Quote:
Originally Posted by you&me
And this is consistent with something else a lot of people don't realize about the car dealership business - it is very siloed and each department typically operates as its own business under the umbrella of the dealership; new car sales, parts, service, used cars, finance, etc all have their owner P&L and (usually) are each in it to maximize their own P, with little to no care for another department's L. For example:
- The new car department wants to maximize their profit on a new car, even if a discount would help a buyer qualify for financing;
- The finance department wants to maximize their profit, which means maximizing fees and add-ons (and somewhat ironically, maximizing the sale price);
- The used car department wants to buy your trade in for as little as possible (so they can make more money on it), even if giving you a higher offer would help the new car department sell you a new car (and the finance department get another finance deal done);
- When the used car department needs to service your trade-in before it goes on the lot, they have to pay the service department full retail for that service (or occasionally a token discount);
- The service department doing the service on the trade in, has to pay the parts department full retail for the parts needed during the service (or occasionally a token discount).
Etc, etc
Knowing this can help some people understand why the entire dealership experience is so unpleasant and terrible... Not only are you there "competing" to get a good deal, but then every touch point you encounter along the "sales journey" (ewwww) is competing against the others... This model is what makes change and disruption so difficult and the only people that win are the ones that would be in charge of implementing change - the dealers.
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Why is this? I've heard this before but never understood the reason.
I mean we're just a small store but I can't imagine having my goldsmith that sits beside me operate as her own business under my business... seems like it's way worse for the customer.