"So, one Sunday morning, my son and I, casually dressed, set off to find a new car," writes Anne Williamson.

We arrived at the first showroom. I’m looking for what you might describe as a mid-range executive level car, so you can imagine the type of cars I’m considering.

We parked my car, got out and in we walked. Three sales advisors were hunched around the same desk chatting away, the showroom was very quiet.

My son and I opened and sat in a few cars, admiring the almost cockpit designed interiors. I was surprised that no one came to offer any assistance, but suddenly I noticed one chap about to walk by after about 15 minutes. “Give us a shout if you want any assistance.”

That was it, not a ‘Hello’. Not trying to engage us, it was almost like I’d walked into a clothes shop.

“I would like some help please,” I answered.

Slightly surprised he turned and came back. He answered my questions about the various dials and buttons, and described the differences between the two models I was looking at, but that was about all.

When I asked about sorting out a test drive during the week he answered: “Whenever you like, I work seven days a week ‘cos I’ve got a big bond.” Wow, I was into his life story now.

I asked for a brochure on the two models I had looked at and he brought them back with a business card attached. “Thanks Chris,” I remarked, letting him acknowledge the fact that I knew his name (after looking at the business card), but he never even asked mine.

So, what were my thoughts?

Well, taking fifteen minutes to approach me in the first place was a disaster.

I could’ve been and gone in that time. I don’t know if my casual wear gave the wrong impression, but not taking the opportunities when they present themselves could be deadly. I’m not sure if the salesman has seen the report that females account for over 80% of car purchasing decisions.

Secondly in the customer relationship how about matching needs?

No effort was made to find what I was looking for and why. Just ‘this does this’ and ‘that does that’. It almost felt like an assumption was made that as a poor helpless woman I needed a man to tell me what engine size meant and where I would fill it up.

Finally, there was absolutely no attempt to build any rapport.

He never asked my name, didn’t even acknowledge my son. In fact, it felt like we were a burden on his conversation with his pals.

I find it hard to believe that a prestige marque employs sales people who let customers walk in and out of their showroom without even capturing their basic details. All that money spent on advertising, showrooms, and literature wasted through the simple lack of human touch.

As you can imagine, we won’t be going back.”

How do we turn the situation around?

Sadly, there are thousands of customers who experience the same frustrations as Anne.

Customers complain about:

• Being ignored on the dealership floor
• Not being listened to
• Not understanding their needs
• Broken promises
• Lack of communication
• No or minimum feedback on their finance applications
• Paperwork not ready, etc.