[F1Venom]

Let's hope they're smarter than the Apple Geniuses.

[coloradoe92m3]

Blows my mind but I have a different spin. F BMW is smart they would introduce the genius with the ulterior motive to extract the sales team improvement in product knowledge by propelling the setting that drives self motivation which is so much more effective than top down "motivation" currently there is no monetary benefit to a salesman who decides to keep up with all latest info. Rather the only people salesman caters to are in educated car buyers that they can spew out enough valid info coupled with crap to appear knowledgeable. The real educated buyer basically is forced to utilize a salesman for transaction and given we are educated, I don't care if a salesman was educated as I'm not relying on him.

Add a genius however and create a hierarchy of which sales people know more or less and now both monetary sales motivation improves and self motivation to not have to look like an idiot day in and day out. The uneducated buyer now will value the knowledagsble sales person as there is now a measure of comparison to the genius.

Bottom line I see genius as a backdoor way to spur one sales force to become self motivated to learn their product the way they should have already

[LarThaL]

Originally Posted by coloradoe92m3

Blows my mind but I have a different spin. F BMW is smart they would introduce the genius with the ulterior motive to extract the sales team improvement in product knowledge by propelling the setting that drives self motivation which is so much more effective than top down "motivation" currently there is no monetary benefit to a salesman who decides to keep up with all latest info. Rather the only people salesman caters to are in educated car buyers that they can spew out enough valid info coupled with crap to appear knowledgeable. The real educated buyer basically is forced to utilize a salesman for transaction and given we are educated, I don't care if a salesman was educated as I'm not relying on him.

Add a genius however and create a hierarchy of which sales people know more or less and now both monetary sales motivation improves and self motivation to not have to look like an idiot day in and day out. The uneducated buyer now will value the knowledagsble sales person as there is now a measure of comparison to the genius.

Bottom line I see genius as a backdoor way to spur one sales force to become self motivated to learn their product the way they should have already

I don't believe that most people who go into car sales are inherently that motivated. Obviously, there are exceptions, and these people will likely move up the corporate ladder, but that is the minority.

[M3-S65]

Hmm, let see non commissioned means salaried, salary means more cost to the consumer, more cost to the consumer means less room for negotiation and higher MSRPs...

Hate the idea...I wouldn't rely on anyone but myself anyhow....

However perhaps they are appealing to this group:
Help me genius at BMW, help me service center, help me mommy and daddy...

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

On the other hand, I always found it amusing toying with the mind of someone that has the IQ of a walnut.

Hey is that what all those pm' are about!

[miringrains]

it amazes me how most people are clueless when it comes to cars.. like do you really need someone to explain to you the difference between a 3 series and an x5...

[fuddman]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

I don't believe that most people who go into car sales are inherently that motivated.

I believe the exact opposite. People going into car sales are highly motivated - to make money. It's like going into any new job. Initially, you're very excited and determined to do well; but, as time goes by you discover it's more difficult than you thought. Some drop out, but the ones with talent go on and make money. That's the key. Talent to sell. Not everyone has that, but most people, I would guess, think they do.
BMWs can be outfitted with a mind boggling combination of options. I, with just one model, cannot sort out the combination and permutations available with the DCT and the other engine & suspension management control buttons much less predict what the car will do in each configuration. I've lost interest in doing it; but, to those who are interested and expect that knowledge from a sales person, this "genius" is going to be helpful.

[Eau Rouge]

Originally Posted by miringrains

it amazes me how most people are clueless when it comes to cars.. like do you really need someone to explain to you the difference between a 3 series and an x5...

Why should anyone bother to engage in any research or inform themselves when there's a person willing to answer whatever question one has about a product? We no longer live in a world where Knowledge = Power; rather Clueless = (like) Fashionable.

[Hagasan41]

Personally, I'd be happy with an honest sales person. Folks purchasing a BMW especially an M model have already done the research and will know more about the given vehicle than a genius. If BMW feels their sales force isn't up to par then they need to start looking at their training and begin to hold their teams more accountable.

Adding a "genius" program isn't going to enhance the buyers experience or instill more confidence in a potential buyer about their decision. However, their is a small majority of people that do like to have their hand held through the entire process and I'm sure it will help their sales people to weed out the tire kickers.

Personally, I'm indifferent to the idea of a "genius" position at a BMW dealer. I'd rather them focus on more intelligent and better trained Service Advisors and Techs. But that would require them to really dig in and change their dealerships culture. The "genius" program is a Band-Aid fix for an ill trained staff that doesn't understand customer service starts AFTER the sale.

[mikefromMA]

finally. the quality of employees at dealerships has declined exponentially over the years

[Darth Federer]

I must say that I had a positive experience with the BMW Genius Division. That is indeed what they call it too. This was phone support as opposed to something at a dealership. I couldn't figure out what the auto start/stop button was and when I asked the service guys at the dealership they said it had something to do with my competition package. When I could tell no discernible difference when pressing the button I decided to call up BMW customer service. The kid I got on the phone had no idea what this button did and he was using Google to try to find the answer while we were on the phone. Finally he told me it had something to do with the lighting settings. Obviously that wasn't the case. Also, I could find no information in my regular manual about it. Had I noticed the M3 quick reference guide I could've found out myself but I didn't notice it in my manual packet. I called BMWNA back the next day to get to the bottom of this button and the girl who answered immediately routed me to the genius division and I had an answer in 2 seconds.

[coloradoe92m3]

Is that a joke? The auto stop start needed that many calls? Quick Google search

[Darth Federer]

That is not a joke. As someone who runs a large book of business in sales it never ceases to amaze me how poorly trained many customer service reps are. You'd think any rep that answered the phone would know. I think it's even worse that the two guys I talked to in the service dept of my local dealer didn't know.

[gtron]

bmw's love affair with apple is so disturbing and disgusting. i'm guessing the higher ups are like giddy lil groupies over apple. it's such a turn off to see someone be such a follower. i'm really grossed out right now.