A sad tale of how not to sell cars (???)...

[rcc]

I've had mixed responses to requests for test drives while I was trying to decide what to finalize on.

As I learned more about what was happening at the stores, I realized it boiled down to whether the store had cars, whether they were getting slammed for test drive bookings (or having to send cars out for media events/reviews) and they're knowing why you want a test drive.

My suggestion: explain to them why you want the test drive. The people at the stores want to do the right thing. They'll do their best to fit you in, given the other priorities they're getting hit with. But be patient and flexible because weird things can get the way.

For example, at one point I couldn't get the test drive I wanted on a config that only one store had in. This because I wanted time with a non-Perf on a highway and there was road construction on the two different routes to the highway. This meant that a 15-20 minute test drive could easily turn into an hour because of traffic so they had to keep to a glorified "around the block" test drive route until one of the highway access routes was unblocked.

 

[Ocelot]

I'm going to get slammed for this but I just have to say it....
This is an example of pure arrogance. Tesla needs to learn how to say yes, pure and simple. Every potential customer is consciously or subconsciously evaluating the quality of the organization they are dealing with. Only hard core early adopter Tesla fans (of which I am one) will put up with this crap.

Find a way to give everyone a ride that wants one period full stop. If you must, cull out the pure joy riders but put everyone else you can possibly get your hands on in the car. You may not need these people right this very second but mark my words; a time will come in the very near future where you will need every last one of them and every one they will rave to about the car.

It is worth repeating as it needs to go to everything Tesla does (trades, deliveries, service, etc.); Tesla, find a way to say yes as much as humanly possible! I want you to succeed.

i agree with this. I did not take from this they are trying to be arrogant, any regular reader here realizes just how much they pay attention to the consumer. Rather though I agree with the point you 'just gotta make it happen'. if someone displays really true interest (which to me dropping by and phoning afterwards while actively looking for a new car does ) either say can i get your number for a last minute cancellation, or why dont you come by the store, you might have to wait a bit but we will squeeze you in, having an employee come in early or stay late...something.

even be straight up, and explain the situation of minimal cars with lots of people wanting to drive them, and give a 'shortened' test ride.

on the other side of the equation, if this is a common enough scenario for george b to comment on it, then simply there is poor planning and they need to make more cars available to drive. if its uncommon then of course they would not. i am estimating here, but probably an extra 50/100 cars would probably solve this issue, and the cost of adding a few employees ( to give the rides) compared to a few more sales would more than balance out. i also realize this would delay reservation holders cars another 3-4 days, but for someone who was waiting years, i do not think this would be an issue.

 

[gregincal]

And some of us with a long Tesla history would say that that is exactly what they have been doing. Do you really believe that they are instructing stores to be arrogant? We have countless stories in this forum of them going above and beyond to say yes.

pffffyt.

Maybe, but there are too many reports (as well as personal experience) that some stores are doing a better job than others when it comes to test drives. I have full faith that Tesla will continue to tweak things to be better, but they need to.

 

[Krugerrand]

She wanted to buy a Porsche last weekend - but after looking at the Tesla, and driving the Porsche, she thought she wanted the Tesla. She'll wait the 6 months... We may keep the Prius, or trade it for a Lexus to drive for 6 months, then sell it... I'll call the store and try again...

Please do call the store again and don't give up so easily. Explain it just as you've explained it to us, and I'm sure you can get a test drive arranged in a reasonable period of time. Keep us posted.

 

[lolachampcar]

No I do not think Tesla instructs their people to be arrogant.

Tesla does have a different attitude; the Silicon Valley touch if you will. There are a lot of good things about high tech companies but they are not always in tune with people or the customer experience.

Webster says arrogance is in part "an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner".. A potential customer comes in and goes for a ride. The potential customer reaches back out to Tesla after having driven the Panamerra and wants to drive the car (remember, it is a husband and wife). They are told they can not because other's have priority. It is not unreasonable to characterize that as an arrogant response when most salesmen would kill for that very opportunity. I know, I know, these are not salesmen...... I circle back to the definition of arrogance.

I am simply asking Tesla's sales/customer interface to do everything in its power to say yes to the customer and put as many people in the car as they humanly can. To do anything less than this is an unnecessary risk to the success of MY company.



cardriver,
Please find a local owner and go visit with them. You will probably find a wealth of knowledge about the car, the company and the experience.

 

[Cirrus]

The "no test drive" was not my experience I called the Washington DC store in late August for a test drive. They said they would have a car in early September. I made an appointment and went in and test drove it along with my wife. I put in my reservation after the test drive. In late December I just popped into the store unannounced to look at interiors prior to making my final selections after receiving my configure email. I asked for another drive while I was there and it was no problem.

 

[jerry33]

I had no problem getting a test drive during the Get Amped tour--even though I didn't register for the drive.

 

[Dborn]

In Australia, of course there are no modelS to test drive. However, when I wanted to see what an all electric vehicle was like, our local rep was only too willing to bring the roadster round to my home and gave me a full on test drive with the full knowledge that I was not interested in purchase. He even let me drive around to my sons home, got out of the car and let my son drive with me in the passenger seat! Following that, I did put down my deposit on the S - in April 2011. Last year, in March he had a test drive event in a local shopping centre, to which I was invited by email. Had a second test drive of the roadster with my wife as passenger. She hated the car - too low, sports suspension, hard seat etc., but I loved it!! Now can't wait for S, which alas will only be end of this year, maybe next year;(. Bottom line, the test drive and his attitude got me to reserve!!

 

[TD1]

They should keep their policy of no commissions for sold Cars.
But should put a reward system in place of how many People got a test drive, that would motivate the employes to give out as much Test drives as possible and that would finally lead to even more reservations and less disappointed customers.

 

[brianman]

They should keep their policy of no commissions for sold Cars.
But should put a reward system in place of how many People got a test drive, that would motivate the employes to give out as much Test drives as possible and that would finally lead to even more reservations and less disappointed customers.

I would broaden it beyond test drives. Happy visitors should be the goal. Yes, you want them to buy the car, but you'd rather than tell everyone they know how awesome the car and the Tesla store vibe is...so that they buy cars. Reward employees for making visitors happy, and empower them to tell people that they are here to make them happy, not to sell them a car. More specifically, "I don't get a commission on the vehicle but I do get noticed for making your Tesla experience better." As a customer, that's music to my ears.

 

[cardriver]

Quick update:

I talked to the store again, and this time - they were much more accommodating... Couldn't get a drive on Friday (which is the only time she has to drive - and we're heading to the Sundance festival for Sat/Sun) - then I explained we know a bit on the car from our previous experience, and we only need 5-10 minutes of her driving to seal the deal. I was told that Tesla books their cars for 1 hour blocks (!!!) - and if we only needed a short time, they can work us in Friday... So you'll probably see me posting here a bit more - as I'm sure she'll go for the Tesla....

Odd fact that seems to have traction - Tesla NEEDS to change their store policies - and since they are a store front - my suggestions:

1. McDonald's model - every store should be the same experience.
2. One hour blocks on a cars is (or should I use 'are' - any English majors around - please advise???) plain silly - clearly this leads to GOBS of down time. Use that downtime!!!
3. Empower the employees to make audible calls based on their 'feel' - this maybe is being done - because one employee took us for a 10 minute drive - which is the main thing that changed her mind - the Porsche wasn't the only option

People here keep saying they should have more vehicles - I don't think that matters if you are more smart related to time spent in/on the car. For each of these hour blocks for one customer, I'm sure there are lots of 15 minute windows-a-plenty in each day!

Looking forward to opening our home electrical panel, and plumbing 220/240 to the charger

 

[Todd Burch]

Quick update:

I talked to the store again, and this time - they were much more accommodating...

So glad to hear this cardriver. I really look forward to hearing back, and hope that you and your wife love the car! It really is an UNREAL driving experience!

Odd fact that seems to have traction - Tesla NEEDS to change their store policies - and since they are a store front - my suggestions:

1. McDonald's model - every store should be the same experience.

I believe this is their intent. I guess the goal hasn't been achieved yet.

2. One hour blocks on a cars is (or should I use 'are' - any English majors around - please advise???) plain silly - clearly this leads to GOBS of down time. Use that downtime!!!

One hour blocks on cars are... :smile:. Although I'd recommend "A one hour block is..." But anyway :wink:, I completely agree.

3. Empower the employees to make audible calls based on their 'feel' - this maybe is being done - because one employee took us for a 10 minute drive - which is the main thing that changed her mind - the Porsche wasn't the only option

100% agree.

Enjoy the drive/ride, and please report back. Hopefully Tesla will win back your trust and enthusiasm, but even more so I hope the car captures your attention and doesn't give it back!

 

[shokunin]

1 hour block sounds reasonable. It's a damn if you, damn if you don't scenario. For someone test driving they'll probably be lots of questions, 5 mins to walk to the car, 5 min orientation, 20 minute drive, 5 min to explain charging, 5 min walk back to the store, 10min to process $5K reservation, and get ready for the next appt. There's no way to schedule 30 min blocks unless they have so many reservations and enough sales associates to stagger and queue up rides that coincide with the return of the previous test drive.

 

[seidste1]

Swegman,
did you end up with the performance or non-performance model?
how would you compare the 2?

 

[capt601]

Quick update:

I talked to the store again, and this time - they were much more accommodating... Couldn't get a drive on Friday (which is the only time she has to drive - and we're heading to the Sundance festival for Sat/Sun) - then I explained we know a bit on the car from our previous experience, and we only need 5-10 minutes of her driving to seal the deal. I was told that Tesla books their cars for 1 hour blocks (!!!) - and if we only needed a short time, they can work us in Friday... So you'll probably see me posting here a bit more - as I'm sure she'll go for the Tesla....

Odd fact that seems to have traction - Tesla NEEDS to change their store policies - and since they are a store front - my suggestions:

1. McDonald's model - every store should be the same experience.
2. One hour blocks on a cars is (or should I use 'are' - any English majors around - please advise???) plain silly - clearly this leads to GOBS of down time. Use that downtime!!!
3. Empower the employees to make audible calls based on their 'feel' - this maybe is being done - because one employee took us for a 10 minute drive - which is the main thing that changed her mind - the Porsche wasn't the only option

People here keep saying they should have more vehicles - I don't think that matters if you are more smart related to time spent in/on the car. For each of these hour blocks for one customer, I'm sure there are lots of 15 minute windows-a-plenty in each day!

Looking forward to opening our home electrical panel, and plumbing 220/240 to the charger

Good for you! And good luck with the test drive. You're wife will love driving it. I know my wife does not want to give it to me during the week as it is her car.
I know others have mentioned it already but If you need more time with a car, let me know. We are in mission Viejo.

 

[swegman]

Seidste1,

I'm gonna get the performance model. Don't really need it, but figured if i'm spending that much money already, might as well go all the way. I also like the feel of the seats and interior better. The salesperson thought the seats were the same in both versions of the car, but I broke my tail bone once and I felt the performance version seats had somewhat better support in that region of the body.

Getting the white and need to decide between tan or gray interior. Have to January 23 to finalize.

 

[olanmills]

I was under the impression that test drives were now open to non-reservation holders and it had been this way for some time. Maybe it just depends on location and availability of cars, but yeah I think that reservation holders who have already test driven before either at a Get Amped event or a standard test drive at a store should be a low priority in favor of reservation holders who have not yet had a test drive and others who are seriously interested in the car, and I absolutely do think that Tesla should be trying to give test drives to folks who do not necessarily have the intention of putting down a deposit right away. It's a tough call though, because of course, they should avoid giving test drives to people who want nothing more than a joyride.

 

[Electric1]

I would broaden it beyond test drives. Happy visitors should be the goal. Yes, you want them to buy the car, but you'd rather than tell everyone they know how awesome the car and the Tesla store vibe is...so that they buy cars. Reward employees for making visitors happy, and empower them to tell people that they are here to make them happy, not to sell them a car. More specifically, "I don't get a commission on the vehicle but I do get noticed for making your Tesla experience better." As a customer, that's music to my ears.

Ditto that! My "guy" at the Westchester store was so great that I will go back there for my "X", bypassing two closer store, just so that he can get whatever brownie points he can from TM for selling more cars out of his store.

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

1 hour block sounds reasonable. It's a damn if you, damn if you don't scenario. For someone test driving they'll probably be lots of questions, 5 mins to walk to the car, 5 min orientation, 20 minute drive, 5 min to explain charging, 5 min walk back to the store, 10min to process $5K reservation, and get ready for the next appt. There's no way to schedule 30 min blocks unless they have so many reservations and enough sales associates to stagger and queue up rides that coincide with the return of the previous test drive.

I agree.. I stopped to do some math on the issue about half way through this thread and used 1 hour blocks as my assumption for how long you need to allocate for a test drive. Tesla was able to do better during Get Amped by employing a production line, but even then the test blocks likely averaged ~20 minutes per car, and there just isn't any way to replicate that kind of turnaround at the store level (on a consistent basis).

As to the math, going from memory (which is fallible in my case) I think there were ~13,000 reservations as of the end of September. As of right now there are ~21,000 net reservations worldwide, while ~18,500 of those are in the U.S. (I don't recall the number of U.S. reservations at the end of September, but if the ratio's were the same it would be about ~11,500). Honestly the exact numbers don't matter that much in this case but I am confident enough to get a grasp of what the scale of the problem is. We have maybe 7,000 new U.S. reservation holders in the last 3 months and about ~20 stores (some only recently opened).

Doing quickie math (and not worrying about precision) it seems like each store gets about 3 or 4 new paying customers each day. It looks like it should be manageable, but its important to recall that Get Amped did ~5,000 test drives, which left a legacy of ~7,000 U.S. customers who needed to get test drives through a store. Plus, its fairly obvious that many customers have taken more than one test drive, and it seems likely to me that finalize e-mails would be driving demand for new test drives, and those are going out at increasing rates along with the ramp up in production.

My point is, that fuzzy back of the envelope math is enough to visualize a latent demand of 8-10 test drives per day per store, just from customers who have reservations. Many of those will tend to cluster into weekends and evenings, which would clearly leave those desired times impacted. Obviously, there is time available and stores need to be flexible, but I don't think its fair to assume that the stores have a capacity to offer test drives on the spot to every walk up customer who asks at this point.

As a shareholder I'd love to see more test cars, more press cars, more sales staff, (many) more delivery staff, etc. But as a manager I know these things just don't magic themselves into existence, and Tesla is a company that is bootstrapping itself into becoming an automaker that is competing head to head with Porsche, BMW and Mercedes with the kind of resources that those companies feel comfortable blowing on their racing teams.

 

[gaswalla]

It sure seems like Tesla is now offering test drives to anyone interested. It's right there on the website: Model S Test Drive | Tesla Motors

"Request a Test DriveWhether you're already a reservation holder or are thinking about placing a reservation, sign up below and we'll contact you."


That should standardize the experience.