Buying a New Motorcycle in Thailand
Not so long ago, I visited a motorcycle dealers showroom as I wanted to pickup a price list of all the models of this particular manufacturer on sale. I was stepping out of the showroom when I happened to overhear a conversation between the sales guy and a prospective customer. The latter seemed to be a well educated, from a motorcycle point of view, guy in his 30's and seemed to have shot a technical query at the sales guy about the motorcycle he intended to purchase. Needless to say, the sales guy was left baffled.
The sales guy of course didn't know the meaning of that the customer had asked him and as result, starting uttering meaningless and false statements. At this point, I almost wanted to step in and correct him but before I could, the 30-something prospective buyer left the showroom with a laugh.
This is the harsh reality of some of the motorcycle showrooms across Thailand. Even in Bangkok, sales executives are ill-informed and can't handle queries put forward by customers.
In case of handling clients like a middle-aged family guy who would want a commuter motorcycle for his use, in most cases, the sales guy ends up giving the wrong advice, trying to somehow sell his product to the customer.
Recently, I was asked by a sales executive working in a showroom of a reputed manufacturer. He wanted to know the basic meaning of what power and torque meant. No really! I don't pity him, I pity the company he works for. It seems he wasn't given any serious training whatsoever to handle clients that are now becoming increasingly aware when it comes to motorcycling thanks to information found on Internet. And not forget to ask for advice on motorcycle forums in Thailand, Motorcycle Thailand Forum is a good place to start.
How can our Thai manufacturers even think of selling motorcycles without providing basic training to the guys responsible for putting forward their products to the masses? If you spend enormous amount of money on developing a product, can't you spend a few thousands training your sales team and educating them about the motorcycles, its engineering, capabilities and basic terminology like “torque” or “power to weight ratio”? Making a good adverts is one thing, but making sure it sells is another, I believe a very important thing.
It's therefore important that all information received in the showroom is double-checked, and not blindly believe what is said...
Not so long ago, I visited a motorcycle dealers showroom as I wanted to pickup a price list of all the models of this particular manufacturer on sale. I was stepping out of the showroom when I happened to overhear a conversation between the sales guy and a prospective customer. The latter seemed to be a well educated, from a motorcycle point of view, guy in his 30's and seemed to have shot a technical query at the sales guy about the motorcycle he intended to purchase. Needless to say, the sales guy was left baffled.The sales guy of course didn't know the meaning of that the customer had asked him and as result, starting uttering meaningless and false statements. At this point, I almost wanted to step in and correct him but before I could, the 30-something prospective buyer left the showroom with a laugh.
This is the harsh reality of some of the motorcycle showrooms across Thailand. Even in Bangkok, sales executives are ill-informed and can't handle queries put forward by customers.
In case of handling clients like a middle-aged family guy who would want a commuter motorcycle for his use, in most cases, the sales guy ends up giving the wrong advice, trying to somehow sell his product to the customer.Recently, I was asked by a sales executive working in a showroom of a reputed manufacturer. He wanted to know the basic meaning of what power and torque meant. No really! I don't pity him, I pity the company he works for. It seems he wasn't given any serious training whatsoever to handle clients that are now becoming increasingly aware when it comes to motorcycling thanks to information found on Internet. And not forget to ask for advice on motorcycle forums in Thailand, Motorcycle Thailand Forum is a good place to start.
How can our Thai manufacturers even think of selling motorcycles without providing basic training to the guys responsible for putting forward their products to the masses? If you spend enormous amount of money on developing a product, can't you spend a few thousands training your sales team and educating them about the motorcycles, its engineering, capabilities and basic terminology like “torque” or “power to weight ratio”? Making a good adverts is one thing, but making sure it sells is another, I believe a very important thing.
It's therefore important that all information received in the showroom is double-checked, and not blindly believe what is said...