Chrysler’s long-disfunctional “Five Star Dealer” program may be on its way out, reports Automotive News [sub], as a new Fiat-created dealer rewards program rolls out to a Chrysler dealer body that’s fighting for survival. The new program, which may still be merged with Five Star, addresses several longstanding dealer complaints about Five Star, perhaps the most important of which is third-party verification [to be done by the Swiss audit firm SGS Group]. Given the deep mistrust that exists between Chrysler dealers and the mothership, bringing in outside auditors to perform certification was probably a prerequisite (and brings the Chrysler program in line with Ford’s practice of independent dealer rewards program auditing). But the biggest change also helps explain why Chrysler employees will no longer judge dealerships: instead of a mere star rating system, now there’s money at stake.
According to Automotive News [sub], the new program works along familiar lines:
Dealerships will be measured on how they receive customers, negotiate loans and leases, deliver vehicles, follow up after sales and treat service customers.
Outside auditors also will measure dealers’ business operations, including working capital, floorplan line and financial statements.
This program by far is the best program I’ve seen. It brings serious money to compensate people for the investments they make in these processes. You have an outside independent auditor. You can’t screw this program over.
4 Comments on “Chrysler Dealer Rewards Program Explained. Sort Of....”
Back to TopLeave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You can also login using Facebook Connect.
While I have always been a fan of Chrysler products, I am absolutely NOT a fan of the dealer body. My experiences at several Chrysler dealerships have been excruciating, to say the least. In fact, while I will probably purchase other Chrysler vehicles, I will never use a dealership again unless there is a MAJOR change in their customer service attitudes. IMHO, this is Chryslers most serious problem today. How do you get people back into a dealer (brand) when you’ve treated them like s***? My recent experience with 2 local dealers has left me in litigation with one them for fubar servicing, and I am a Chrysler diehard. Other members of my family have simply walked away, never to return, because of horrid service treatment. These are people who won’t even CONSIDER Chrysler because of the dealer body. If Marchionne is serious about fixing Chrysler, he needs to fix the customer experience, like yesterday!
AMEN BROTHER!
“We need to see the full breakdown of incentives and the scoring system to judge definitively”
And there is the crux of the matter, including whether 600 out of 1000 is really a D. The system could be setup such that 1000 is virtually impossible to attain, no matter how good a dealer is. Unlike school grading systems, an incentive system should have a high end that almost always leaves room for a dealer to continue to aspire to improvement.
“the differences in cash payouts based on volume seems to be pretty significant”
And the difference in volumes involved are pretty significant as well, >1800/yr vs. <50/year. It's a lot harder to maintain the satisfaction of 1800 customers than 50 customers.
That old system was a joke…I shopped a “five star” dealer once and it was like a scene from the movie “Used Cars.” These morons were haggling and asking me whether I would buy the stupid car if the price was right before I even drove the damned thing.