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Lack of specialist knowledge at Nissan Dealers

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  Blackeunos 
#1 ·
I recently read the following post on Leaf Talk regarding the lack of Leaf specialist knowledge at Leaf Dealerships...

http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/showthread.php/9451-Disheartening-Nissan-Dealer-support-for-the-LEAF

I have to agree with everything said there.

Unfortunately though it might not to be Nissans fault. It seems to me to be be a by-product of the way car salespeople earn their money - by commission on sales.

With few exceptions car salespeople earn most of their money selling cars. If they don't sell then they don't earn or worse, they could lose their job! It is the nature of sales. So with that in mind imagine the life of an EV specialist salesperson in a dealership. There is this car, it is very technical and needs a lot of understanding. Customers will most likely require significantly more time spent with them explaining the car, its benefits and advantages, rebuking the usual "Top Gear" misconceptions... all of this would be OK if they made a sale but most of the time they don't.

Being an EV specialist at a dealer must be the job no one wants. OK, they also can sell ICEs but the time spent dealing with EV enquiries that could be spent selling cars they know will sell must be seen as a waste.

Remember, it is the dealer that pays the salespeople, not Nissan. Until the saleperson is properly rewarded for their time spent promoting EVs they will never stick around. I have seen most dealers lose their EV specialist almost at frequent intervals. Of course there are exceptions... my dealer, JFE Exeter, has had the same EVRM since the launch and superb he is too. I am sure there are others out there but it is not at all surprising that it is the job no one wants.

I do agree that it needs that detailed knowledge and continuity at the dealers to back up any marketing effort but until Nissan UK fund the salepeople themselves the situation is unlikely to change.
 
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#2 ·
Sorry to resurrect such an old thread but I wanted to put my experience from the weekend into written form.
Now that these vehicles are coming on the second hand market the used car salesmen have a steep learning curve.

I found an ex-demonstrator e-nv200 combo at a local Nissan garage. It was listed as an acenta flex and so I enquired if it was indeed flex and whether it was a rapid, rapid plus or just an acenta. I received an answer after the salesman went away and talked to one of his colleagues. It was supposed to be a non-flex acenta rapid plus with 40miles on the clock and so on that I went to have a look at it.

I arrived and all the salesman could tell me about it was that it came with all the stuff I'd need to have to charge at home or on the road, and that the battery came with the car. Yes, it came with a type 2 cable and a 3 pin granny cable so I could 'charge at home'.

We went for a test drive and he had more questions than I had about the vehicle, like how long it took to charge and what those blobs were on the dashboard when I accelerated or slowed down.
I explained regen to him and explained about driving economically. He seemed pleased to learn some stuff about the car and I showed him eco mode and Braking mode as well as some of the displays.
When the drive was over I parked up and showed him the reversing screen. Then he asked if I wanted to see under the bonnet, I suspect he was more interested than I was and so I said yes.
"Oh, that battery is smaller than I expected" he said. "Oh, that's just the starter battery, the big one that drives you along is under the floor at the front" I replied.
Then I did what I should have at the start, look in the charge port, and what did I find? No chademo socket.
Turns out his colleague was wrong and it was an acenta flex with only the 3 kw charger.
Ah well, it was a nice drive out.
 
#5 ·
Sorry to resurrect such an old thread but I wanted to put my experience from the weekend into written form.
Now that these vehicles are coming on the second hand market the used car salesmen have a steep learning curve.

I found an ex-demonstrator e-nv200 combo at a local Nissan garage. It was listed as an acenta flex and so I enquired if it was indeed flex and whether it was a rapid, rapid plus or just an acenta. I received an answer after the salesman went away and talked to one of his colleagues. It was supposed to be a non-flex acenta rapid plus with 40miles on the clock and so on that I went to have a look at it.

I arrived and all the salesman could tell me about it was that it came with all the stuff I'd need to have to charge at home or on the road, and that the battery came with the car. Yes, it came with a type 2 cable and a 3 pin granny cable so I could 'charge at home'.

We went for a test drive and he had more questions than I had about the vehicle, like how long it took to charge and what those blobs were on the dashboard when I accelerated or slowed down.
I explained regen to him and explained about driving economically. He seemed pleased to learn some stuff about the car and I showed him eco mode and Braking mode as well as some of the displays.
When the drive was over I parked up and showed him the reversing screen. Then he asked if I wanted to see under the bonnet, I suspect he was more interested than I was and so I said yes.
"Oh, that battery is smaller than I expected" he said. "Oh, that's just the starter battery, the big one that drives you along is under the floor at the front" I replied.
Then I did what I should have at the start, look in the charge port, and what did I find? No chademo socket.
Turns out his colleague was wrong and it was an acenta flex with only the 3 kw charger.
Ah well, it was a nice drive out.
Hi @AtTheVan,

Thank you for sharing your experience and bring this to our attention. This is not the service we expect from our dealers. Please could you inbox us the following information so we can pass on the feedback to the relevant team to investigate:

1. Name
2. Phone number
3. Email address
4. Your postcode
4. Nissan dealership name
5. Name of the salesperson (if possible)

Thanks,
^ML
 
#3 ·
Thanks for sharing.

Can't say I am at all surprised though. Even though this thread is 4 years old nothing much has changed :(
 
#8 ·
Crikey it seems everytime @NissanGB get involved i have to rebuke them,try getting your own customer service's up to scratch before you have a pop a young salesperson who obviously has not had the required training, whether thats to a standard that you lay down or the garage.He's trying to earn a living no shame in that.
@E Geeza i dont know about big guns for bigger issues but when you need them all they fire is blanks.
 
#10 ·
@E Geeza i dont know about big guns for bigger issues but when you need them all they fire is blanks.
In defence of @NissanGB, I did indeed have cause recently to involve head office with something and they did me proud.

And yes, I agree the salesperson was just trying to do their job; it was a hopefully (at least mildly) amusing anecdote rather than a 'what's the world coming to, we're all doomed' comment.
 
#9 ·
Indeed. When I bought my recent 30kW Leaf, the sales lady told me that it had a solar spoiler which extends the range. It was the 1st Leaf that she had sold. The handover was difficult, but I did my best.
 
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#11 ·
@E Geeza youre probably right perhaps i am letting one, albeit not mild problem/dispute cloud my judgement,but seriously cars like the Leaf, Zoe and i3 etc have the potential to be real world gamechangers for motoring,and people like us who either buy or lease these cars should be treated at all times with a bit more dare i say respect if thats the right word.Data for recurring problems should be collated at a higher level with solutions to match and not just swept under the carpet.
 
#12 ·
I have to stick up for my local dealer (Wessex Cardiff). They have have been quite knowledgeable when I have spoken to anyone at the dealership regarding my LEAF. I have also been given a nice welcome and customer service when I have visited the franchise dealerships in Bristol and Gloucester when I needed a charge.

I haven't dealt with any other Nissan dealership apart from Wessex so can't pass comment on anyone else.

Nissan, do you want me to be your mystery shopper? Just drop me a PM :cool: :D
 
#13 ·
It'll always be the same with dealers being franchises. It's one of the reasons I left the trade after being in it for 5 years.

I'm a car fanatic and that led me to get in to sales, buy whilst I was into finding the ins and outs of the cars, informing and helping customers, all the other sales staff were just out for the commision.

I was in a Nissan dealer and was the dealership 350z specialist when it launched, sometimes it would take a few weeks to get a sale on one of those and you had to know your stuff, but all the sales manager wanted was a deposit and an order there and then.

It's the nature of the trade, definitely not the sales staffs fault, they're just trying to earn a living I'm a cut throat environment.
 
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