The post election experts consistently called on the current political establishment to listen to the message from California voters, and then challenged every politician from George W. Bush down to change their behavior or risk losing their office.

The theme of "We’ve finally had enough" is one that the auto industry has heard but, as yet, only partially listened to. And in the same way that the voters in California turned out in record numbers to boot Gray Davis, there are rumblings of a potential revolt against traditional car buying processes.

Note that the issue is with the process of buying a car, not with the price of buying a car. For goodness sake, 40 years ago a new house was only a little more than 3 times that of a new car. Today, new vehicle quality, technology and safety are a hundred times improved while homes aren’t being built a whole lot differently. Yet the price of an average new home is now 10 or more times that of a new car.

To put it bluntly, people are tired of the games, tired of the lies and tired of the complicated "political" aspects involved in the car buying process. They want to work with one person who understands them, not some "good cop bad cop" scheme that involves the mystery man behind the tower, nor some closer to come along and change their mind for them. They’re interested in honesty and integrity, and they’re moving toward non-traditional car buying methods to get it.

It’s time for the Dealers to get involved with their customers again. Come back to the dealership and engage a few of the folks that helped make you successful and ask them what they want. Listen to what they’re saying about your sales and service processes, and how they are treated by your staff. Then consider the consequences should you decide to continue with "business as usual".

When you’re ready, call us and we’ll help you implement customer focused processes that people say they love!