Help me understand??

[Morpheus]

I couldn't come up with a good title for this but if I put what I thought the title should be I'd probably get yelled at by Wes.

Ok little history first, Bought my boat from Clearwater Marine Max in Oct 2006 from whom we will call Sales Guy #1. 1-2 years after I bought my boat he retired so basically I don't really have a go to sales guy anymore specially not one like mine he was great for all kinds of questions as he had the same boat as me.

Fast forward to now, after all the trouble with Clearwater Marine Max I no longer use then for anything especially service so with my recent issues and service I've been using Cape Haze Marine Max. There they have a NEW 2007 491 Meridian priced to really move so I looked at it with a sales guy lets call him Sales Guy #2 and got some info on it and a couple other boats for research which I told him I'm only doing research now.

Well Sales Guy #2 emailed me asked if I had any questions and I actually did so I emailed him back with them yesterday. Today I got an email from another person whom we will call Cape Haze Guy #2 as if I give his title you know who he is. He was emailing me because Sales Guy #2 passed the questions I had on to him and he answered my questions.

2 hours almost exactly to the minute is when the crazy part starts.

I receive an email from a sales guy from Clearwater Marine Max we will call him Sales Guy #3. In his email he says he's just reaching out to me to see how my boat is and if I need anything and tells me that my sales guy (gives the name of Cape Haze Guy #2) has left the company and he is following up with all his sold customers and that he's my new contact person there and that he's been with Marine Max for 15 years.

If you are following this you can understrand my surprise that he's telling me a guy that just emailed me 2 hours ago was my sales guy (no he wasn't) and has left the company?

WTF :wow: The people at Clearwater Marine Max are idiots.

Of course I email this idiot back and ask him what the hell he's talking about and he tells me it's just a formatted letter he uses for everyone cause it's easier.

LOL Easier? How about some customer service where you actually get your facts right? :smt009

Am I crazy here or is this just the most idiotic thing you've seen (well maybe you've seen more) but I just can not believe it especially in this market.

I left the names out but if you really want to know just send me a PM.

 

[ChuckW]

I couldn't come up with a good title for this but if I put what I thought the title should be I'd probably get yelled at by Wes.

Ok little history first, Bought my boat from Clearwater Marine Max in Oct 2006 from whom we will call Sales Guy #1. 1-2 years after I bought my boat he retired so basically I don't really have a go to sales guy anymore specially not one like mine he was great for all kinds of questions as he had the same boat as me.

Fast forward to now, after all the trouble with Clearwater Marine Max I no longer use then for anything especially service so with my recent issues and service I've been using Cape Haze Marine Max. There they have a NEW 2007 491 Meridian priced to really move so I looked at it with a sales guy lets call him Sales Guy #2 and got some info on it and a couple other boats for research which I told him I'm only doing research now.

Well Sales Guy #2 emailed me asked if I had any questions and I actually did so I emailed him back with them yesterday. Today I got an email from another person whom we will call Cape Haze Guy #2 as if I give his title you know who he is. He was emailing me because Sales Guy #2 passed the questions I had on to him and he answered my questions.

2 hours almost exactly to the minute is when the crazy part starts.

I receive an email from a sales guy from Clearwater Marine Max we will call him Sales Guy #3. In his email he says he's just reaching out to me to see how my boat is and if I need anything and tells me that my sales guy (gives the name of Cape Haze Guy #2) has left the company and he is following up with all his sold customers and that he's my new contact person there and that he's been with Marine Max for 15 years.

If you are following this you can understrand my surprise that he's telling me a guy that just emailed me 2 hours ago was my sales guy (no he wasn't) and has left the company?

WTF :wow: The people at Clearwater Marine Max has idiots.

Of course I email this idiot back and ask him what the hell he's talking about and he tells me it's just a formatted letter he uses for everyone cause it's easier.

LOL Easier? How about some customer service where you actually get your facts right? :smt009

Am I crazy here or is this just the most idiotic thing you've seen (well maybe you've seen more) but I just can not believe it especially in this market.

I left the names out but if you really want to know just send me a PM.

#3 is an idiot. #2 probably looked at your contact info in their DB, added a comment or action item and changed your record to list #2 as your contact. #3 sees a "hit" on the sales lead DB, in his territory by address and sees a note that your original sales guy is gone. Doesn't realize #2 is now a current sales guy and punches of his template letter, then hits send.

#3 is an idiot, the whole dealership there seem like idiots. Time to move. PGI looks good. I hear there is a house for sale with a dock :thumbsup: :smt001

 

[Morpheus]

About that house, I'm not lookin to buy a house yet but I do know someone who is actively looking for a house in PGI on the water.

 

[chuck1]

Yep looks like the sales person is trying to cover their xss saying they have maintained contact with you so they will get a percentage of the sales commission. It is also my understanding that your sale has to go through your local dealership.

 

[Morpheus]

Yep looks like the sales person is trying to cover their xss saying they have maintained contact with you so they will get a percentage of the sales commission. It is also my understanding that your sale has to go through your local dealership.

Has to go through my local dealership LOL not that I don't believe you but that's is nuts. I'll change my address just to make sure that doesn't happen :grin:

 

[comsnark]

I have heard the blather about "must use local dealer" before. They don't want you to comparison shop.

 

[fwebster]

I think you just need to try an look at what is going on from the other side of the table......it might make a little more sense.

Boat salesmen are commission paid. The dealership expects the salesmen to stay in touch with customers and go to some lengths to see that they do. Most have a software package that helps them manage the customer base and do folow ups. Once you are assigned to a salesman, that is where you stay until he leaves or you request a another salesman be assigned to you. It also means he gets your commission money if you buy another boat.

So, your original salesman #1 quit/retired and the sales manager at that store was not managing his sales force, so you slipped thru the cracks. Enter young sales guy #2 at the original store A. The quickest way for a salesman to capture customers (and get their commission money) is to go thru the customer list and see who is still assigned to a salesman who is gone. Then new guy #2 contacts you and once he makes contact, he "claims" you (and you commission $) on their internal customer management system. That is what happened with the form letter and your follow up call.......you just got re-assigned to new guy #2.

What shoud have happened is the sales manager freezes all customers assigned to original guy #1 when he punches out. He then goes thru the customer list, looks at the boat you bought, your profile, your personality type and does his best to match you to whatever salesman on his roster is the best all round fit for you, Mr. Customer. But, that obviously didn't happen and new guy #2 did an end run on the system and staked a claim on as many of Original guy #1's customers as he could.

I've had my boat at our dealer's marina significantly longer than any peddler on the payroll. I used to get these letters all the time and just ignored them. I finally went to the sales manager and told him...."It looks like I stay here longer than your salesmen do, so just put your name on my account as salesman and I'll tell you when I"m ready to sell/trade/buy and it'll save us all a lot of time."

Ok.....on to dealership B and the Meridian....... As I understand it, you talked to salesman #3, asked him some questions, the you got a response from a different salesman, #4. My guess is that what happened here is that salesman #3 and #4 have agreed to partner up and split commissions. That happens frequently when the salesmen are compatable, work well together and bring different skills or experience to the table. Most likely, you happened to get salesman #3 as his next "Up" when you called or stopped in. Then when you started asking detailed questions, salesman #4 was the Meridian guy or the big boat guy in the partnership so you got the answers from him instead of salesman #3. If I were you, I wouldn't make any more out of it than it is.......as long as salesman #4 is responsive, you get your questions answered and he is someone you have decent chemistry with.

If there is interplay between the stores it is because they are using the same follow up system and are most likely managed by the same zone, area, or whatever MM calls it. If that is the case, then tell the store you want to work with to do whatever they need to do to stop their other store from contacting you.

If you are interested in buying a new boat, my advice is to do your best to overlook what may appear to be stupidity or a lack of professionalism. The dealers are struggling to get and keep good salesmen due to low income from commissions. We are also seeing some really aggressive and almost cut-throat plays by salesmen when it comes to guarding and protecting customer assignments these days. Help the salesmen by trying to be patient as they learn new product and try to sell boats into a market that is really tough right now. When you are contacted by a store you chose not to work with, just tell the salesman politely that you are "working with someone else and thank for calling."

Finally, if you run into that "he's our customer and he's in our territory so we get his business" crap, Sea Ray's poilcy is that the dealer in you home area or in the area where you use your boat is your dealer. Just tell MM you are using your boat in the area serviced by the store you want to patronize and you, not MM gets to pick.

 

[chuck1]

Well said Frank! I would give you one of them thumb's up smileys, but I know how much you like them(Grin)

 

[fwebster]

Chuck....I'm still trying to find those little green boxes!

 

[Turtlesboat]

balls, green balls.

 

[rondds]

How 'bout a nice +1 for Frank?

 

[Morpheus]

I agree with everything Frank said but I'm afraid because I didn't use names and titles part of the wackness of it all got lost in the translation.

The short of it is a salesman from Clearwater MM said that my salesman and the name he gave was never my saleman and said that he left the company when in fact that person he said had left the company had just emailed me 2 hours prior to his email.

I just don't think based on how this sales guy is going about druming up business is gonna have much luck if even doesn't even know who works for the company and who doesn't but anyway between his screw ups (I didn't even mention there were spelling errors) and the timing of it all I just found it just another crazy event from them.