tallerguy68
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Re: What's up with RV Sales People?
PawPaw_n_Gram wrote: PPL also is the name of a national known RV consignment sales company originally located near Houston, Texas. The company opened a second location near New Braunfels - about an hour north of San Antonio a few years ago and last year opened a third location about an hour southwest of Dallas. (Consignment sales mean that - the RV dealer does not buy your rig - he allows you to put it on his lot, and he tries to sell it. He is acting as your agent. Most of the time, the RV dealer gets no money unless he sells the rig. There are some consignment sales locations that charge the RV owner a monthly fee for the space while the rig is unsold.) Their website says they have been in that business for almost 35 years, and have "helped over 32,700 individuals" sell their rig. With three locations, they say they are now selling 2,200-2,500 rigs per year. An average of 8 rigs a day sell year round at three locations. Due to Texas laws about automobile, truck and other vehicle sales - they are closed on Sunday - so they are only open 313 days per year at most. The company says that about they have 150 to 250 people per day visit between the three locations (maybe 80 - 150 buyers if they count a couple looking at rigs as two people - most retailers do). So between 40,000 and 46,000 potential buyers look at rigs each year - in three locations. Probably 60% in Houston, 25% in New Braunfels and 15% in Cleburne. Even then - that is way more than almost any other dealer I've heard of. My experience with the company - New Braunfels and Cleburne - is that 2/3 of the rigs are older models in need of work where the owner is just trying to get rid of a rig they could not get a dealer to take in trade (or the dealer would give them very little for the rig). We were allowed to wander the lot and look at the exterior of rigs, and a few 'models' were open for inspection. Generally we were not allowed in a rig unless escorted. Most RV dealers I've been to have been very quick to give my wife and I time alone in a rig to look it over and discuss details - once the salesman felt we might be serious customers. (I've had more than one salesman tell me that after a few months in the business - they can usually tell who is really ready to buy, who is just looking and who are the thieves looking at the rig as a free parts supply after five or ten minutes.) About 1/3 of the rigs are in great shape - and sell quickly. They are steals at the price asked usually. This is very strange as it has been PPL'S model from the beginning to not harass our customers or do any high pressure sales. The whole basis of our buisness model is an open lot. All the units are open for people to browse through at their leisure.442Views0likes0CommentsRe: What's up with RV Sales People?
mike-s wrote: JnJnKatiebug wrote: PPL has an ... I have never understood how companies can thrive with such bad customer service. Just venting. I know, it's almost as frustrating as people using undefined acronyms. If you're not happy with that dealer's attitude, go to another, and tell the manufacturer why. There are lots to choose from. The only reason they "thrive" is because people put up with it. If you are referring to the acronym "PPL" it stands for "Person to Person Listing".442Views0likes0CommentsRe: What's up with RV Sales People?
PPL is a unique dealership that has a very different business model compared other RV dealers. The vast majority of what PPL sells is consignment, meaning someone else owns the unit. PPL also sells more RV's than any two RV dealerships in Texas put together. Meaning the dealership is not the place where you find a unit you want and then spend a week thinking about whether or not you want to buy it, more often than not the unit will be gone by the time you get back. As far as salesmen not answering the phone...The best way to get a hold of one is to leave a voicemail or leave a message with a receptionist. PPL will frequently sell 15 units on a Tuesday, and there are only so many salesman. About 325k people visit PPl's lot every month, just like every other business the customer standing in front of you will always take priority over a phone call. Certain days of the week and times will greatly increase your likelihood of getting a hold of someone. Forget about getting a hold of anyone on Friday or Saturday, not saying you wont get called back, but you will have to leave a message and possibly wait a few hours for a call back. However if you call between 8:30am-3pm Mon-Thursday you stand a pretty good chance of getting a salesman on the phone. PPL also compensates it's salesman on an hourly rate and not on a commission system. Most customers see this as a positive because PPL never does high pressure sales. PPL salesmen will also be forthcoming with any information they have on a unit and when dealing with customers calling from out of state the salesmen are trained to be very objective to ensure customers do not waste money on travel. Even when dealing with customers in person, after the customer has seen the unit, most salesmen will walk back out to the unit with the customer and inspect the unit and show the customer any issues they find. PPL does offer an inspection and demonstration that the buyer can chose to pay for. The inspection is beyond what the salesmen will do as it addresses all the major RV components. The inspection does not cover structural aspects or the power train of a coach. But it does cover items like jacks, refrigerator, AC, range, oven, power steps, black water tank, grey water tank, plumbing, sewage system, trailer brake, propane system, inverter and converter. If any of the items checked in the inspection are found to be broken the seller is called with an estimate for the repairs. If the seller declines the repairs needed the buyer can walk from the deal or counter offer based on the information. The whole process is very similar to buying a house in alot of ways. PPL has been in the RV business for a long time, and have many return customers. PPL shoots straight and wants nothing more than satisfied buyers and sellers. I do truly apologize for the issues you have had thus far, I hope this was informative and I hope you give PPL another chance soon.442Views0likes0Comments
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