[Chevy One]

It's been about a 10 days since buying the Traverse and the salesman from the dealership has called twice about a survey I should be expecting in the mail. As he told me before, if I would kindly fill out this survey and send it in, I will receive a $30.00 giftcard to a local restaurant. He goes on to say this survey is his report card and if I mark anything other than "extremely satisfied" he will indeed fail and it will affect his pay. I don't know what this survey means to the dealership, but it obviously has some value if they are going to give me $30.00 for it.

Does anyone know if this survey will really affect this guys pay? It all seems kinda funny....

 

[guapo]

I beleive it counts for some type of quarterly bonus or a persentage of one.

 

[t4me]

WOW! $30 giftcard for YOU? I am going to have to call my salesman. All I got for filling out the card was a promise that he would stop calling and bothering me about it

 

[duayned]

Oh, those Consumer Satisfaction Index, or "CSI" surveys have become very important to dealers, and getting a top score -- not even a 2nd best -- is sometimes crucial.
American dealerships (back before they had good guys like Dan the Chevy Man) used to be lousy, with heavy pressure and misleading sales tactics, which of course most people hated, but felt it was just part of what you had to endure to buy a car
.
But when Toyota and Honda became competitive by actually helping customers get what they wanted (instead of what the dealer wanted to push on them), the Big Three had to force a change of heart down the line.
One way they did it was with the CSI's.

Dealerships that get the highest scores get more hot-selling models for their inventory, not leftovers, and even individual salespeople can get bonuses, as Chevy One said.

That's why they bug you about filling them out, with only the highest marks, and offer that $30 gift card as a "bribe."
In fact, you can (could have) actually use them as a bargaining chip during negotiations sometimes, with the right, respectful approach (i.e., as a carrot, not as a stick). **

So, if your salesperson/dealership truly was worthy, be sure to give them straight marks of "Excellent," not just "Good."

**PS -- if you're still having an issue with your dealer over some leftover problem they should have resolved by now, you might hint that their inaction could hurt their CSI rating.
Of course your mileage may vary. :-*

 

[lxc]

We have our Traverse 2 weeks now. I just received in my email the GM survey. No snail mail and no phone calls from the sale guy or dealership.

In the past, the sale guys always reminded us to give the highest marks on the survey.