Tesla Store Experience

[NigelM]

Anyone been to BestBuy lately? They introduced a new system where someone stands around with a clipboard and takes names so that all customers get seen in rotation. Seems like a good idea right? I just wanted to know if they had an advertised item (an $800 desktop) in stock because I couldn't find it on the shelves and I was told by the slackjaw (is that word acceptable?) in the blue shirt that that he wasn't allowed to get involved in technical questions (huh?) but that he would put my name on the list for a sales person to answer me. How long would that take I asked? "15-20 minutes right now..." was the answer. I didn't wait.

P.S. I bought the same item for the same price at Sams Club but got a free 21" LED screen with it as a bundle.

 

[kevincwelch]

I've been to three separate Tesla stores. I've only encountered one individual who was a complete and utter snob. I would say that this one encounter was an anomaly but I can see how it would definitely turn an individual off, and it is very unfortunate that it happened.

The only thing that I find interesting about Tesla store employees is the distinct Millennial nature that is pervasive throughout the stores. One would think that they would institute a shaving policy and insist that employees keep their cell phones in their pockets.

 

[NigelM]

We are so off topic ... surprised I've not been admonished yet.

IMO the whole thread is about service and I think the point is that we can all have different service experiences depending on who we encounter. Poor companies often have no real service process. Good companies have service processes but you're always at the mercy of a moody sales assistant. Great companies encourage a service culture and weed out staff who don't live up to expectations.

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One would think that they would institute a shaving policy....

Wouldn't that be snobby? :wink:

 

[kevincwelch]

Wouldn't that be snobby? :wink:

No...presentable!

 

[ahimberg]

back on topic to tesla stores, its been hit and miss for me too. I had been to the original seattle store and the bell square gallery around 6 times total, half of those times someone actually talked to me (there is a salesperson I have seen almost every time but never gotten their time). First experience was really good (but they became a regional manager or something and haven't seen them again), later visits they seemed very unresponsive to any feedback.. tesla will do the right thing for their customers, if enough people want it -- I was there telling them what I wanted, but got some bonus remarks along the lines of enough eco-hippie-vegetarians would also want my preference of non-leather -- assuming i'm not in that demographic? -- I think my feedback went nowhere. If it was a dealership i'd expect that, but its all Tesla right, shouldn't they be receptive to feedback everywhere?

of course its easy to construe things in any direction you want, but as a reservation holder, stock holder, etc I haven't gone away impressed either. It is going to be interesting how tesla manages their future as they move from the high end to more mainstream in pricing, this may matter a lot more if they get a rep for the snooty.

 

[jerry33]

It is going to be interesting how tesla manages their future as they move from the high end to more mainstream in pricing, this may matter a lot more if they get a rep for the snooty.

Well, salespeople are salespeople. Generally they switch from one job to the next frequently--three years in the same sales position is a very long time. The few really good ones get promoted (like the one you mentioned). The more salespeople that Telsa has to hire, the less selective they can be. Also, Tesla's now big enough that they likely have an HR department which does the hiring. Usually HR folks don't know beans about the job and just look at past history. The ideal Tesla salesperson would be someone without a sales background but that's not likely how the HR department will see it.

 

[ahimberg]

true, I may have a delusion that a sales position for a car should be different than one for an ipad given the difference in cost -- but there probably isn't as much. Unfortunately talking to Tesla HQ is just as hit or miss now that the company is getting huge.

 

[Doug_G]

Well, salespeople are salespeople. Generally they switch from one job to the next frequently--three years in the same sales position is a very long time. The few really good ones get promoted (like the one you mentioned). The more salespeople that Telsa has to hire, the less selective they can be. Also, Tesla's now big enough that they likely have an HR department which does the hiring. Usually HR folks don't know beans about the job and just look at past history. The ideal Tesla salesperson would be someone without a sales background but that's not likely how the HR department will see it.

The local sales manager or service manager (depending on the position) is most definitely involved in the hiring process.

 

[joefee]

In case it hasn't been clearly said, an email to George Blankenship is in order here. He needs to now about these variances. Losing potential customers because a representative doesn't know how to politely deal with people that are potential buyers is not acceptable.

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Well, I think you're going to find your opinion of Apple in the minority. My experiences with them have, universally, been outstanding in every way. They've broken their own rules to make things good, they've been polite, quick, responsive and informative. I have innumerable friends who report similar satisfaction with multiple anecdotes to coincide such as "I dropped my iPhone, ran over it with the car, it was 2 weeks outside of warranty and I walked in and they handed me a brand new one." Those sorts of stories go on and on. While I'm sure there are anecdotes of bad experiences too, just like this thread with Tesla, I'm confident that those are exceptionally rare.

+1 on both the email to George & Apple cust. service

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back on topic to tesla stores, its been hit and miss for me too. I had been to the original seattle store and the bell square gallery around 6 times total, half of those times someone actually talked to me (there is a salesperson I have seen almost every time but never gotten their time). First experience was really good (but they became a regional manager or something and haven't seen them again), later visits they seemed very unresponsive to any feedback.. tesla will do the right thing for their customers, if enough people want it -- I was there telling them what I wanted, but got some bonus remarks along the lines of enough eco-hippie-vegetarians would also want my preference of non-leather -- assuming i'm not in that demographic? -- I think my feedback went nowhere. If it was a dealership i'd expect that, but its all Tesla right, shouldn't they be receptive to feedback everywhere?

of course its easy to construe things in any direction you want, but as a reservation holder, stock holder, etc I haven't gone away impressed either. It is going to be interesting how tesla manages their future as they move from the high end to more mainstream in pricing, this may matter a lot more if they get a rep for the snooty.

FWIW … I've been many times to stores in SoCal, Denver & Seattle and always a good experience at Tesla Stores !

 

[GeorgeB]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the feedback. Those of you who know me understand how seriously I take things like this. We go to great lengths to hire great people in our stores. Yes, we have an HR department who does recruiting for us, but after interviewing with an HR recruiter, a store manager, an assistant manager and the regional manager, I then personally interview every single store person before they get hired. Even every part time Product Specialist. If there was anyone on the floor who was snobby, it is my fault. The buck stops here.

As for the "blend of people" in our stores, we try really hard in every store to build a team that has someone with a "technical background", someone with an "environmental background", and someone who has come from a "retail background" in another company with a high service level focus. We try to hire a good gender mix of men and women and we always try to include a soccer mom or dad on the team to balance the age groups. This is an extraordinarily hard blend to achieve but we try to do so in every single store. In order to achieve this blend, it sometimes means having someone who is an engineering student in college who also enjoys surfing, or someone who is a bit earthly looking on the outside. I personally have no issue with this at all. We absolutely want everyone to appear clean and professional, but I believe a little facial hair is not an issue if the person behind it can discuss the merits of Li-ion batteries vs lead acid batteries in a positive an un-intimidating way if a customer wants to. I believe in "the person behind the look" more than I focus on "the look." I believe in a professional appearance at all times, but will never look to fill our stores with Stepford Wife, robot-like salespeople. I want real people who are passionate about customers, Tesla and our mission. That is what I focus on, and that is what I believe our team represents.

I do not believe anyone on the floor should be doing personal emails or anything else on their mobile phone while on the display floor. Thanks for the heads up on that. It is being addressed worldwide as we speak by John, our vp of sales and Ana, our head of training and store experience.

As for the "snobby attitude", this is totally unacceptable. I have no excuses to put forth on this issue. It is unacceptable and there are no reasons that I could possibly put forth to try and explain this. The UTC store is new and all but two people are new to the company...no excuse. The manager, Peter, was hand selected for the San Diego store and has an incredible track record of customer service since joining Tesla and in his career prior to joining Tesla. He will be devastated that this happened in his store, but he is a consummate professional and will address it immediately.

As for test drives, this is a damned if you do, damned if you don't issue. I'm glad the message given was correct...that we are currently doing test drives for "reservation holders only." This in and of itself is often seen as being snobby. I hear about it all the time. At the same time, I also get messages from reservation holders saying it's not fair that anyone without a reservation can get a test drive before they do. This is a very fine line to walk, but we are trying our best to do so everyday. We have a limited number of test drive cars. Some stores do not even have one. The test drive cars we do have are used almost exclusively for reservation holder test drives. We backfill empty slots, when we have them, with people who have just made a reservation or who are ready to make a reservation and the only thing standing in their way is a test drive. It is a very fine line to walk, but one we walk everyday. Absolutely no excuse for being snobby, but this is often times seen that way.

Clearly this is an important issue that I take very seriously. Thanks to those who brought this to my attention and thanks to those who chimed in that have received consistently good service in our stores. Most of my job everyday is spent dealing with the good, the bad and the ugly. I can't fix the bad and the ugly unless I know about it, so thank you for sharing. The bad and the ugly are what take up most of my day and early morning hours each day... but it's always nice to hear there is some good happening too once in a while

I'll get on this right away. I stand behind our Manager, Peter, at UTC as being a great manager and a great leader. I'm sure this will not be an issue going forward.

GeorgeB

 

[ckessel]

In an organization of any size, there are always a few bad fits or simply someone that had a bad day. The fact my experiences with Tesla personnel have been pretty universally fantastic, especially with the stress levels this year, says a lot about the overall character of the folks they bring on board. Kudos for focusing on the individual and not "the look". Obsession with shaving or such as image smacks of an attitude from the 60's complaining about those crazy Beatles for not getting a haircut. Professional appearance is a broader scope than a single acceptable look.

The test drive issue is obvious a tough one and I suppose the only option is careful messaging, maybe something like:

"We can add you to the list for test drives, but I have to be honest right now almost all slots are going to reservation holders as we strive to make sure each has a chance to drive the car before signing their final contracts. We do get slots open from time to time, but it could be a while."

 

[markwj]

Apple is the LAST company that Tesla should be emulating for customer service. Apple HATES their customers. I would rather go to the dentist than an Apple store. Apple invented snob culture and act as if they're dong you a favor to help you.

+1

I've had 1 good experience (telephone call to replace out-of-the-box broken iPhone), and 99 bad. As a customer, the impression I get is they don't care. The reality is probably more that they are having problems scaling up.

IMHO, Apple has succeeded so well because their products are so simple and reliable you generally don't need to use their customer service.

Back on topic: every interaction I've had with Tesla has been a joy (with the possible exception of having to hand the final big cheque over to pay for my car). They seem to have the balance right in Hong Kong.

 

[spleen]

Hi everyone,
<snip>
GeorgeB

Thanks George as always for chiming in.

And FWIW, I've always had good service at my local Apple store. There have been times when I knew more than the Genius who was helping me did but I had all the time to research my issue before coming in whereas the Genius had to field my questions on the spot without any special preparation so I don't hold that against them. The Store has always been willing to work with me on my issues that I've had. I'll also say that it's been a rare situation where I've had to bring back any of my Apple products for a problem so I count that as a plus as well. I think that Tesla using a model of sales involving education and demonstration, rather than high pressure sales tactics, is a good way to approach car sales - whether we call this the Apple Store model or something else.

 

[kevincwelch]

Kudos for focusing on the individual and not "the look". Obsession with shaving or such as image smacks of an attitude from the 60's complaining about those crazy Beatles for not getting a haircut.

I don't think it's an obsession at all. Please don't reduce my comment to that statement.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

It's great that Tesla is striving to be the perfect agile startup with good folks like GeorgeB listening to us customers, reacting quickly to problematic situations and setting things right. Kudos!

I've always had a great experience visiting the Menlo Park and the Santana Row stores. I had recently posted a report too on Alex Frank, Dani Schumacher and Dan treating my family in a memorable fashion at Menlo Park when my wife test drove last month.

Tesla, keep it up!

 

[ckessel]

I don't think it's an obsession at all. Please don't reduce my comment to that statement.

I had no idea the comment was even made here. I just saw George's note on it. If you made the comment, sorry my opinion on it bothers you, but I think focusing on such things is absolutely ridiculous. I remember in one post-interview meeting with a really talented engineer one of the manager folks said "he looked scruffy" (the fellow had a short 1/4" beard) and didn't want to hire them. We lost out on a talented guy due to such antiquated concepts of the "professional" look. I maintain the same sort of beard (fortunately was hired before the manager in question), so such things really gripe me.

 

[kevincwelch]

I think focusing on such things is absolutely ridiculous.

I wasn't focusing on one issue, but whatever...different strokes.

 

[NigelM]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the feedback.

<snip>

I'll get on this right away......I'm sure this will not be an issue going forward.

GeorgeB

That post, and the fact that it exists at all, sums up the Tesla culture for me. Less than 24hrs after the complaint, there's a down to earth response from the VP, Sales & Ownership Experience that says it's being dealt with. Hard to think of another company where you would get that sort of response. Tesla hasn't been perfect and won't always be perfect but in my experience they try darn hard to get things right and to fix things that go wrong.

 

[Babylonfive]

That post, and the fact that it exists at all, sums up the Tesla culture for me. Less than 24hrs after the complaint, there's a down to earth response from the VP, Sales & Ownership Experience that says it's being dealt with. Hard to think of another company where you would get that sort of response. Tesla hasn't been perfect and won't always be perfect but in my experience they try darn hard to get things right and to fix things that go wrong.

+1 and thanks GB

 

[dmckinstry]

+1 on both the email to George & Apple cust. service

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FWIW … I've been many times to stores in SoCal, Denver & Seattle and always a good experience at Tesla Stores !

I've only been to the Seattle and Bellevue stores twice each and Park Meadows (Denver) once.

All times it's been a pleasure.