So I take the Mini-E in for the 6 month service. As I have stated, it is a great car. Lots of fun to drive and I feel good driving it.
Like many Mini dealers I imagine, mine is a combination Mini/BMW dealer and it is really treated like two separate worlds. There is the Mini-side and the Beemer-side. Now I have never been a BMW person or a Mini person and the whole "class structure" thing is a bit foreign to me. But I bring in my nice Mini-E for service. The Mini people are great and friendly. "Flying Dr. may be flying all around so it could take a couple of days... etc." So we can get you into a loaner. I have done this before so no problem.
Last time I was a little surprised that they put me into the lowest end Mini put-put they had. But hey, it's a loaner. This time it played out slightly differently bringing the "class" thing into rigid focus. I sit down at the loaner desk and they start helping me out. Retrieve a set of keys and start the paper work. Then... "Oh... You're a Mini driver..." Wait I need to get a Mini. Fine. I get it, Mini drivers should prefer Minis and BMW people would only want beemers. Then she mentions the refilling the tank and how if I don't refill it to top they charge $5 a gallon. Yep. Standard stuff. Bugs me a bit that I will need to go get some gas when I haven't in 6 months, but...
Then I walk out past a couple of fairly nice looking BMWs to a small Cooper with a giant "Loaner Courtesy of ..." across the windshield. I can't help but notice the BMWs don't have that. Also, I notice a nice BMW Advanced Diesel (I think it said xDrive) with stickers all over touting the fuel efficiency. I get in my little Mini and it is much less posh than our Mini-E. Looks like you hose it down on the inside to clean it plastic. Handles fine, drives fine. Stinky and noisy compared to the E but whatever.
While I am waiting in traffic (no carpool lane in the standard Mini :p ) it occurs to me what bugged about the whole transaction.
They don't understand me as a customer. Us Mini-E drivers for the most part aren't Mini or BMW people because of the brand. We are people that are committed enough to changing the market and backing new technology that we shell out more than almost any car on that lot for the privilege to try out this new car. I am not a customer to be wowed by a sexy new BMW convertible (probably...) or am so devoted to the Mini brand that I turn up my nose at anything else. I don't feel I deserve special treatment either.
However, if I am running a business like that, I try to understand my customer. This lease/trial is over soon and as BMW, I want to convert these customers with proven ability and means to pay premium into full fledged Mini/BMW devotees. So I really think my approach would be.
1. Try to get them into an alternative fuel vehicle. Sure Mini-Es may not be possible but what about this clean diesel or a hybrid or something. Something where I say, maybe my next long range car could be a BMW. What about one of these new clean diesels. I honestly have never considered one really. Maybe they could sell me on it for my second car. Baring that, something much closer to the premium lease I am paying rather than the <$200 per in the one I get.
2. Realize that home refueling is something we are used to and like. I am not worried about the $10+ in gas I will spend. But they could eat that and make a statement that we realize you Mini-E drivers fuel at home.
3. Don't treat me like a second class citizen not worthy of your fancy BMW status because I am in a Mini. Maybe I would become a BMW fan. It may be hard to be a basic Cooper driver at one of these dealers. I am overselling this because everyone is actually really nice. But you definitely feel the class structure at these dealers more than any other car I have owned in my short experience.
Anyway... Still love the car. The Mini staff have been great and this is by no means a reflection on the service or dealership directly. It really just makes me think of how I would market to someone like me. This is the first car I have not bought outright in more than a decade and the experience is interesting.
