Tesla becoming "sales-y"?

[MarcG]

I received a call from a number I didn't recognize, so I didn't answer it. Turns out it was a sales person from Tesla SF stating that I had "shown interest in the car before" and wondering if I was willing to buy a car this year since I would still get free supercharging and tax credit.

Got an email from the same person a few minutes later, so I replied stating I already have a Model S, thank you very much. To which I immediately get a response asking if I'm willing to trade it in for another Model S or X since they now have full self-driving hardware...

Is it just me, or is Tesla getting aggressive on sales? I always thought the Tesla-style, no-pressure sales experience was very pleasant -- but now it feels like any other dealer..

 

[Hugh Mannity]

That story doesn't seem too too bad. If he responds after you've said "no" twice then maybe that's a bit much.

 

[AB4EJ]

A couple of things... Tesla is probably trying to push cars ahead of EOY to make Q4 numbers look good; helps the stock price. Also, regarding sales in general... Tesla has to start making money if they are going to stay in business, and they have to start somewhere.

On a related note, last month I asked for a trade-in value on my 7-month-old 90D (with the idea of getting the new Autopilot hardware, and also free supercharging). The trade-in value would have had me to take a $35,000 loss on the car after 7 months. So I changed my mind about that. So maybe they are not as aggressive on this as it might at first seem...

 

[ecarfan]

Is it just me, or is Tesla getting aggressive on sales?

I would not describe that behavior as "aggressive".

Tesla is a public company and they want to increase their sales volume every quarter. That's a challenge when selling $100K EVs without doing any conventional advertising.

A few days ago my wife scheduled a Model X test drive. It was a zero pressure experience. She has driven our S for almost three years and she really liked driving the X.

 

[ev-now]

Heard the same on trade-in values ...
They need a second good quarter - so they have their staff working to get it. At least they are doing it for the right reason - good of the company - with no commissions it's not about their Christmas or their kids college fund!

 

[SigGuy]

I would say there's absolutely a noticeable shift in the pushiness of Tesla sales. In fact, it was so noticeable that I asked if they're now on commission and the answer was "yes, but a small one". I love Tesla but plenty not to love and this change is one of them. Was always a pleasure to be able to walk into a showroom and chat without feeling pressured. One more part of the customer experience that has eroded since 2012.

 

[Bangor Bob]

I asked if they're now on commission and the answer was "yes, but a small one".

This is news.

And not the good kind.

 

[IAMGQ]

You knew commission selling was coming sooner or later. You need some type of incentive to motivate sales people. I think they are also moving to a inventory rather than custom ordering model also. People like to buy products off impluse. If i come to your showroom and test drive the vehicle and want to buy it hurts when you say you have to order and it'll be here in 2-3 months. If i do all the above and use say well i have something similar out back it's easier to get people to sit down in buy because of the excitement.

 

[3Victoria]

I wonder if the problem is that they are growing, and so are hiring salesman more used to the pushy salesman style?

 

[CapnJansen]

I recently custom ordered a model S and was e-mailed by a sales team member to see if I wanted to take delivery of a inventory car this year instead of Q1. Once I replied no thanks he immediately switched to working on my order. Since the inventory car was almost the exact same as my custom order I'd figure they'd push it more. At least in my case they have not turned pushy like a normal dealer would be.

 

[CHG-ON]

Unfortunately, I think it is the reality of running a business. The novelty is beginning to wear off as we earlier adopters are getting more scarce. I just hope they don't go too far down the road of the classic slimy car salesperson.

They need to sell a boat load of all their models if they are to survive as competition comes into the mix. Right now, they have little. That's about to change. So not only do they need to continue to improve the electric aspect of the car, they need to up their game in the luxury items that people expect when spending so much on the higher end cars. And the mid range cars, for that matter. I was in an Infiniti Q60 and I was stunned at all that it had for something like 60K. Ignoring the fact that it was an ICE, it was a pretty sweet sedan for the price.

I think the road forward will get more difficult for Tesla over the next 5 years as the big guys start gunning for them with orders of multitude of more resources (cash, engineering grunt, political clout). I am confident that they will succeed!

 

[eyespii]

When I bought my car June 2015, the salesperson back then told me that they "got the same commission no matter which car I bought". I took that to mean that even back then, they were working on commission.

 

[whitex]

It's sales, they have quotas as well (you can see it on some Tesla sales linkedin pages where sales folks state they met or exceeded their quotas). That said, I never found them pushy (and I've been buying from Tesla since 2013, 3 so far). The most I ever got was an email about the fact that I visited to see the Model X. After a quick email back explaining that I found it impractical (seems like Model S on stilts with rear seats turned forward, plus some really impractical doors without real handles, including the front doors), the sales person thanked me and that was it. When I was ready to buy another Model S few months later, I contacted her again, got great quick and direct answers to all my questions, no pushy car salesman techniques like "what can I do to put you in this car today?", just straight and direct answers, no pressure. I first tried to find a deeply discounted AP1 car at the end of the year, but since there was none (there didn't seem to be any discount for AP1 other than standard for age and miles), I placed an order for a new one, picking it up by end of the month. No pushy sales even on things like the fact that I didn't want to get EAP/FSD. She did ask why, I briefly explained, she said ok and we moved on, no hard selling or anything like that.

Sales people are supposed to follow up. That's their job. Want to see a pushy sales person? Go check out some old fashioned dealerships. I've bought many cars in my life, yet I've to ever buy a car from a regular dealer in under 6hrs of going back and forth, finding out at the 11'th hour they added some fees that "sales person was not aware of" and/or finance guy asking me "are you too cheap to pay an extra $2/month?", or we agreed on $500 per month and yet it's $594.99, then the sales guy comes back with "I thought you said as long as the payment is in the five hundreds". Even with dealers where I agreed on the phone prior to buying the car, I would spend hours refusing all the upsells, fees, and listening why their cost structure has changed or how the guy has kids to feed. NONE of that at Tesla. With the rather notable exception of how trade-ins are handled, Tesla offers the best buying car experience for my taste at least.

 

[ecarfan]

In fact, it was so noticeable that I asked if they're now on commission and the answer was "yes, but a small one".

I got exactly the same answer in September 2013 when I started investigating buying a Model S.

It is not news that Tesla salespeople get a "small" commission when they sell a car. This has been the case for over 3 years.

 

[sandpiper]

I would say there's absolutely a noticeable shift in the pushiness of Tesla sales. In fact, it was so noticeable that I asked if they're now on commission and the answer was "yes, but a small one". I love Tesla but plenty not to love and this change is one of them. Was always a pleasure to be able to walk into a showroom and chat without feeling pressured. One more part of the customer experience that has eroded since 2012.

Honestly, you need the salespeople to have some sort of motivation. Zero commission is not good either; it leads to really poor sales service.

 

[ccharleb]

I'm not sure to understand why salespeople need to have some sort of motivation..... They are paid to do a job: explain and sale cars. If they don't enjoy it, maybe they should do something else.... What kind of motivation are mechanics receiving? Doctors? Firefighters? Pilots?

 

[kort677]

Is it just me, or is Tesla getting aggressive on sales? I always thought the Tesla-style, no-pressure sales experience was very pleasant -- but now it feels like any other dealer..

aren't they in the business of selling cars? it's called working leads to generate interest and sales. I don't think following up on prospects puts tesla into the realm of traditional auto dealers.

 

[kort677]

I'm not sure to understand why salespeople need to have some sort of motivation..... They are paid to do a job: explain and sale cars. If they don't enjoy it, maybe they should do something else.... What kind of motivation are mechanics receiving? Doctors? Firefighters? Pilots?

wow, what business are you in? incentives is the engine that makes the sales machine operate. from a sales person's perspective if they can make X by selling Y amount of cars it incentivises them to be more productive.
the bottom line is that tesla is in the business of selling cars.

 

[Trips]

Tesla is getting smarter. At the beginning of the month they added Qualtrics Site Intercept to their website. This will track the time you spend on the site, location and several other variables. This can be used for not only a better customer experience but also to help their sales team. For example if you spent an hour looking at a Powerwall on the site but never ordered it might you might be a good prospect to reach out to.

 

[MarcG]

aren't they in the business of selling cars? it's called working leads to generate interest and sales. I don't think following up on prospects puts tesla into the realm of traditional auto dealers.

Agreed, however I still fail to understand how I became "a lead".. I have a 2 year old P85D, deposits on two Model 3s, and have never showed interest in the Model X or resfreshed S.

Since Tesla owns their stores and sales channels, they should have all that data and the sales person would know what I'm interested in. Now, I don't mind them reaching out - it was just strange to get a cold call out of the blue, and felt like I was disconnected from my past experiences with Tesla sales.