another BIG factor is confidence with which one carries themselves. There is no point if your dressed well, yet cant speak up. Some of us might get caught off guard on a 'rainy day' and the only way to pull through might be with how we carry ourselves. For those of you who have seen The Pursuit of Happiness will probably recall why he was dressed like that in that scene. But what got him through was his confidence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUDKEbX5OQw

I do agree that for any salesperson, assessing whether a walk in customer is a genuine buyer or just a gawker is crucial. This is especially true for newly launched cars. 6 months after a launch, show rooms are very rarely crowded enough for spending time with any walk in to be a constraint.

I do believe that sales persons should be polite to everyone who walks in - people in India dress very differently - the gentleman in a white kurta and dhoti is as likely to be a Mercedes buyer as the guy in a T shirt and Bermudas or the one in natty formals.

But spending time on the right customer is a critical success factor for any salesperson - if you waste time on someone who is not going to buy, meeting your target becomes that much tougher.

I usually visit car showroom in a T Shirt, Bermudas and floaters - that is my usual weekend outfit. But I have never had a problem getting attention from
Salespersons - and that includes when I went to luxury car showrooms in a Vento. Of course they usually start by asking you where you work, and working for an MNC bank automatically gets you credibility with car sales people.

We are all judging everyone, consciously or sub-consciously, at all times: on their appearance, how/what they speak, and other tangible/intangible aspects. SAs in Tata/Mahindra ASC will treat owners of taxis and those of their other cars differently. I've myself noticed a perceivable difference in how showroom staff talks when you're in business attire vs. casual everyday clothing.

And clothing is just one factor.

Whether this judgement impacts how they treat you or how they approach dealing with you (generosity with TDs of your choice, offering coffee/snacks etc.) quite depends on the training / personality of the SA. Up in Gurgaon, I've seen farmers walk in showrooms and book/take delivery of cars while dressed in typical white kurta-dhoti and turban. How seriously do you think SAs from other parts of the country will take someone dressed like that.

Do you guys remember that incident where a RTO official degraded someone who'd come for the driving test because this person was wearing shorts and flip-flops.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...licence-7.html

I have an old story to tell in this context. Back in the year 2001, I was working with a tech startup in the US. Our company had gone IPO and we had decent money from stock options. Being the automobile fan I am, and mid 20s age, I decided to buy a BMW convertible.

Went to the showroom in a typical fresh-desi-in-US dressing style (and more shabby looking friends in tow). at the BMW showroom we asked the sales guy "Do you have a 330ci convertible?" to our surprise, the sales guy didn't even hesitate for a moment and he said "No sir, we do not have it". That's it, nothing like, "Instead why don't you look at the other model?" or anything like that.

Then we asked "Are you likely to get it in stock any time soon"..."I am sorry sir, I do not know when I will have it in stock"...

By then, my friend nudged me and told me, "man they don't want to sell to us, why don't we go to Lexus, they would be happy to sell".

So we drove to the nearby Lexus showroom. They were all over us, our shabby and down-market appearance didn't seem to bother them. They treated us like royalty, and I bought my Lexus GS300 there.

So, that experience taught me why my senior colleague used to sometimes advise "You need to dress for the part, if you want the part".

Dress code may or may not play a role but carrying oneself does. This is not only while visiting car/motorcycle showroom but otherwise as well.

It is all subjective and depends on person to person. I for one prefer business casuals and my riding gears consist of riding jacket, gloves, helmet and ankle length boots/riding shoes while visiting motorcycle showrooms for a test ride. While accompanying friends/relatives or going by self to car showrooms I prefer wearing semi-formal attire like a half sleeve shirt with chinos or trousers, leather shoes, etc. Maybe because I wear spectacles most people think of me as someone sophisticated. Although I haven't observed closely about how others dress while visiting showrooms but there is heavy prejudice in the sales industry against people being too casually dressed. For some people clothes are all about being comfortable, for some it is being classy while for some it is a part of their personality.

Just to cite an example when I went to buy a high end watch in a reputed chain of watch showroom. I visited the showroom straight from office so was in business formals (minus suit, tie, etc.) and it was evening. After entering the showroom I went straight to the brand counter of the watch I wanted. The sales guy greeted me and offered to show me the watches. As I had already decided on the model I told him the model number and showed him the pictures on my mobile. While all this was happening I observed a bunch of guys in T-shirts, Bermuda Shorts and slippers being completely snubbed by the sales people. I felt that's no way to treat prospective customers. Sales people can go on to build a relationship with a customer (irrespective of the dress one is wearing) who in future can become repeat customers.

There's a popular story that happened in Gulf, specifically Oman. Once a middle aged bedouin (also called Bedu in local parlance) entered a multi car dealer's showroom. He was carrying a gunny sack and needless to say was dressed like a bedouin does. Looking at his attire and him carrying a gunny sack no one in the showroom bothered to receive him. He walked straight towards a Toyota Landcruiser model on the showroom floor and showed his will to buy it, still no one paid any serious attention. He finally yelled that he wanted to buy the damn Land Cruiser and emptied his gunny sack on the floor which was full of cash that he had won in a camel race.

In times when the car industry much like many other industries trying hard to adopt a direct to consumer online model, should we really care about dress code for a dealership!?

The dealers care most about your background- business,office,home,current cars,etc. Although I am not one that visits the showroom ever but I think the keenness and seriousness about the purchase is what matter more than the clothing IMO. Being polite and asking the right questions is what will get you their attention more than your gucci shoes.