Ford Dealer Disrespects a Major War Hero

http://gigofund.org/news-2011_veterans_day_gala-11_11_2011.html

The Jeans Cruz Story from FILMSTERS on Vimeo.

I want to talk about something that has happened back in mid February of this year (2012).  I was doing contract work with a Ford dealership as the Internet Director.  I came in on a few month contract to help rebuild the BDC department and improve the store.  This dealership is in the NY Metro area but for professional reasons I will not disclose the name.  It was Monday February 20, 2012 (President's Day).  The day was busy and we were selling a lot of cars.  I actually had the Ford Direct rep with me helping me set guidelines for the store.  One of my BDC reps had given me a 2 page email from this gentleman who you can read about.  He had submitted an internet lead and was brought in to buy a car.  There were factors that prevented the dealership from making a deal.  However, the email was so powerful that it hit me pretty hard.  I mean it hit me so hard that I went on google and found out about this gentleman that was trying to buy a car.  I learned so much about him that I was embarrassed for being involved in such a situation.  In fact, I did all I can to apologize and make the situation better.  I approached my general manager who protected that sales person politically along with the sales person and gave them a huge piece of my mind.  In fact, they were so unprofessional about listening to the situation that they made every excuse as to what happened and why the customer got treated like that.  The reality is that the sales person should have been fired.  He brought a huge liability to the store.  Needless to say that a few days later my contract was terminated early and I was let go because I spoke out in an effort to help this dealership.  In fact, that same sales person had been given the job as BDC Manager which he messed up within 2 months and later got promoted to General Sales Manager.  Amazing what happens when the owner of the store takes no control and trusts people that should not be trusted to be a GM.  No one at the dealership learned from what happened or cared but I did.  I wanted to open up this discussion to inspire but also educate automotive professionals on the importance of respecting your customers.  This includes war heroes.  Please take a look at the image of this war hero, click the links above to read and watch the video of his story.  This is eye opening stuff here.

 

 

Thank you for reading and being involved.

 

Stan Sher
President of Dealer eTraining