Keeping the customers sweet

Back in the 50s the new-car salesman called the shots. Now, as Alistair Sloane points out, nothing is too much trouble.

If you remember the mid-50s, when prop Ian Clarke played No 8 in a rugby test against Australia and Hopalong Cassidy played cowboys on Saturday mornings on radio 1ZB, you'll remember the rigmarole in buying a new car.

New cars were thin on the ground then. People stared at them. Those in city showrooms certainly weren't to be touched, especially if sales staff sensed you were an unruly lot from the country. Trade-ins would be directed round the back.

Mum would corral the children in a corner so dad could throw himself at the mercy of the salesman, who more often than not would have a polishing cloth in his hand - a pointed alternative to a Please Don't Touch sign - as he moved around the car.

Flashback to a 50s showroom conversation ...

Dad: Does it come with a radio?

Salesman: No, sir, that isn't an option on this model, it's an extra and will take some weeks to fit.

Dad: How about a heater? Cold as blazes down our way last winter.

Salesman: No, sir. A heater is only an option on the more expensive premium model, the one with the radio as standard.

Dad: A couple of rubber floor mats in the front would be handy, then, living on the farm as we do.

Salesman: I'll have to talk to the manager about those. They're extras. Scarce too. We might have to get them up on the train from Wellington. Might take a few weeks.

Dad: I like the colour of that model over there, goes well with the whitewall tyres. Is that available?

Salesman: That's a special two-tone paint, sir. Has to be ordered from the factory. About a 10-week wait. But it wouldn't be seen at its best on country roads, if you don't mind me saying, sir.

Dad: How about a wee drive, you know, to get the feel of it.

Salesman: We can't allow that, sir. However, I might be able to take you and your wife around the corner and back. But the children will have to stay here. We don't have any rugs to put in the back seat for them to sit on.

Dad: What about that model by the window? I like that. Foreign is it?

Salesman: You need overseas funds to buy that, sir. There's a seven-month wait for delivery, too. Don't happen to have a numbered Swiss bank account, do you? Might speed things up. Forgive me, sir - little industry joke.

Now flash forwards to the 90s where a new-car salesman is likely to throw you the keys as soon as you walk in the door, open the passenger door for mum and help do up the kids' seatbelts in the back.

"Whaddaya reckon, guys? Take it for a drive, grab some lunch and I'll see you back here later. Oh, here's a cellphone for you. Just press that button there and the call will come through to our receptionist. In case you get lost or something. Enjoy it. Believe me, the price is right."

Yes, things have certainly changed. Prices, equipment, tyres, safety items, seats, engines, designs ... the whole box and dice. Back in the 50s the carmaker kicked the dealer and the dealer kicked the customer. Now the customer kicks the dealer and the dealer kicks the carmaker. Gotta keep the customer satisfied.

The money that dealers make on new cars has changed, too. So have the bonus payments. Most dealers still get a sales bonus from the carmaker itself. But not Saab. No, Saab's bonus is based not on sales but customer satisfaction. It calls it a "happiness bonus" and it breaks with a long-standing industry convention.

Saab Australia chief Bob Maron reckons the new approach to bonuses will result in the Swedish carmaker becoming one of the high-flyers on the industry's customer satisfaction index.

"It's been set in stone for years that car manufacturers pay dealers a bonus based on sales targets," Maron says. "But this is so volume-oriented that it undermines profits and generates competition between dealers to the point where they are not making enough money to invest in the brand and their customers."

This is particularly important in New Zealand, where Maron admits that over the past few years Saab hasn't looked after its customers as well as it should have.

"Dealers who score 96 to 100 per cent will be paid a maximum bonus," he says. "If they score between 90 and 95 per cent, they'll get 80 per cent of the bonus. But if their figure is below 90 per cent they'll get nothing."

Part of the programme includes a check on customers' cars after 2500km, just so dealer and buyer can kick around a few ideas.

"The 2500km check is not part of the service programme," Maron says. "It's to help get the customer comfortable with the car, that things like the memory in electric seats has been fully utilised, that the engine management system has adapted to a customer's driving style. It's to answer a few questions that the customer has had time to think about."

One model that falls under Saab's new programme is the limited edition 9-3 Monte Carlo, available as a coupe or sedan and powered by a four-cylinder, turbocharged 2-litre engine.

The five-speed manual model uses a high output turbo (HOT) and produces 147kW at 5500 rpm and 283Nm of pulling power between 2300 and 4800 rpm. The four-speed automatic option uses a tamer turbo and produces 136kW and 230Nm between 2000 and 5500 rpm.

Both variants have leather interiors and up-to-the-minute safety systems. The coupe costs $69,100 and the sedan $71,100.