汽車銷售員冷落女性等于犯傻
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??? 十來歲的時候，我曾經在一家餐館打工。我很快就學到了一課：一定要平等地對待餐桌上的每個客人，因為你永遠不知道最后買單的是誰，而且也正是他（她）決定了你能拿到多少小費。這是最基本的商業生存技巧，但在這個國家的汽車銷售員隊伍里，卻很少有人意識到這一點。如果你不信的話，不妨在懷孕七個月后，挺著肚子，拉著老公，帶著兩個孩子走到汽車經銷商的展廳，看看銷售人員首先會跟誰套近乎。 ????隨著我第三個孩子的預產期臨近，我和老公決定換一臺大一點的車。這輛車主要是給我開。經過一番研究，我把試駕的圍縮小到克萊斯勒城鄉（Chrysler Town & Country）、本田奧德賽 （Honda Odyssey）和豐田賽納（Toyota Sienna）這三款MPV上。不過逛了一家克萊斯勒、一家本田和三家豐田的經銷店后，我發現要要把這40,000美元的車款花出去可比想象的困難多了。 ????我們去了一家附近的豐田經銷店。我走到前臺，請他們找人帶我看一下賽納MPV。一為銷售員徑直走過來，向恰好站在我身后的一個男人做自我介紹。那人趕忙澄清他不是我丈夫，然后那個銷售員便轉向我，問我的老公在哪里——直到這時他也沒向我介紹他自己，也沒有問我的名字。后來這個銷售代表雖然也回答著我的問題，但眼睛始終沒離開我老公，不停地跟他說話，直到后來我老公告訴他跟我談。后來這家伙把我帶到他的辦公桌，記下我的信息，問了我家里的電話號碼，然后跟了一句：“顯然你沒有工作單位的電話。” ????說不定有人認為我有這樣的遭遇只是因為我特別倒霉而已，讓我再跟你說說另一個女人，施樂（Xerox）前副總裁兼CEO安妮?麥卡伊的故事。三年前，麥卡伊決定好好犒勞一下自己，于是她決定去買一臺保時捷（Porsche）。試駕了一臺保時捷911敞篷車后，她對銷售員說決定要了。那銷售員意味深長地停頓了一下，回答道：“難道你不用先和誰商量商量嗎？”麥卡伊答道：“如果10秒鐘之內你不開始辦手續的話，我就開30分鐘的車到下一家保時捷經銷店去，從他們手里買車。” ????那個保時捷銷售員辦好了手續，但對麥卡伊的羞辱并沒有就此結束。付款的時候，管財務的領導問她，是不是應該和誰一起在合同上簽字。這話讓這位財富500強企業的女負責人十分震驚。“這好象一下子把我扔回了20多歲的時候。當時我去申請貸款，雖然我有工作，而且在財務上絕對是安全的，但是我還是得找人跟我一起在申請書上簽字，因為70年代就是那個樣子。”麥卡伊說。“這在70年代是歧視，而現在這就是純粹的愚蠢。” ????不需要很高超的商業頭腦，誰都能看出這種業務習慣是有問題的。據市場調研機構CNW Research指出，去年有44%的汽車主要賣給了女性，而且女性影響了將近80%的汽車銷售。這對汽車公司來說并不是秘密，任何管理人員聽到手下發生了這種事都會臉色發白。但不知為什么，這一教訓就是沒有灌輸到銷售隊伍里去。 ????問題是，這種現象在汽車行業太普遍了。我在買MPV時碰到的每個銷售員都會自動地唯我老公馬首是瞻。畢竟好貨不怕賣，只要東西好，再蠢的銷售員都能把東西賣出去。最后我還是在上文中描述的那家經銷店里買了一臺豐田賽納，主要是因為我的孩子馬上就要出生了，而且我也沒有精力再去別的地方逛了。 ????但這并不是說，經銷店這樣做就不會付出機會成本。有了這樣的經驗之后，我短期內再也不想踏入汽車經銷店了。對于虛心聽取意見的汽車公司高管們，我有一句良言相勸：如果想在競爭中取勝，那么就把餐廳服務員的道理教給銷售隊伍。一定要平等地對待每個顧客，因為你永遠不知道買單的是誰。這就是我的建議。 ????譯者：樸成奎 |
????When I waited tables as a teenager, I learned one lesson very quickly: Treat every person in a dinner party equally, because you never know who's picking up the bill -- and therefore determining your tip. It's the most basic of business survival tips, but one that few car salesmen in this country seem to have learned. And if you doubt me on this point, try walking into a car dealership seven months pregnant with your husband and two kids, and see who the salesman approaches first. ????As the birth of our third child approached, my husband and I decided we needed a bigger car. It was to be my primary car, and after doing my research, all I wanted to do before plunking down my money was test-drive the Town & Country, the Odyssey, and the Sienna minivans. But getting someone to take $40,000 from you can be tougher than you might think, as I learned at one Chrysler, one Honda, and three Toyota (TM) dealerships. ????The scenarios all went something like what happened at a nearby Toyota dealership, where I walked to the front desk and asked to have someone show me the Sienna. A salesman came right out and introduced himself to the man who happened to be standing behind me. After the bystander made clear that he wasn't my husband, the salesman asked me where my husband was -- still without introducing himself or asking my name. The sales rep then went on to respond to questions I asked about the Sienna by looking at my husband and talking to him, until my husband told him to talk to me. When the guy took me to his desk to take down my information, he asked me for my home phone number and followed up with: "Obviously you don't have a work phone." ????Lest you think that I am just particularly unlucky, let me share the story of another woman, Anne Mulcahy, the former chairman and CEO of Xerox (XRX). Three years ago Mulcahy decided it was time to treat herself and went shopping for a Porsche. After test-driving one beauty -- a 911 Cabriolet -- she announced to the salesman that she'd take the car. After a pregnant pause, he responded, "Don't you have to talk to someone about that first?" Her reply: "If you don't start working on the paperwork in the next 10 seconds, I'll drive 30 minutes to the next Porsche dealer and buy the car there." ????The Porsche salesman got right on the paperwork, but the insults didn't end there. The finance officer followed up by asking Mulcahy if she needed someone to co-sign on her lease. For the head of a Fortune 500 company, the experience came as a jolt. "It threw me back to my twenties when I'd go for a loan. I was working and was totally financially secure, but I'd have to get co-signatures on my loans just because it was the 1970s," says Mulcahy. "Then it was discrimination. Now it's just stupidity." ????It doesn't take an MBA to recognize the bad business practices on display. Women were the primary buyers of more than 44% of all vehicles last year, and they influenced almost 80% of all auto sales, according to CNW Research. That's no secret to the auto companies, and any executive would blanch to hear stories like these. But somehow the lesson hasn't trickled down to the sales force. ????The issue may be that the problem is so pervasive in the auto industry. Every salesman I dealt with on my minivan adventure automatically deferred to my husband. And in the end, even a stupid salesman can make a sale when he's selling an essential good. I ended up buying the Sienna from the dealership I described above, mostly because the baby was coming soon and I was tired of shopping around. ????That's not to say there isn't an opportunity cost. After an experience like this, I am in no rush to step back into a showroom anytime soon. Which brings me to my memo to any auto company exec willing to listen: If you want a leg up on your competition, teach your sales force the lesson of waiting tables. Treat every customer with the same respect, because you never know who's going to pay the bill. And that's my tip. |
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