Where are the dealers?

[davidjpowell]

There are people from all walks of life on this forum, from wealthy to not so wealthy, employed to not so employed, modern car owners to not so modern, people from London to those from Doncaster.

We have indies on the forum, but no one from dealers! Are they unwelcome, or just so old fashioned that they don't see the opportunity that social networking gives. To be honest you would think the mods would be fighting them off with a stick, given the natural infinity that most members have to MB.

Am I alone in my thoughts?

 

[flango]

We used to have the guy from MB Manchester and for a while he put up some really good deals on MB merchandise,I had quite a bit from him, can't remember his name but met him a couple of times when I went through, maybe he moved on? but you are right there is a distinct lack of dealers or are they all lurkers

 

[MOCAŠ]

How do you know we don't have any? Perhaps they just haven't declared themselves, or perhaps they monitor but don't contribute.

I seem to recall someone a few years ago posting that he was starting up his own MB franchise.

 

[MOCAŠ]

people from London to those from Doncaster.

What scale are you using here? Can't be geographical, as we have members much further north (and south)...

 

[npuk]

All the other marquee specific forums I am a member on have representatives from various main dealers and they have their own little sub section. Not so on any of the Mercedes forums.

 

[redbaron]

There are a few that are ex main dealer... bear in mind for a few dealer groups it is more than peoples jobs are worth to post on forums..... "against company policy" etc

 

[Deleted member 6183]

There are people from all walks of life on this forum, from wealthy to not so wealthy, employed to not so employed, modern car owners to not so modern, people from London to those from Doncaster.

We have indies on the forum, but no one from dealers! Are they unwelcome, or just so old fashioned that they don't see the opportunity that social networking gives. To be honest you would think the mods would be fighting them off with a stick, given the natural infinity that most members have to MB.

Am I alone in my thoughts?

What do you have in mind?

Coke? Weed?

 

[martyz]

Off Scale........ah.....situation normal then.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Perhaps they don't like being called "stealers" and generally slagged off as being useless...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Speaking as someone 'in the trade' (albeit not Mercedes specific) I have the utmost respect for Jaymanek for being a trader and being linked to this site because if you were to have a scan of some of the vitriol that people have for car dealers, you wouldn't come anywhere near.

 

[wemorgan]

I'm not sure OEMs really go for internet forum, they're too uncontrolled ie. more to lose than to gain.

 

[markjay]

There is anecdotal evidence from forum members suggesting that some dealers do monitor car owner's forums, including this one - however I would imagine that this is carried-out using some sort of automated content filtering tool - scanning for entries with the dealership's name in it - rather than by having a fully-paid member of staff going through the threads on daily basis. Would be a nice job, though

 

[flango]

All the other marquee specific forums I am a member on have representatives from various main dealers and they have their own little sub section. Not so on any of the Mercedes forums.

That's a very good point the Audi and Volvo forums I frequent all have dealer representation.

 

[BTB 500]

There have been several parts dept. people here, who were very helpful. As with most forums, folks come and go.

MBClub is probably read by more dealers than you might think ... there have certainly been instances of people being contacted directly by them after threads here.

 

[davidjpowell]

Part of me does think that dealers are very old fashioned and few grasp the potential of the Internet other than as a for sale board.

I note what some have said about stepping out of the corporate line, but it's also an opportunity. ECP seem to be forging ahead, I just wonder if the dealers management will ever see the potential.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Would a dealer (who didnt own the dealership) want to spend his/her spare time on a Merc forum?

 

[davidjpowell]

Do ECP spend there spare time on the Forums, or do they employ someone to harness that market?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Do ECP spend there spare time on the Forums, or do they employ someone to harness that market?

The income generated from their DFS style offers will dwarf the cost of 'employing' someone specifically for forum input.

 

[davidjpowell]

The income generated from their DFS style offers will dwarf the cost of 'employing' someone specifically for forum input.

So would Stratstone not be able to do this across the marques that they sell?

My suspicion is that Car Dealers are potentially one of the businesses that have been least affected by the internet, having seen off the internet only retailer such as Dixons and Virgin.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

So would Stratstone not be able to do this across the marques that they sell?

My suspicion is that Car Dealers are potentially one of the businesses that have been least affected by the internet, having seen off the internet only retailer such as Dixons and Virgin.

What would they gain by offering discounts on this forum?

If they used the ECP marketing model, they'd have to jack their prices up to then reduce them. The big difference being that most products that ECP sell are less than a grand.