By Christopher Ofcky

May 1st, 2012

Hello IamBMW Fans! Today we’ll be talking about the new revisions to BMW’s vaunted 3-Series sedan. Motor Trend recently did an article for their April-May issue on luxury automobiles in the smaller sedan segment, and rated the 3-Series the best of them all; this isn’t surprising as BMW has spent a good deal of research and development dollars as well as technology innovations on their new model, hoping that it corrects some of the smaller inefficencies of their previous E90 generation.

The F30 is now powered by a 2.0 inline 4-Cylinder engine, turbocharged. This engine pushes out more power than the previous non-turbo six-cylinder and smashes fuel economy numbers, though not as high as predicted by the manufacturer. The F30 is capable of 28-32 MPG Highway (not exactly the 34+ BMW initially claimed, but respectable and top of the line for its segment, nonetheless). The twin-scroll turbo technology is also retained in the 3.0 inline six-cylinder on the 335.

BMW’s Automatic “go” system — a start-stop, no key slot in dash ignition and engine control system provides a fun drive, but it takes some getting used to. Undoubtedly, as the technology improves, we can expect to see even better fuel efficency from it. The transmission has been upgraded to an eight-speed automatic — this is done for greater cruising power, and an overall smoother shift performance.

Hundreds of smaller features make this vehicle truly fun to drive (I especially appreciated the steering column telescoping out an additional 1/2 inch as I have shorter arms and longer legs), as well as comfortable. More legroom for driver and passengers, wider door openings and folding rear seats in an optional 40/20/40 configuration appear for the first time in the 3-Series models.

All and all, it’s a great drive, and a very reasonable cost. BMW of Schererville has a fresh fleet of these 3-Series vehicles ready to go — be sure you drive one as soon as you can, as theyu seem to be selling fairly quickly!

BMW's Olympic Athletes at their Booth at the 2012 Auto Show.

Is 2012 the year to buy a new car?

It’s no surprise to most consumers that car manufacturers are seeking to constantly change the game, but I think many (including myself) were shocked at how far the industry has come since 2008 when our markets bottomed out. Consumers were burdened under massive interest rates, lackluster products which were purchased out of necessity, and the sheer ineffectiveness of leasing is something we’re still all suffering from when vehicles come back, and consumers try to trade them in.

The product lines launched across 2009-2010 weren’t very helpful to dealers or consumers, either. They were hardly fuel-efficent, burdened with higher manufacturing costs, and we all felt the bottom line. 2011 was better; BMW was one of the most successful last year when it came to vehicle sales, and domestic products began to see higher quality placed in their model line-ups, but consumers still felt somewhat cheated: it seemed as if the next grade of technology was always out of our grasp. We had about 500 tickets leftover from the 2011 Auto show; these saw the bottom of the dumpster pretty quick. We couldn’t give them away.

2012 promises to be a completely different year, which will benefit both the consumer and the dealers across the United States. This year, I sent out an e-mail inviting customers of BMW of Schererville to enjoy some complimentary tickets to the 2012 Auto Show. .I ran out within thirty minutes of sending it. I couldn’t get rid of 500 tickets in 2011, but my 200 tickets lasted 30 minutes in 2012.

I saw some of the most innovative and startling ideas used in the design of these 2012 models: Start/Stop engines to improve fuel efficency, larger vehicles without more weight added to them, more conveniences as standard options rather than up-charges (new cupholders, thank you, BMW!), and “kick to open” trunks. Even domestic brands are beginning to see the light: Chrysler has one of the most impressive line-ups I’ve seen in sometime, with real leather instead of plastic covering their dashes, and upholstery which comes frighteningly close to my beloved European imports.

Lease residuals are excellent, finance rates haven’t been better in some time, and manufacturers are giving away incentives which would make not buying and replacing that “10.6 year-old average age vehicle” a sin. I think you’re all going to be very impressed at the new BMW 3-Series as well as its new engine configuration, a 2.0L inline 4-cylinder which squeezes more horsepower a torque than previous years, all while reducing fuel consumption.

In my next post, we’ll cover the new 2012 3-Series, and what BMW is doing to promote its new product.

Until then!

Hello fellow Bimmerphiles! I just wanted to write to you briefly and discuss the Oktoberfest event we had here at the dealership; I’d like to thank all of the community in Northwest Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio that came out to show your cars, listen to awesome music and play in the bouncy houses. I put some photos up for everyone to see on Flickr; you can see the pictures at the following locations:

http://www.bmwinschererville.com/page/custom/en/Customer_Appreciation_Day - Customer Appreciation Day Photos!

http://www.bmwinschererville.com/page/custom/en/Octoberfest_Photos_Car_Show - Car Show and Battle of the Bands Photos!

http://www.bmwinschererville.com/page/custom/en/kids_carnival_photos - Kidz Karnival Photos!

We had a ton of fun hanging out with everyone in October, and we hope that those who attended the event really enjoyed themselves. I have uploads of the recipie cards from our Customer Appreciation Night up on the website here:

http://www.bmwinschererville.com/page/custom/en/BMW_Octoberfest_Recipes

Thanks again for making our Oktoberfest so awesome! As always, I’ll be writing to you soon.

Luxury Manufacturers Lead the Way for a Fully-Connected Driving Experience Through Technology.

August 24th, 2011

by Christopher Ofcky

Good morning followers of IAMBMW.com, and a hello to all of our new viewers that may be stumbling upon this blog for the first time. A while back we discussed how various BMW Dealerships in the United States, including my own BMW of Schererville are making use of Apple’s iPad and other related Technology to assist customers in the turning-in of leases, and genuinely making life easier, leading to a better shopping experience for consumers, and a lower cost for dealers.

Fast forward a bit into the earlier summer — the 2012 BMW 650 launched with great success, BMW’s ConnectedDrive for 2011 was finally at its pinnacle of success. Through it, a customer could stream media and album artwork, read text messages and flip through portable documents, right from their vehicle’s iDrive screen. With the addition of the 2011 X3 and the new 2012 X5s to the lineup, monitors in vehicles are becoming larger and larger (8.8 inches standard, in the case of the X3, with 10.1″ being offered for Navigation-equipped models).

Now, manufacturers such as BMW, General Motors, Ford, Mercedes Benz — everyone — is in on the technology craze. Customers can unlock doors, return leases, and in BMW’s case, map and share awesome driving routes with one another from the BMW FS App, right on their iPhone or Android mobile device. These social navigation tools allow us to share things with one another in ways we would have thought impossible years ago.

So what does that mean for consumers?

Simple. More fun, and more expectations.

Imagine a vehicle fully connected to you; a vehicle capable of performing every task your mobile device can, and sharing information with it. We spend just as much time in our vehicles as we do in our houses; being comfortable and keeping informed remains our number 1 priority, and BMW understands that. BMW’s led this charge for years, with BMW Assist and now Enhanced Bluetooth streaming and USB functionality, becoming almost standard on its vehicles. Already, with the Connected Drive, consumers can link their cellular phones to their vehicle’s navigation system, sharing points of interests, great spots for driving, and positive experiences with dealers.

I can only imagine what another five years will hold.

Until next time!

The Internet and You: Keys to Successful Negotiation in Car Buying, Part 2

July 18th, 2011

By Christopher Ofcky

     Good morning Everyone! Last month we discussed some of the myths behind buying automobiles on the Internet and some of the blunders on behalf of the consumer — today we’ll talk about some of the biggest mistakes dealerships make when it comes to communicating with their audiences, and how these mistakes are reviewed by consumers or prospective buyers in general. It’s a known fact as we discussed in the previous post that buying online has garnered a strong reputation for being easy and hassle-free, yet automobile dealers are still one of the few online sellers left where it’s often mandated that you’ll have to set foot in the door at one point in time. It can be frustrating for both the dealer and the consumer to become involved in internet transactions, and here are some of the reasons why.

Dealers: “Be as Ambigious As Possible, We’ll Worry About it When They’re Here”.

In theory, this is the classic strategy of closing the internet customer: ambigious language, not going in-depth with taxes, break-downs of selling prices, cap costs, dealer fees, and just letting the customer know, “yes, we can do xxx/month on that car”. More often than not, this sort of technique works — more often than not, the dealer is telling the truth: they can do that payment, but perhaps not with the same options. Fast forward to when the customer shows up: “We don’t have that option, it’s going to be more for that” and so on and so forth. This places the customer in a defensive position, and even though they may buy, everything would be fine. .up until they see your reviews on a public forum, and feel they’ve been wronged. Manufacturer surveys also reflect this practice, and Dealers are often miffed when they believe a customer is happy, but get blasted on a customer service survey or over Google. Avoid this, and be up front. If you “worry about it when they’re here”, you’ll be worrying about it when they leave.

Dealers: Nothing but an e-mail gets nothing but a generic response.

This is something we’ve all been guilty of, and it’s an extreme annoyance to many of us — my last article pointed to this as a bad practice for customers — but let’s face it. .we call people. .a lot. And sometimes people just aren’t as social as we are; we must learn to accept this. I have a pretty high e-mail conversion rate, and I like to write, but seeing a lead come in with just an e-mail address still gets me a little red in the face. Still, we have to get better at answering these in timely fashions. Many users (myself included), prefer e-mail to a phone call because of its flexibility and because it’s more private than taking a call, less disruptive than having to get up and talk to someone for an unknown time.  Work it like it’s a digital phone call, and remember that just because there’s no phone number, it doesn’t mean the customer isn’t serious.

Dealers: “Your customer is here, don’t worry — I’ll take it”.

I think it’s generally widely known by now that most Internet Sales people don’t actually sell the vehicles. When I worked in the domestic industry, I did both (customer service as well as demonstration/payments/selling, etc); with as many customers as we handle on a daily basis, we simply couldn’t provide good customer service and handle inquiries all day long, it would force us into only wanting to take the best deals. I’ve had some customers even come into the dealership and say, “Wow, I’m surprised you exist”. If you have a system in your dealership that allows a gentle hand-off from the Internet Sales Manager to the Client Advisor, make the customer aware of what to expect when they come in, and make sure your Salespeople always let the Internet Agents know they have a customer in the dealership. You have to remember that we have spent a good deal of time in many cases building well-deserved trust, and this ultimately hurts your customers’ opinions of you, as well as your Internet Department and even perhaps, your sale.

Dealers: Follow-Up, Follow-Through.

How many times has this happened to you, as a consumer — or to you as a dealer: the deal is all worked out, everyone is happy with the results and then something goes amiss; the car isn’t as promised, has been sold, has more miles than expected, etc. Though it’s often hard to keep track of every vehicle in and out of the dealership, put your hands on it! Don’t assume that the last posted mileage on your website is correct. When you tell the customer that everything is one way, and they show up to buy and it clearly isn’t, it spells doomsday for you. Most often, I think customers would agree that if the minor things were simply disclosed to them beforehand, they’d still have shown up to purchase the vehicle, or at least see it. If a customer still can’t make a decision — call or e-mail them. Don’t just forget about them when they leave. The difference between a one-time customer and a repeat customer is follow-up.

Well, I hope this has been somewhat insightful for some people; I am sure many dealers practice this way, but I thought it may be nice for the consumer to see our ires on many of the issues to know that the experience can be frustrating on both sides. I hope this shines some light on what we work diligently to try and avoid for the average buyer. I welcome any and all questions/comments.

Until next time!

Christopher

Wow! That's a lot of red dots!

Buying a Car in Chicago? You have a lot of choices.

The Internet and You: Keys to Successful Negotiation in Car Buying, Part 1.

June 23, 2011

By Christopher Ofcky

  Good afternoon shoppers, loyal IAMBMW followers, my previous and future customers, and just those who are like me on their days off and love to surf the web but have little else to do over a morning cup of coffee, trying to forget the massive, hectic work schedule most of us lead and occasionally love! Today on IAMBMW, we’re going to discuss the basics of the Internet Department and consumer shopping as it pertains to purchasing a vehicle online.

 When I first started in the automotive business five years ago, Internet shopping had been going on for some time, and was doing nothing but picking up pace. Yet, I still knew many dealerships that refused to embrace the Internet Sales Consultant position, and many more than never bothered to put real focus on their websites. However, as you can see from the image on my right (courtesy of Google, the all-knowing search engine), this clearly is no longer the case.

  While it’s true that many of you do still shop dealers the “old fashioned way” — walking onto their lot and making a deal for something — many of you enjoy the services that Internet Departments in dealerships bring you: photos of vehicles, solid pricing structures, the ability to answer your questions in a timely manner, and values for your cars, explanations of taxes, et cetera. Yet, for as much as consumers value an Internet Sales Consultant, there’s still many that find themselves frustrated by the way dealerships handle Internet customers.

  So, in an attempt to help you — the consumer — and perhaps even some other dealerships out there get along better, I’ve decided to write this bridge to the gap in communication break-downs. I’ve noticed a ton of third-party sites out there that instruct consumers on the pitfalls of what not to do when purchasing a vehicle, but a lot of these sites merely point towards basic essentials which I know the majority of my customers already know. Fewer of them place special focus on online departments, and how to get more for your money out of them. So, I’ve compiled a short list of things which might help consumers and explain a bit more of the process on the dealer’s end. It’s important to remember that I’m not in this to sell a car (lucky you, phew!), but I genuinely want to bring this to light because I feel it’s under-dressed in my industry. So, without further adieu, I give you the most common mistakes Internet Sales Consultants and Consumers make when interfacing with one other.

1: Consumer Myth: Remaining as Anonymous as possible will get me the best deal.

False. Actually, this is likely worse than giving an Internet Department too much of your information, even if you’re a relatively private person, and allow me to explain why. As an Internet Sales Manager, and a former Sales Consultant (both on the floor and on the phone), I’ve seen this end in nothing but pitfalls, for both the consumer and the department. Your average internet department in the Chicagoland area typically has two to four people in it, depending on volume, and handles roughly 200 phone calls a day just in follow-up alone as well as all incoming request for information and sales calls.

Just like our customers, we yearn for a strong connection and interfacing with who we’re selling a product to. Our primary goal is to get customers the information they ask for, and set up an appointment for them to drive the vehicle. If I’m working 10 requests for information, and all of them have contact information such as phone numbers and real names, I’m obligated to get to these customers first because they have given me an honest request.

Remaining anonymous to the point of giving us a fax number as a phone number, two initials for your name, and a skeptical e-mail address often puts you right on the back burner. Now, I’m not saying to give every bit of your background to the Internet Department, but you want to know who you’re speaking with, right? So do we.

2: Consumer Myth: Internet Departments don’t care about profit, as they get paid on volume. 

Again, False. It’s been my experience that while Internet Departments do have the lowest prices on vehicles compared to the “lot price”, it would be hard to keep the doors open by giving them away. It’s been an industry myth for a long time that Internet Departments get paid on volume, so they don’t necessarily care about price. What consumers don’t take into consideration in this equation, is that dealers own a particular vehicle for a particular price; going through the internet department won’t change that number.

 It’s also important to remember that while Internet Departments may not be paid on profit, Salespeople are. It would be a very difficult task indeed to set up a deal with absolutely no profit in it, and expect a Client Advisor to give all of their time and attention to the customer when they come through the door to pick-up the car. Ultimately, we want your business. .but we want to keep our doors open. And we want to be able to afford things that our customers want: free wi-fi, complimentary beverages, loaner cars, etc.

Even that Internet Consultant you enjoy talking to can run up a dealer’s bill, particularly if they’re overworked. We’re not trying to crush you, we’re just trying to keep our doors open in many cases. 

3: Consumer Myth: They just want to lure me to the dealership so they can switch me to a different car! 

True and False. As a dealer, if I understand my consumer has been within my brand for quite some time, or is shopping very specific model with specific options, I will do my best to give them the unique information necessary to their purchase, mainly because it’s actually easier for me, than to have the customer drive 50 of my cars when the customer and I both know they’re only wanting one type of vehicle. However, this consumer — in my experience — is a rarity to run into.

Many of us shop as part of our research, and for a lot of us (including myself), it has less to do with a particular object, and more to do with getting an overall sense of exactly what I need. Dealers have multitudes of vehicles on their lots, and there are simply some things which a consumer will never know until they find that right fit. If you’re a larger person as I am (across the shoulders, for example), you might not be able to fit into that vehicle you want at the price point you’re comfortable with.  If you know 100% what you want — this doesn’t really apply to you, as you’re likely to shoot me a fair offer because you’ve extensively researched and shopped the car.

 However, those of you who are new to the brand? Just ask when you can come in; it really does save us both a lot of time, and frustration. Nothing is worse than negotiating a deal with a consumer for a week and a half, only to find out they can’t fit in the car! The fact is, however, very few people leave a dealership with what they intended to buy. This includes my customers that I’ve worked extensively with.

Well, I’ll quit writing now! I’m sure there will be comments and questions on this, so feel free to leave them and I’ll get to them as quickly as possible, even if you’re not shopping at my dealership. I will be posting part 2 to this blog in the near future, so for those of you who enjoyed reading a different perspective, please follow me on Facebook and check in regularly, or subscribe via RSS. Those of you who didn’t, please leave me comments — I’m always looking to improve my process.

Until next time!

Christopher Ofcky

Director, Internet Sales

BMW of Schererville

219.864.3390

chriso@bmwsch.com

http://www.bmwinschererville.com