BMW Geniuses Coming to Dealer Showrooms to Assist Customers

[Cuz5150]

I have purchased 2 cars, one in 09 and one 11. I was at the dealership for 5 hours completing the transaction/paper work. Two things i hate the most, going to the dentist and going to buy a car.
Are these clowns going to speed up the process???

[M5007]

That's cool n

[inline6ix]

At my local dealer, the sales reps actually enjoy talking to you even if you aren't buying a car, and they actually know more than you think a sales rep would know. The idea of "Geniuses" would be very redundant, at least at a dealer with knowledgeable reps.

Of course, I would gladly accept the offer of being a BMW "Genius" and getting paid for it. Especially if I can get employee discount on the cars themselves.

[ORIGIN M.]

If you say so.

Originally Posted by Kampfer

No, you only have to be certified to get spiffs (which BMW puts out very few). Most dealerships will not fire people over certification. A dealership only cares about numbers and a good GM and salesmanager will look the other way. For salesman if he sells between 10-15 cars then no manager will care what he does as long as he keeps his numbers up. Salesman will get certified and thats only due to testing being spread out over 90 or more days.

Most of the 20+ salesmen are what they call Bonecollectors meaning they get their numbers due to house deals. If you talk to a manager to get your deal then the manager will either sell the car himself and put it in the name of a salesman he likes or hand you off to a salesman he likes. When you see 20+ salesman they are either bone collectors, internet salesman, or old established sales people who no longer have to greet people to get sales... there business is all referrals.

Also it is very naive to expect someone to remember every detail of a car.

[py0413]

I have a feeling that soon in the future the salesman/woman position could be replaced. If these will be a great help for both dealerships and customers, who will need salesman/woman anymore?

[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by py0413

I have a feeling that soon in the future the salesman/woman position could be replaced. If these will be a great help for both dealerships and customers, who will need salesman/woman anymore?

I doubt a greeter can close a deal like an experienced salesperson.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

I have purchased 2 cars, one in 09 and one 11. I was at the dealership for 5 hours completing the transaction/paper work. Two things i hate the most, going to the dentist and going to buy a car.
Are these clowns going to speed up the process???

Bizarre. It took me 20 minutes from the moment I told my sales guy I'd take it, to the time he was handing me the keys and taking me to the car to do his this is how this and that works presentation.

[Imola.ZHP]

How much does this pay? Can I work part time?

[vrrooom]

My delivery at the performance center truly set the bar for detailed explanation of the vehicle features and settings. Virtually every detail was demonstrated and the settings for locks, lights etc were done by the specialist. My SA would only spend 20 minutes on things that the PDC specialist spent an hour going over. The delivery at the dealer spent more time on the financial and up-selling than the entire delivery process at the PDC. I firmly believe that the sales and delivery process should be done by different staff, as evidenced by my experiences in Factory Delivery.

[Grumpy514]

I'll never forget the time I went to buy my Subaru wrx Sti from the dealership. The SA could barley answer the simpliest question about the car. When I asked what psi the turbos are working at from the factory. He had to run to another CA who looked like a deer in the headlights. Eventually about running around for about 15 minutes they ran to the back and got a mechanic. That mechanic answerd every question i had from there on out.

[BMWDavid]

I like the idea. Do I get a free iPad too?

[BMW-NC]

take it from a salesman perspective: I know a lot about BMWs but only every say 20th customer asks any questions where I can put my knowledge to work.... Makes me sad sometimes...
So, given that this is an enthousiast forum, the concentration on enthousiasts is much higher than in real life. , hence does not reflect the typical client base.

[PenelopeB]

It sounds really interesting! It's true that today's cars are being fitted with increasingly more electronic gizmos. So much so that it could take a learning curve just to be able to comprehend all of the attributes accessible. To help untangle the technological jumble, BMW is taking a cue from Apple and incorporating "geniuses" to the staff at its car dealerships. Check this out here: BMW Genius Everywhere.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

How much does this pay? Can I work part time?

I knew if we waited long enough we could find a genius in the forum, even is it's just a part-time one.

[Maestro]

BMW announced its forward-thinking plan to integrate technology in the showroom in 2013, saying that its dealerships would one day boast iPads, monitors and "product geniuses." Now, over one year later, the project is finally taking shape, reports

That is an oxymoron statement for a car dealership. When was the last time you talk to a car sales person who have a clue about the car they were about to sell you.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/...nto-automotive

[ChipB]

I was introduced to a "BMW Genius" at a dealership in NJ a couple of months back when my wife and I test drove an X5. The salesman was your typical "knows a little bit about the car" type of salesman, who has been at the dealership for less than two months. (A quick test to see how knowledgeable an SA is: mention that you own an E93 and see if he knows what you're talking about.) So when we started to ask detailed quiestions about features of the iDrive and heads-up display the SA called the "genius" over, and indeed he was able to answer all our questions. I thought it was kind of strange, but given the complicated electronics offereings of cars these days I guess it makes sense.

[dkexige]

I may be the exception to the rule but I had a 65 year old salesman that was very knowledgeable about the 3 series. I am not talking about the kind of stuff enthusiasts are interested in, but rather in-depth knowledge that would be useful to anyone driving the car daily.

It definitely helped that he had an e90 himself as he was completely fluent with operating the car, even down to the voice controls. On my second visit, the dealer driver went home for the day and he offered to drive me home in his e90. I was thoroughly impressed that he used the voice controls to both put my address into the GPS and to call his wife letting her know he'd be home late because he was driving me home. He knew a lot about what packages did what for the cars because he bought one himself.

I think this strategy can work. I didn't feel like I was being sold a car, I felt like I was talking to someone that loved the product and genuinely recommended it. As to breaking the traditional dealership strategy, I think Tesla has been trying to doing it. The stores they have in malls definitely break the traditional model already, but they haven't hired people that know anything about owning one. Its hard to for them because they don't have cars that are affordable. BMW can do it.

[DF]

When I bought my E93 the sales guy eventually said "you know more about this car than I do so Ill wait for you to ask any questions"

[thekidatthebar]

Im a sales manager at a dealership that has been using this approach for the past 2 years. After working out a few kinks it has been working out great. We use "product specialists" whom are paid salary and incentivised based on overall customer experience. Their job is to take test drives and deliver sold cars. Once the customer is ready to take the next step and discuss payments,financing, warrenties etc, a hybrid of a sales manager and finance manager comes out and closes the deal (attempts to at least). Our customers have found that this approaoch is a lot more comfortable for them because they can use there time to be educated rather than pushed into a car that may not fit there needs. People find value in this apporach, especially in our demographic.
We think that this is the way car buying should be, because buying a new car is suppose to be fun. Thats something we can all agree on, right?

[eric@helix]

Originally Posted by DF

When I bought my E93 the sales guy eventually said "you know more about this car than I do so Ill wait for you to ask any questions"

I actually think that's good. Honesty is better than BS.