'Twas the night before Christmas
And the showroom was still,
Many cars were delivered
But the profit was nil.
Each deal earned the sales staff
A mini commission,
So most of them lived
At the town's homeless mission.
Things used to be better,
They earned greater pay,
'Twas before pricing "fairness"
Was put into play.
See, their dealer was sold
On the "New" way to sell,
(But as soon as that happened
Their gross profit fell.)
"If you sign up with us,
You'll get leads near and far,
And we won't charge a penny
If you don't sell a car."
"Transparent" and "open"
And "good for us all"
Were the buzzwords they used,
It meant "Profits must fall."
"If you'll give us access
To your sales information,
We'll know what you've sold
And your month's obligation."
"Oh, and one other thing,
That we'll need for our site
Is your rock bottom prices
So our bell curve is right."
So the dealer said, "Sure,
We can sell 'em real low,
Make it up with more volume,
How the cash, it will flow."
So they dropped down to invoice,
Gave the holdback up too.
Threw the dealer cash in,
Just the "fair" thing to do.
And with each car they sold,
They went more in the hole,
And that "pay for sale" fee
Really took it's own toll.
So this night before Christmas,
As the jingle bells chimed,
The dealer sat wondering
Why his losses still climbed.
"I'm moving more units
At all of my stores,
But with red ink like this,
I'll soon close my doors."
Then finally it hit him,
"My, I've been such a sap,
Fell hook, line and sinker
For this transparency crap."
"I don't need to publish
my net net net price
Just to bring in more business.
That was all bad advice."
"It doesn't make sense,
Why it's nonsense to pay
Someone else just to give
All my profit away."
"And to make matters worse,
the man said they will do
the same thing with my
Finance and insurance too."
"Oh, this madness must stop,
We're not Sam's or Best Buy.
We're relationship builders,
Not 'Here's your car, now*goodbye.' "
"If I treat buyers fairly
and provide a "good" deal,
My great service and people
Will still have appeal."
"If I lose a few deals
To the guy down the street,
I will sleep better knowing
My employees can eat."
"I will cancel tomorrow,"
He said, smiling with joy.
"Let them go find some other
Industry to destroy."
And the showroom was still,
Many cars were delivered
But the profit was nil.
Each deal earned the sales staff
A mini commission,
So most of them lived
At the town's homeless mission.
Things used to be better,
They earned greater pay,
'Twas before pricing "fairness"
Was put into play.
See, their dealer was sold
On the "New" way to sell,
(But as soon as that happened
Their gross profit fell.)
"If you sign up with us,
You'll get leads near and far,
And we won't charge a penny
If you don't sell a car."
"Transparent" and "open"
And "good for us all"
Were the buzzwords they used,
It meant "Profits must fall."
"If you'll give us access
To your sales information,
We'll know what you've sold
And your month's obligation."
"Oh, and one other thing,
That we'll need for our site
Is your rock bottom prices
So our bell curve is right."
So the dealer said, "Sure,
We can sell 'em real low,
Make it up with more volume,
How the cash, it will flow."
So they dropped down to invoice,
Gave the holdback up too.
Threw the dealer cash in,
Just the "fair" thing to do.
And with each car they sold,
They went more in the hole,
And that "pay for sale" fee
Really took it's own toll.
So this night before Christmas,
As the jingle bells chimed,
The dealer sat wondering
Why his losses still climbed.
"I'm moving more units
At all of my stores,
But with red ink like this,
I'll soon close my doors."
Then finally it hit him,
"My, I've been such a sap,
Fell hook, line and sinker
For this transparency crap."
"I don't need to publish
my net net net price
Just to bring in more business.
That was all bad advice."
"It doesn't make sense,
Why it's nonsense to pay
Someone else just to give
All my profit away."
"And to make matters worse,
the man said they will do
the same thing with my
Finance and insurance too."
"Oh, this madness must stop,
We're not Sam's or Best Buy.
We're relationship builders,
Not 'Here's your car, now*goodbye.' "
"If I treat buyers fairly
and provide a "good" deal,
My great service and people
Will still have appeal."
"If I lose a few deals
To the guy down the street,
I will sleep better knowing
My employees can eat."
"I will cancel tomorrow,"
He said, smiling with joy.
"Let them go find some other
Industry to destroy."
