GM enlists Ritz-Carlton trainers to help improve Cadillac dealer service
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From: Charleston, WV
GM enlists Ritz-Carlton trainers to help improve Cadillac dealer service
General Motors has taken its Cadillac dealer network in for service in a big way, and the company is hoping that consumers will be able to tell the difference soon. While the products in GM's luxury portfolio have come a long way in just a few short years, customers lured in by slick ads and slicker sheetmetal have been turned off by a dealer experience that has remained largely unchanged over the decades. To fix that problem, The General recently brought together 300 salespeople for a training seminar in Chicago.
So how do you go about training workers to give customers a more gratifying sales experience? GM decided to turn to a group that knows a thing or two about hospitality – Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. – for some help. The hotel gurus suggested that dealership owners free up some cash to help rectify bad service issues. Some dealers have given sales people up to $500 in cash to help wow customers. The money can be used to provide free maintenance or extend subscriptions to OnStar or satellite radio in the event that a customer has a problem at the dealership.
The Chicago seminar is part of a nationwide training tour that GM hopes will stamp out the brand's reputation for hit-or-miss service.
So how do you go about training workers to give customers a more gratifying sales experience? GM decided to turn to a group that knows a thing or two about hospitality – Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. – for some help. The hotel gurus suggested that dealership owners free up some cash to help rectify bad service issues. Some dealers have given sales people up to $500 in cash to help wow customers. The money can be used to provide free maintenance or extend subscriptions to OnStar or satellite radio in the event that a customer has a problem at the dealership.
The Chicago seminar is part of a nationwide training tour that GM hopes will stamp out the brand's reputation for hit-or-miss service.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 162
From: St. Louis, MO
When you need service with a GM dealer you park outside, walk in through the main door, fight your way through sales man who don't understand your not here for a new car, finally find your way to the back just down the hallway with the bathrooms. Then try to get someone to come look at your car or take it around back and figure out how you're getting home.
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
....I bet they paid the Ritz guy good money for these same insights.....
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
....I bet they paid the Ritz guy good money for these same insights.....
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 38
When you need service with a GM dealer you park outside, walk in through the main door, fight your way through sales man who don't understand your not here for a new car, finally find your way to the back just down the hallway with the bathrooms. Then try to get someone to come look at your car or take it around back and figure out how you're getting home.
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
....I bet they paid the Ritz guy good money for these same insights.....
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
....I bet they paid the Ritz guy good money for these same insights.....
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 429
When you need service with a GM dealer you park outside, walk in through the main door, fight your way through sales man who don't understand your not here for a new car, finally find your way to the back just down the hallway with the bathrooms. Then try to get someone to come look at your car or take it around back and figure out how you're getting home.
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
Hell, even the Saab dealer was like that, except I got some POS from Hertz and not a new Saab. Dealing with Chevrolet dealerships has been some of the most painful experiences of my life. That, and the salesman are like vulchers, but that's most of the lower tier brands, except Honda.
It's real simple, they should make the experience as close to BMW dealers and dare I say, Aston Martin. Instead of trying to meet the standard, they should be setting the standard.
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,173
When you need service with a GM dealer you park outside, walk in through the main door, fight your way through sales man who don't understand your not here for a new car, finally find your way to the back just down the hallway with the bathrooms. Then try to get someone to come look at your car or take it around back and figure out how you're getting home.
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
....I bet they paid the Ritz guy good money for these same insights.....
A day later they get to your car, deny your valid warrenty issue because they don't feel they make enough fixing it and you spend the next 3 days playing phone tag with a service manager who doesn't seem to be avaliable when you call.
At Lexus you drive right in to the service area inside the building, get out and hand them the keys, tell them whats wrong and get in your loaner car until yours is fixed.
....I bet they paid the Ritz guy good money for these same insights.....
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 470
From: Wichita, KS
My GM experiences are about halfway between those two extremes.
With my GTO I drove it right into the garage and as long as I called ahead and reserved a loaner car I got one, though it was typically a POS Grand Am. I was also usually hassled to buy an oil change from them. Sometimes they would do warranty work, sometimes they would not. I would rate the service ok.
With my Saturn, I also drove up into the garage, but they had not loaner cars. They would arrange to have an Enterprise rental car arranged to be available if you called ahead HOWEVER if they could not verify your warrantly claim then you would have to reimburse the dealership for the cost of the rental car. I declined the rental car and had my wife picked up. Good thing too since they denied my waranty claim.
With my Ford, its pretty much the same deal as with my GTO. The people are nicer at the Ford dealership though and they provided a rental even when just having accessories installed.
It was a POS cavalier though (Ford/Chevy dealership).
With my GTO I drove it right into the garage and as long as I called ahead and reserved a loaner car I got one, though it was typically a POS Grand Am. I was also usually hassled to buy an oil change from them. Sometimes they would do warranty work, sometimes they would not. I would rate the service ok.
With my Saturn, I also drove up into the garage, but they had not loaner cars. They would arrange to have an Enterprise rental car arranged to be available if you called ahead HOWEVER if they could not verify your warrantly claim then you would have to reimburse the dealership for the cost of the rental car. I declined the rental car and had my wife picked up. Good thing too since they denied my waranty claim.
With my Ford, its pretty much the same deal as with my GTO. The people are nicer at the Ford dealership though and they provided a rental even when just having accessories installed.
It was a POS cavalier though (Ford/Chevy dealership).
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 808
From: manassas, VA
Yeah, lol
My local pontiac dealer was pretty good. The few times i did take it in for warranty work i drove into the garage and threw them the keys
First time was for a bad door lock solenoid. They said it' d take at least a day to get to it and get the part in so they gave me a rental (pos hertz car though)
Second time was for a flat tire, in the afternoon on a saturday of the 4th of july weekend. They got right on it for me and i was barely late for the party i was going to.
Third time was for a seam splitting on my backseat leather (common GTO problem) They offered me a rental car, but i told them to just pull the backseat (5 minute operation) and i'll drive it like that until it was fixed (they farmed out the upholstery to a local leather shop)
Funny thing was, i didn't even buy the car there. The sales manager was dicking around too much playing the payment game and wouldn't just talk numbers / match when i knew from his figures that i already had a better quote from another dealer.
My local pontiac dealer was pretty good. The few times i did take it in for warranty work i drove into the garage and threw them the keys
First time was for a bad door lock solenoid. They said it' d take at least a day to get to it and get the part in so they gave me a rental (pos hertz car though)
Second time was for a flat tire, in the afternoon on a saturday of the 4th of july weekend. They got right on it for me and i was barely late for the party i was going to.
Third time was for a seam splitting on my backseat leather (common GTO problem) They offered me a rental car, but i told them to just pull the backseat (5 minute operation) and i'll drive it like that until it was fixed (they farmed out the upholstery to a local leather shop)
Funny thing was, i didn't even buy the car there. The sales manager was dicking around too much playing the payment game and wouldn't just talk numbers / match when i knew from his figures that i already had a better quote from another dealer.
Last edited by notgetleft; Jun 15, 2010 at 12:01 PM.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 162
From: St. Louis, MO
It's obvious neither of you two have any experience in marketing and are probably under qualified, which means you've probably made management by now and notgetleft is great it seems at being a yesman so he's probably moving up too.
Let me try to explain this to you.
I am the customer, I am right, I don't care about your dealership. I care about me only, my experience and I will tell 10 friends about my experience.
As I am sure this is still lost on you the sentence above is pretty much marketing 101 day 1 that any customer who has a bad experience will tell 10 more about it.
As I am sure this is still lost you, do you really think I take any of my cars to a dealership for anything? Heck no I do my own work so what exact dealer are you referring to when you say the crappy one I go to?
Let me try to explain this to you.
I am the customer, I am right, I don't care about your dealership. I care about me only, my experience and I will tell 10 friends about my experience.
As I am sure this is still lost on you the sentence above is pretty much marketing 101 day 1 that any customer who has a bad experience will tell 10 more about it.
As I am sure this is still lost you, do you really think I take any of my cars to a dealership for anything? Heck no I do my own work so what exact dealer are you referring to when you say the crappy one I go to?
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 470
From: Wichita, KS
Let me try to explain this to you.
I am the customer, I am right, I don't care about your dealership. I care about me only, my experience and I will tell 10 friends about my experience.
As I am sure this is still lost you, do you really think I take any of my cars to a dealership for anything? Heck no I do my own work so what exact dealer are you referring to when you say the crappy one I go to?
That said there are a lot of shady dealers who will not do work that they should.
I have worked in retail and I can tell you that the customer is certainly not always right and no I am not a manager, nor do I wish to be.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,165
From: Sterling Heights, MI
Warranty work is something I would always expect a business to perform if the part in question failed under circumstances outlined in the coverage language.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,165
From: Sterling Heights, MI
Because obviously the way the world works is always represented correctly in a college classroom. 
Show me a business that does exactly what every single one of its customers demands and I'll concede the point. Toyota still has a sterling reputation, yet I highly doubt they have made each and every one of their customers completely satisfied every time out. Do you not understand that there are nutcases out there that are always trying to get something for nothing? Yeah, they give their family and friends their spin on how they were so poorly treated, but as a business you expect and accept that, and do your best to treat your customers the best you can within reason.
Back on topic, Cadillac absolutely should be leading the way in GM's dealer experience. Any tool or consulant they use to meet that end is A-OK in my book.
Show me a business that does exactly what every single one of its customers demands and I'll concede the point. Toyota still has a sterling reputation, yet I highly doubt they have made each and every one of their customers completely satisfied every time out. Do you not understand that there are nutcases out there that are always trying to get something for nothing? Yeah, they give their family and friends their spin on how they were so poorly treated, but as a business you expect and accept that, and do your best to treat your customers the best you can within reason.
Back on topic, Cadillac absolutely should be leading the way in GM's dealer experience. Any tool or consulant they use to meet that end is A-OK in my book.
Last edited by Z28Wilson; Jun 15, 2010 at 01:19 PM.
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Joined: Sep 1998
Posts: 4,320
From: Memphis
I got by far the cheesiest sales experience of any luxury dealer I've shopped at when I went to my local Caddy dealer. I was looking at the new CTS and out front they had the CTS advertised as up to 36 mpg!
It has been 2-3 years since then but I remember the salesman and sales manager slung a lot of BS my way trying to make me feel like I was missing out on a big opportunity when in fact the numbers they were offering me were not competitive in the least.
The dealership was pretty shoddy looking too. Fine for a Chevy dealer but not for a luxury brand.
It has been 2-3 years since then but I remember the salesman and sales manager slung a lot of BS my way trying to make me feel like I was missing out on a big opportunity when in fact the numbers they were offering me were not competitive in the least.
The dealership was pretty shoddy looking too. Fine for a Chevy dealer but not for a luxury brand.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 808
From: manassas, VA