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As many of you know, I did a Lincoln Date Night with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid a bit ago. I was very impressed with the dealership experience, and was invited to have my Explorer Sport serviced there after I had relayed our less than stellar experiences with service locally in Payson.
Fast forward to yesterday. The Explorer needed its 30K mile service. I was heading to the Valley today anyway, and asked if they could get it in. To my surprise I was given a 8:30am apt (meant I was up at 6 to head down there). I was also informed that I could get my warranty work done there, which really surprised me, and made me very happy as there were a few little things than needed to be addressed (the horn cover had an almost invisible crack in it, and a weather seal had a tear on one side and was working toward the same issue on the other side, plus the latest iteration of MFT needed to be installed).
Off to Phx I went. We had a bad storm that had come through, so it was the "dodge rock" game on the way down, from rock falls off of the mountains due to rain. There were quite a few vehicles on the side of the road that were disabled from hitting some of the rocks. I get there 10 minutes late (weather), and go through the items again with David. He gets my license and insurance card and when he is done Joe comes to me with my Lincoln loaner. It is a MKS with 6000 miles.
A small point on the MKS. Boy, you sure can tell that it is "old" Lincoln. It is in a different world from the MKZ Hybrid that I had. It truly does feel like the spiritual successor to the Town Car. While not a horrible car by any means, there was nothing compelling about it at all. It was soft and comfortable, and perfectly capable......... but boring enough to put you to sleep. Its replacement cannot come soon enough. It does nothing for the Lincoln brand, and I felt older just driving it. Short of a few material differences, my Explorer Sport has a nicer interior.
That said, I spent some time with my Dad and then headed back to the dealership. David called while I was in route to tell me my Explorer was done and washed and ready. I dropped off the yawn mobile and David went over everything with me. The parts are ordered to fix my few issues and we will be informed when they arrive.
I realize that this experience sounds perfectly boring and how service should be. That is the point. It was an excellent service experience. Based on my previous experiences getting my Explorer serviced and fixed from a recall (don't even want to go there), this was an excellent experience. The Explorer was clean and waiting for me. Everyone was friendly and nice. At no point did anyone try to sell me anything. I was not referred to as a customer, but as a guest. I had some coffee, got a bottled water, and could have had a munchies or two. I felt like I actually mattered.
Is this enough to get someone to buy a Lincoln. Not in and of itself. However, it is all part of the picture. A great dealership experience and a great service experience make you want to do business with them. All in all a very good impression.
I stopped by to talk to Patrick, the gentleman who heads up the Date Night program at the dealership. He is a great guy, and we got along great. I asked him how the MKC was doing for them. He said fantastic, and he wishes they could get more. The 2.3 AWD versions are on the ground for 4 days, and the others are sitting for 9 days. They just received 7 in today, and 5 of those are sold. He was honestly very excited about it (he can't fake it, as he is a true car guy, and his whole face lights up). He also said they got to see the GT350 at a Ford / Lincoln get together in Vegas. He couldn't say anything, but you could just feel the excitement radiating off of him.
So there you go. How Lincoln goes about getting back in the game. The "guest" experience is very good, in my experience. There are a couple of very compelling offerings at this time. The low hanging fruit need to go, and I know they are. I just need to be patient.
Fast forward to yesterday. The Explorer needed its 30K mile service. I was heading to the Valley today anyway, and asked if they could get it in. To my surprise I was given a 8:30am apt (meant I was up at 6 to head down there). I was also informed that I could get my warranty work done there, which really surprised me, and made me very happy as there were a few little things than needed to be addressed (the horn cover had an almost invisible crack in it, and a weather seal had a tear on one side and was working toward the same issue on the other side, plus the latest iteration of MFT needed to be installed).
Off to Phx I went. We had a bad storm that had come through, so it was the "dodge rock" game on the way down, from rock falls off of the mountains due to rain. There were quite a few vehicles on the side of the road that were disabled from hitting some of the rocks. I get there 10 minutes late (weather), and go through the items again with David. He gets my license and insurance card and when he is done Joe comes to me with my Lincoln loaner. It is a MKS with 6000 miles.
A small point on the MKS. Boy, you sure can tell that it is "old" Lincoln. It is in a different world from the MKZ Hybrid that I had. It truly does feel like the spiritual successor to the Town Car. While not a horrible car by any means, there was nothing compelling about it at all. It was soft and comfortable, and perfectly capable......... but boring enough to put you to sleep. Its replacement cannot come soon enough. It does nothing for the Lincoln brand, and I felt older just driving it. Short of a few material differences, my Explorer Sport has a nicer interior.
That said, I spent some time with my Dad and then headed back to the dealership. David called while I was in route to tell me my Explorer was done and washed and ready. I dropped off the yawn mobile and David went over everything with me. The parts are ordered to fix my few issues and we will be informed when they arrive.
I realize that this experience sounds perfectly boring and how service should be. That is the point. It was an excellent service experience. Based on my previous experiences getting my Explorer serviced and fixed from a recall (don't even want to go there), this was an excellent experience. The Explorer was clean and waiting for me. Everyone was friendly and nice. At no point did anyone try to sell me anything. I was not referred to as a customer, but as a guest. I had some coffee, got a bottled water, and could have had a munchies or two. I felt like I actually mattered.
Is this enough to get someone to buy a Lincoln. Not in and of itself. However, it is all part of the picture. A great dealership experience and a great service experience make you want to do business with them. All in all a very good impression.
I stopped by to talk to Patrick, the gentleman who heads up the Date Night program at the dealership. He is a great guy, and we got along great. I asked him how the MKC was doing for them. He said fantastic, and he wishes they could get more. The 2.3 AWD versions are on the ground for 4 days, and the others are sitting for 9 days. They just received 7 in today, and 5 of those are sold. He was honestly very excited about it (he can't fake it, as he is a true car guy, and his whole face lights up). He also said they got to see the GT350 at a Ford / Lincoln get together in Vegas. He couldn't say anything, but you could just feel the excitement radiating off of him.
So there you go. How Lincoln goes about getting back in the game. The "guest" experience is very good, in my experience. There are a couple of very compelling offerings at this time. The low hanging fruit need to go, and I know they are. I just need to be patient.
