Probably, since this story is close to 10 days old.

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These days execs either get the big payoff before even taking the job or a huge golden parachute when they leave. Either way they end up rolling in dough so whether the company sinks or swims really makes no difference to them. It's just another j-o-b.

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"I think he was afraid I would say something to one of his higher-ups about his sales skills."

I'm with you 100% as most fresh college grads, mbas included, don't know their backside from a hole in the ground. The problem is that's the currency of today's corporate ecosystem so if you did complain you'd just be complaining to another mba and guess which side he or she would take?? I've interviewed plenty of these types in my life and I honestly wonder what's actually be taught in American business schools these days.

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Polly actually hits something really square on the head.

The biggest problems with the corporate world is that legitimate complaints from staff and customers are ignored. Front line staff are taught how to placate and apologize to customers but discouraged from actually passing along genuine customer feedback. When it is passed along nothing comes from it. Corporations spend a fortune on paid focus groups and messed up surveys but when an actual customer calls all they get are scripted apologies and the run around. Assembly plant workers are given more and more tasks to do in less time and then told to focus on quality. They get in trouble if they complain that they can't keep up or a job isn't getting done right or heaven forbid they stop the line. Too many big shots trying to squeeze another dollar out of the operation to justify their own existence.

If the North American automakers listened to their customers, dealers and assembly line workers their products would be more competitive.

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Lee Iacocca's Chrysler wasn't really like that, thankfully.

Lee dissolved all the BS chain of command, and things got to management very quickly. Lee was the best guy in the car business, ever.

Lee's commercials, for all their amatuerishness in the begnning, really hit a nerve with people in the early 80's. they seriously awakened a real sense of patriotism in people. I can't tell you how many folks of all ages would just walk into the showroom and say, "I'm buying one of your cars today because I want to help Lee". no BS, no arguing, you just had them pick a car, and wrote it up. they'd send in family and friends, too, when they saw what really good cars they were. I'd say 30 sales per month were the result of Lee's heartfelt commercials. I'd love to see that again today.

my dealership was near Burbank Airport, and I can't tell you how many times Lee would stop in thru the course of a year. he's usually wander thru looking for me, and many times I'd be back washing cars with the detail guys if we had a busy day. my normal work dress was a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. it made Lee laugh his ass off, as I never felt there was a single job in the dealership that was below me, and he understood that. all of my great employees help take the dealership from 10 cars per month to over 100. not bad for a place built in 1946, and room for two small cars in the showroom. the place looked like it belonged in rural Iowa, not metropolitan Southern California. today, almost all dealerships have a corporate chain of command, and I doubt most dealer prinicpals even know where the detail department is, let alone who works in it. go back and help the detail guys? please, that's below them...and there lies the problem.

Lee loved to talk to customers, and always stopped in the service department to check with the mechanics about any service issues. he really cared.

I think one of the days I will remember most was picking up the first Dodge Caravan sold in California in March of 1984. Chrysler's railhead for Southern California was in Santa Fe Springs, halfway between Los Angeles and Orange County, about 25 miles from my dealership. I had one of the guys take me down and drop me off. I was picking up a loaded, garnet red crystal coat/black two tone Caravan LE, and it was already sold to a customer. I pulled out of the lot, and headed for the 605 freeway north, headed for I-5. then the strangest thing happened.

cars would start to pass, and then they would just stare and wave. they slowed down, and got behind me. by the time I got back to the dealership, there were thirty cars back there!! when I pulled into the driveway, there were over 200 people (including Lee) just standing there cheering! I couldn't help it, I just burst into tears. I'm getting misty-eyed right now just thinking about that moment. of course, Car and Driver tested an early one, and pronounced the minivan a "fad" that would last about two years. thank god for our "experts"!

as you can tell, this was a very special time in my life, and I look back on it with much fondness. the sad part is that cars today are much better than back then, and there is no one (perhaps with the exception of Bob Lutz) that has the fire, passion, and salesmanship of Lee Iacocca. we need that now.

AZMIke

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Best post I have read for a long time. I work for GM in Canada and I see this all the time. The new trend is MBA now.

The funniest thing is that they are supposed to be high potential, every one of them. So real road warrior have to train them until they know what they are doing. I have to say that some of them are quite bright and will succeed. But the majority will just go from short assignments to short assignments. Then they will land a big job where decisions could impact the corporation in a big way. This is why many US (and even Japanese) companies are not doing so well: incompetence.


I told my boss this little story one day:

Let's say you own your little bicycle company and you need to hire a sales rep because it's growing too fast, what would you look for? He said:

1- Knowledge of the biking industry

2- Interest in the sport itself

3- Technical knowledge of the product

4- True love and enthousiasm for the activity

He asked me why I was asking this question.

I said: we hire MBA's with absolutly no passion, knowledge or experience in the automotive world. Don't you think an automobile is far more complex than a bicycle SIr?


By the way we still hire graduates but I succeeded in recruiting experienced employees.

In conclusion, Lehman Brother was the sixth best wished job for MBA's grasduating in finance! The rest of the story is known.....

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Great Comments AZMike. See my post as a former (now retired) rep.

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Mark,

a fantastic post!! I was fortunate enough to have several reps just like you, and we got along great. if there is something I don't know, I'm the first one to say it, and I greatly admire that quality in another person as well. I went from owning a detail business to being a dealer prinicpal. I was fortunate enough to have surrounded myself with the best possible talent, and I learned everything from them. I took the dealership (with their mentorship) from selling 10 cars a month to over 100 in two years.

it gets pretty frustrating here to have to deal with all the uniformed idiots who don't have the slightest understanding of the car business. I always have to laugh when they glowingly speak of their beloved Japanese cars; if they only knew what hell and politics their dealers go thru, they wouldn't look at their American counterpasrt with such disdain. the dealers that sell Japanese cars here in the US have far more hoops to jump thru than their domestic counterparts. you mentioned never sending something that wasn't requested; if you worked for Toyota, Nissan, or Honda, you'd be out on the street.

my first experience with the vindictiveness of Japanese manufacturers occured to a Toyota dealer in Valencia, California, in 1985. Toyota wanted some immediate upgrades to the facility here, and the dealer at the time couldn't afford it.

Toyota immediately begin to retaliate. inventory poured in, but all of it was awful. at one point, they had over 400 model 8200 pickups. these were the absolute cheapest trucks available, with bias ply tires, single wall beds, and no radios, no power steering, no air conditioning. most dealers sold these as "Saturday morning loss leaders". there weren't enough Saturdays in a year to move all of these. this dealer also had the largest stock of diesel Camrys and Corollas in the nation, although not a single one was requested from Toyota. the owner soon sold the dealership. this type of thing still goes on today, and is even worse now.

I always have to laugh at all the negative comments concerning Chrysler's dubious "sales bank". critics constantly trash it, but in all their ignorance fail to realize that this is how imports (and transplants) manufacture automobiles.

the import/transplant factory starts building vehicles; there is absolutely NO input from dealers. they fill the storage lots. now, the zone reps get on the phone, and TELL the dealers what they will be receiving. about the only say so the dealer MIGHT have is how many, red, whites, or blues they will be receiving. of course, if the dealer isn't on good terms with the rep, or has refused to take all of their allocation, see two paragraphs above. of course, this method is "efficient", and the conventional method of ordering your own inventory for your own unique market area is "archaic and inefficent". uh-huh.

the errant import dealers will now be receiving a few hundred package #5 Prius ($30K MSRP), or perhaps 100 regular cab Tundras with the small V-8, $995 TRD dual exhaust system, carpeted floor mats with rubber floors underneath, an auto dimming mirror, and stainless door sill plates. sun belt states will receive 4WDs; snow belt states, 2WD. and stop laughing; I saw 50 of the trucks I described at a dealer here in the Phoenix area. as fitting for our desert climate, they were all black. I'm sure the 2WD white ones went to a "bad" dealer Minnesota.

there is no question that the fate of any manufacturer lies with the dealers, and their ability to sell what the factory produces. it never ceases to amaze me how this very simple and important point escapes so many of the "expert" posters here.

I had a lot of faith in Jim Press, as he was held in very high regard with dealers for his fairness and ability to listen when he was still with Toyota.

perhaps Chrysler can move Nardelli out of the way, and get Jim into the trenches. I'm still hoping for Lee Iacocca's appointment as "car czar".

again, thanks for your post. it's always great to know there are a few other folks out there who have been in the business, and "get it".

AZMike

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