How to NOT compete when down and out in a terrible economic situation!

This morning as I'm lying in bed trying to push away the day with a few more hours, maybe even just a few more minutes of sleep, my girlfriend is on the phone talking about something with her mother. Now, it's important to note that when my girlfriend speaks with her mother it all sounds like gibberish to me. Mainly because she is Polish, and well, I don't speak Polish. I make out the words, 1993, Ford, and Taurus. I'm slowly pulled out of my sleep as my brain tries to wrap around what they are talking about.

Then the conversation ends. "Bye Mamo!"

Silence surrounds me and I start to fall back asleep.

Beep. Beep beep beep beep beep. She's dialing the phone.

Turns out she is calling Chrysler dealerships back in Michigan where her parents live to inquire about the C.A.R.S. or "Cash for Clunkers" program offered by the Federal Government as an incentive to buy new, more fuel efficient vehicles. The deal is you get up to $4,500 cash rebate from good old Uncle Sam when you trade in a "Clunker." (Certainly a '93 Taurus would qualify).

Now, my girlfriend at this point is calling Chrysler for 2 reasons. Primarily she is calling because her father happens to work for Chrysler back in Michigan and they would like to support the company (thus ensuring further his pension and retirement). Secondly she has heard that they are going above and beyond the regular stimulus of $4,500 maximum and matching whatever the Government qualifies you for. So, by that rational then, you can expect as much as $9,000 off. A sure good way to move some product and perhaps put a spike into the sales of Chrysler that will hopefully enable them to scrape their asses off the pavement.

Or so one would think.

As I listened to her talk to various dealerships, one after the other until about the 6th or 7th one, I realized a trend. Her phone calls weren't very long and some of them ended quite abruptly. I wondered if this was just a misconception on my part caused from the somewhat semi-lucid state I was in; drifting in and out of sleep and all.

Low and behold, I was not imagining things. Each time she called a Chrysler dealership the conversation was quick and to the point. One went something like this:

Hi, I'm calling to see what cars you have in stock that qualify for the cash for clunkers program.

(Short Pause)

Just the vans then?

(Very short pause)

Oh, you're too busy to look...

A beep as she hit the off button on the phone. Apparently they hung up on her.

So call after call to the Chrysler dealerships led to nothing but frustration.

A few minutes later she decided to move on to a local Ford dealership. Her first call was drastically different from her others. A nice gentleman in sales answered the phone and spoke with her until she decided she had enough info. He informed her that they had a ton of vehicles in stock that qualified, from the Fusion to the Eclipse Hybrid SUV. He also told her that he'd have to look more specifically into the car (the '93 Taurus) when she came in to see the exact rebate that they'd likely get. She explained to him that she was merely calling on behalf of her parents who live in Michigan and he offered his name and extension so that if they wanted to contact him personally or come visit and explore options he'd be more than happy to show them. She hung up fairly satisfied, and even a little more mystified about her experiences with Chrysler.

Now I'm not trying to write this blog as a sort of advertisement of Ford and how great they are in comparison to Chrysler, although certainly the experience today could lead one to that conclusion. What I want to say about it is bigger.

We obviously are going through tough economic times and Chrysler along with the rest of the American car companies has probably been hit the hardest. We always have to ask ourselves why we are in these situations. Many theories exist and it's probably a combination of a great many things that have led us down this road. I believe the primary reason we are in such an economic downturn is that corporate greed and profit have become too high a priority since the Reaganomics era of the 80's. There is always a balance in capitalism between serving the customer and profiting off of them. The latter, has of course been far too emphasized as we boomed as recently as 5 years back. Companies put profits before their customers and cut corners and took advantage in areas where they could skimp on the quality of their products and at the same time up the cost to the consumer. This unbalance leaves us with CEO's that make $7,000 an hour while John Q Bluecollar is laid off at home with no health insurance.

To me, this has been a wide spread problem amongst American companies, sparing a few companies that still hold ideals of good honest and ethical business on high. The silver lining in this economy for me at least is that hopefully it will restore a bit of balance to the delicate business of capitalism. My hopes are that companies who take the time, like Ford did today, will triumph because they truly become, a better way to buy, and a better product. Whereas companies, as Chrysler showed itself today, will diminish. It is ever so important to treat your customers with respect, especially when they don't have much money and have a billion different choices of where to buy their car or other items.

Now I know that perhaps today was a crazy day for Chrysler dealerships in Michigan and that perhaps those sales reps are struggling to keep their jobs alive and can't take the time to talk to one person from California on the phone, who clearly isn't going to be buying today. I also recognize that the entire brand identity of a company like Chrysler does not reflect solely outward from the sales department. However, I believe in an idealistic utopian stance of capitalism. Treat EVERY customer with respect, no matter what, because ultimately it's good for the company. Who knows, maybe she would have talked to the first guy at Chrysler she connected with and he was super helpful. Then she tells her mom to go in there and trade in the car, they do. And wouldn't you know it, he extends the same level of courtesy to her mother as he did to her on the phone. This bit of info, making her mother happy, travels back to her and she decides that her lease for her car is up soon and maybe she'll support Chrysler too and get one of her own. Then, maybe I follow suit, because hey, Chrysler treats you right. Sure, it's a little far fetched. But that's the idea. You never know how your interaction with one person will have an effect on several others. So play it safe and assume all your interactions will come back to you in one way or another.