General Discussion: 2018 Investor Roundtable

[neroden]

Tesla needs better systems in place to steer employees toward communicating better with customers (and each other).

The most talented communicators will overcome a bad system, and the worst communicators will manage to suck even in a great system. But the great middle will be reflective of the system they are in. And the frequency of bad (or missing) communication suggests that Tesla’s system needs a major overhaul.

My delayed (and still not complete) Model 3 delivery experience hasn’t featured good communication, even though I am doing everything I can to help them deliver a high-margin car before the end of the quarter. I don’t get the sense that the problem is the people I’m dealing with. The system seems to be breaking down somewhere behind them.

Absolutely 100% agreed.

A great company has great secretaries. What do they do? They grease the lines of communication, they prioritize, they dispatch. They are professionals and are well-paid. The secretary for an office knows everyone in the office very well and handles that office's relations with the "outside" so that everyone else in the office doesn't have "full mailboxes".

Tesla doesn't have any, at least not in any of the offices I've seen. It was a dumb mistake on Musk's part. The most important person in any office is the secretary, and most of their offices don't have any because Musk doesn't understand *why they exist*.

 

[Krugerrand]

I will say 'whatever'....Regardless....It needs to be fixed as it will continue to be a problem for the brand.

Finding good employees that do their job is always a problem. It’s been a problem for every company and it’s been a problem for Tesla since Elon had to pull the company out of the fire during roadster days.

Of course it’s an area requiring improvement but contrary to a couple’s opinion it isn’t going to put Tesla out of business anymore than FWDs put them out of business. And it’s a ridiculous notion that one outsider thinks they can singlehandedly solve the issue with some programming.

 

[mrdoubleb]

Finding good employees that do their job is always a problem. It’s been a problem for every company and it’s been a problem for Tesla since Elon had to pull the company out of the fire during roadster days.

Of course it’s an area requiring improvement but contrary to a couple’s opinion it isn’t going to put Tesla out of business anymore than FWDs put them out of business. And it’s a ridiculous notion that one outsider thinks they can singlehandedly solve the issue with some programming.

I agree. And in addition, isn`t this an area where they could implement a off-the-shelf solution? I would imagine that there are many companies developing SW for managing inventory and sales/logistics. May just depend on how much integration they want with their in-house developed ERP.

 

[Drax7]

Delivery issues escalated with the distance and concentration of customers . Initial production
was distributed to California buyers, and once that market was filled it expanded to
the rest of the country.

That expansion must have increased the complexity of distribution.
It’s much easier to send 1000 cars to Los Angeles, versus 50 cars to 20 cities
across the country.

That might explain the reason distribution is now more of an issue, even
If production were to remain unchanged at 4000 per week.

 

[skitown]

BMW Cuts Outlook. Paywalled. Zero mention of the seismic shift underway with electric vehicles and the drubbing BMW is getting from Tesla in the USA. Fascinating...

BMW Cuts Outlook, Blames Trade Disputes and Emissions Costs

 

[mongo]

Absolutely 100% agreed.

A great company has great secretaries. What do they do? They grease the lines of communication, they prioritize, they dispatch. They are professionals and are well-paid. The secretary for an office knows everyone in the office very well and handles that office's relations with the "outside" so that everyone else in the office doesn't have "full mailboxes".

Tesla doesn't have any, at least not in any of the offices I've seen. It was a dumb mistake on Musk's part. The most important person in any office is the secretary, and most of their offices don't have any because Musk doesn't understand *why they exist*.

I know you're big on the Tesla/Elon fails at communication line of thought, but beware over-extending into hyperbole (or I'll break out some classic GnR Civil War intro )...
Elon Musk on Twitter

Mary Beth was an amazing assistant for over 10 yrs, but as company complexity grew, the role required several specialists vs one generalist

 

[sweter]

At end of June they did a burst test of 5000 that week, but that was certainly not a sustained rate. Sustained rate at the time was certainly closer to 3000/wk.

Quite funny how everyone on this forum was all like "yea, its totally sustained, the bears have no brain" But nevermind.

I'm also a little bit concerned about this delivery hell, as everyone back in December 2017 was wondering how they are gonna handle imminent 5k/week deliveries logistics. It really does look like someone really dropped the ball on preparation for this.

 

[ggies07]

It really does look like someone really dropped the ball on preparation for this.

This and the battery module lines = quite the. Model 3 was supposed to be the easy one after going at it with two different cars.....people now say the Y will be the easy one, but there will always be some problem.....I'm as long as can be with the idea behind this company, but I'm not delusional anymore.

 

[Driver Dave]

BMW Cuts Outlook. Paywalled. Zero mention of the seismic shift underway with electric vehicles and the drubbing BMW is getting from Tesla in the USA. Fascinating...

BMW Cuts Outlook, Blames Trade Disputes and Emissions Costs

Buying a BMW is silly when you can get a Tesla.

Car companies haven't woken up to this new reality.

 

[AlMc]

Finding good employees that do their job is always a problem. It’s been a problem for every company and it’s been a problem for Tesla since Elon had to pull the company out of the fire during roadster days.

Of course it’s an area requiring improvement but contrary to a couple’s opinion it isn’t going to put Tesla out of business anymore than FWDs put them out of business. And it’s a ridiculous notion that one outsider thinks they can singlehandedly solve the issue with some programming.

No argument with this post but my point was that communication is, and has been, a problem for Tesla. I have seen little attempt to fix it. Maybe attempt(s) have been made but so far I am not seeing it. Plan and simple.

I agree with the sentiment that currently with so many reservations/interest/excitement about the company/products it has not hurt them to the extent of mission failure. A time will come if this problem continues that it will cause brand issues and hurt the speed of completion of the mission statement. Not that the mission can be reached.

EDIT: Many of us have been around Tesla and Tesla products long enough to have made good contacts within the Tesla organization and know who will help us when we have a problem. The new Tesla owner/reservation holder does not have that advantage.

 

[RobStark]

BMW Cuts Outlook. Paywalled. Zero mention of the seismic shift underway with electric vehicles and the drubbing BMW is getting from Tesla in the USA. Fascinating...

BMW Cuts Outlook, Blames Trade Disputes and Emissions Costs

From Reuters

Not paywalled.

BMW warns on profit, blames price and trade wars | Reuters

 

[Remus]

Quite funny how everyone on this forum was all like "yea, its totally sustained, the bears have no brain" But nevermind.

I'm also a little bit concerned about this delivery hell, as everyone back in December 2017 was wondering how they are gonna handle imminent 5k/week deliveries logistics. It really does look like someone really dropped the ball on preparation for this.

I totally agree with that Tesla has lots of problem that make me worry: the delivery problem, the customer communication problem, and also the lack of good software development process in some part of the system. That's why I am worried the profit might not be there even if the delivery numbers are good. I am not optimistic about Q3 at all.

Yet I am still hopeful for the future. We can clearly see the drive control software never had any significant safety issues that we know of, despite of frequent tweaking over OTA. The security system is among the best. Remember the Jeep that is remotely taken over while on highway? did they fix that yet? The key fob hack? Tesla already had a defense before it is even known! These things are freaking hard to get right. Remember the Mac high sierra fiasco?

Moreover, the car just keep getting better! My phone key connection has improved drastically in the past several month. The backup camera response problem has been fixed without me doing anything. I haven't restarted the computer for over a month now...

And the panel gap problems in the early builds went away. Early owners also complained about wind noise due to gaps between glass panels, it got better too.

I do realize Tesla still have loads of quality problems and I am not happy they are taking their sweetest time fixing those. But again I remain cautiously hopeful because progress is there.

And because where the duck are the competitors, not for EV, but just the user experience owning a freaking car? Why my audi can not turn itself off when I finish driving. Why it can not immediately offer to remember the new seat position when I make adjustment? Why can't it automatically open the garage door when I get home? Why can't they turn on the parking sensor automatically when the speed drop below some mph?

Sony and Apple taught the world about user experience. Tesla seems to be the only student in auto makers that paid attention. Maybe when others begin to really catch up on this, I will be really worried about Tesla.

 

[gene]

Combating FUD at the personal level....I was buying some dog food at the local independent animal feed store. A woman with a newish Honda CRV came up to me to ask about the Model 3. She immediately went into all the FUD talking points about batteries failing and running on coal. I explained about the fudsters, I discussed each of her points with her and set her straight at which she sounded somewhat convinced. But, having been here before, I knew I needed to take her for a ride. She hopped in, I showed her on the screen all the Superchargers (as I always do), and then we took a 2 mile drive. By the time we got back to her car, she was a new person! What a transformation! My guess she will be singing the praises of Tesla for some time to come.

Winning hearts one at a time.

 

[ggies07]

Combating FUD at the personal level....I was buying some dog food at the local independent animal feed store. A woman with a newish Honda CRV came up to me to ask about the Model 3. She immediately went into all the FUD talking points about batteries failing and running on coal. I explained about the fudsters, I discussed each of her points with her and set her straight at which she sounded somewhat convinced. But, having been here before, I knew I needed to take her for a ride. She hopped in, I showed her on the screen all the Superchargers (as I always do), and then we took a 2 mile drive. By the time we got back to her car, she was a new person! What a transformation! My guess she will be singing the praises of Tesla for some time to come.

Winning hearts one at a time.

That a way! I can't wait to do that and help the cause when I get mine.

 

[dmunjal]

Buying a BMW is silly when you can get a Tesla.

Car companies haven't woken up to this new reality.

This might wake them up.

 

[30seconds]

example #492 why tesla is DOOMED (not) since big auto can easily replicate everything they do

Toyota will stop supporting Pandora, OpenTable apps in November

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Model 3 was supposed to be the easy one

Model 3 was also supposed to have <100k preorders and start production in late 2017. Things changed.

 

[ktrivedi70]

Combating FUD at the personal level....I was buying some dog food at the local independent animal feed store. A woman with a newish Honda CRV came up to me to ask about the Model 3. She immediately went into all the FUD talking points about batteries failing and running on coal. I explained about the fudsters, I discussed each of her points with her and set her straight at which she sounded somewhat convinced. But, having been here before, I knew I needed to take her for a ride. She hopped in, I showed her on the screen all the Superchargers (as I always do), and then we took a 2 mile drive. By the time we got back to her car, she was a new person! What a transformation! My guess she will be singing the praises of Tesla for some time to come.

Winning hearts one at a time.

It must be an interesting feeling to own what you think is a new car with all the modern conveniences, bells and whistles, and then step into the future.

 

[neroden]

I know you're big on the Tesla/Elon fails at communication line of thought, but beware over-extending into hyperbole (or I'll break out some classic GnR Civil War intro )...
Elon Musk on Twitter

That's good to know, but I discovered:
-- Northeast Mobile Service has neither a secretary nor an office nor an office phone number
-- Devon service has no secretary
-- The central call center people, who are supposed to be doing an essentially secretarial job, are not trained competently enough to actually *do* it and routinely misdirect calls.

Hmmph. Maybe a few specialists at the top, but nobody at the branch offices...

 

[Buddyroe]

Finding good employees that do their job is always a problem. It’s been a problem for every company and it’s been a problem for Tesla since Elon had to pull the company out of the fire during roadster days.

It's because of all the idiotic "living wage" stupidity. We will never have a skilled workforce if we don't stop meddling with artificial pay, and cut most welfare programs. Used to be, to make more money, you had to better yourself - which was good for the you and the country. In today's "idiocracy" world, we give people incentives to NOT improve themselves.

I have NO IDEA why this is so hard for so many people to understand.