Team-BHP - Comedy of Errors at Indian Dealerships

Started as a funny thread , but looks like turning to be serious.

@dcs, I agree with you for the fact that this is a reality. But, anyone working for a mere bread and butter is NOT entitled to be erroneous in his/her work. A customer walking into the showroom is right in expecting right answers from the guys/girls they meet there.

We, here in this forum know a little bit to judge right / wrong, but there are many who depend on them for information. Imagine some unsuspecting guy buying a 1600 power car just because salesman told. I know the buyer has to think, but shouldn't the sales man? After all it is his job, and better he does it well. I completely agree with samurai san in this regard.

I have seen too many projects do down the toilet due to transmission loss between SMEs and programmers, therefore I don't believe in this separation anymore. My programmers don't code unless they understand the domain. I always train them on domain and the requirement, before they write single line of code.

Similarly dealerships/manufacturers should train the salesmen to be knowledgeable about the product. They should be at least able to explain what's on the brochure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1555244)

rl: rl: Classic man!

I can't say I haven't heard a similar variant before.

Would be a fun job no doubt. Team-BHPian's would be sales toppers!

agree: especially FIAT should thank T BHP-ians for Punto / Linea sales

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnjacob (Post 1553630)

Two words: domain knowledge. If he is working in the automotive domain, he ought to know the basics of that domain. Otherwise, he would not be a very good developer of automotive embedded software.

How did you find out that she was taken?

Quite frankly, i asked her about her weekend plans.:)

[quote=johnjacob;1553630]Two words: domain knowledge. If he is working in the automotive domain, he ought to know the basics of that domain. Otherwise, he would not be a very good developer of automotive embedded software.

I second that!

And ABS = Anti Braking System for most of the fellows at the dealerships.
I've also heard so many SG's telling ABS and Airbags are of no use in India :eek:

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcs (Post 1555533)

1. Most of the Sales people are NOT from the Automobile Field. We would not get any IITian or a DCE graduate to work for the Agency.

I agree on your points.. but at most car dealerships(at least in Mumbai) there is one grey haired guy (GM or someone) who knows & can answer every single thing. But why don't he sit with these sales guys to educate them ? trust me it'll be worth the time spend.

I am from DCE!

Pay me 6-7 lacs and I'll be more than happy selling cars for you day in and day out.

Perhaps, dealers should hire some qualified people to answer difficult ones and train the staff.

@~~h

I have seen a lot of *grey haired* GMs take active interest in the buying process. It is however expecting too much from them to take care that all TDs are conducted satisfactorily.

More funnies please!

I find it amazing that anyone thinks it is even slightly ok to have to deal with idiots, or worse, liars, when making such a large purchase.

Imagine spending that much money on surgery, and finding that the docs didn't know the basics of their job --- people would run away!

Maruti Car Bazaar : Near Ashoka Pillar, jayanagar : one fine sunday morning
All the dealers were there with their lot.
Me and my roomie were interested in old Zens.Found a MPFI model. As the SE about the specs and mileage.
We inadvertantly compared it to the Santro.

SE : "Saar, this has a 12 bit ECU and Santro has a 8 bit".
Us : "So??"
SE : "Saar, this car has 4 bits more!!:Shockked:"

My roomie is a Manager in Bosch and I have been a car lover by birth.We put on a poker face, came out of the venue,lit up a deathstick and rolled with laughter! Now what can we possibly do with those extra 4 bits!!

Now coming back to the heated topic of domain knowledge..
In Bosch, if you are in the ECU division, the caliberations are based on Torque & Bhp curves.However,along with the design documents(which few read and very few understand) there are also indicated values that should be obtained and changes to be made(in bits n bytes). Hence, a totally disinterested Bangalore techie with money& etc & etc on his mind would never be able to tell zilch about torque eventhough he would definitely remember when he's next scheduled for Stutgart.
I too would not take such a person into my team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aqualeo2040 (Post 1556312)

SE : "Saar, this has a 12 bit ECU and Santro has a 8 bit".
Us : "So??"
SE : "Saar, this car has 4 bits more!!

Extra 4 bits for disaster recovery

If up to 4 bits fall off on a potholed road, ECU would wake up "reserve" bits and put them to work :uncontrol

This happened when I went to take delivery of VW Jetta, During final inspection, I casually mentioned to my brother regarding the lack of USB port for iPod connectivity. upon this, salesman barged in and pointed at Audio-in jack.

Me: Yeah, It can play from iPod but you can neither charge the iPod nor control playlists.

SE: Oh...you can surely do tht when you connect it to this jack.

Me: I am very sure you can't charge an iPod through audio port.

SE: I have done it and you'll have no problem. This is a very advanced car. :uncontrol

Now, VW dealers pay a lot to sales executive and would have least expected a decent knowledge of the car. I would also add to the discussion that Sales executives are not paid peanuts as some people have suggested. Agreed, the basic salary is low but taking incentives into account, An average salesman's salary would rival a BPO employee or Software Engineer !!!