Welcome to Access Auto!  I'm Linda Yazell and I am ready to help you with a new vehicle.  Call Us:
(800) 7-NEWCAR
(that's 800-763-9227)
Linda Yazell  

 

 

I Fell in Love All Over Again!

The car business always slows down between January and April.  This year I decided that instead of having to watch my pennies so closely, I’d go see what it’s like on the other side of the fence, i.e. at a car dealership.

I went to work at Santa Cruz Toyota.  They’re about one mile from my house and hey, I’d be selling Toyotas.  About 20% of my business is Toyota, so I figured it would be a natural.  Working a staggered shift of six hours a day, I figure I’d have plenty of time to take care of my Access Auto clients who wanted other cars.

I really enjoyed being out in the open air (January and February were really nice weather-wise).  While I loved interacting with people face to face, what a hassle it is to work through the dealership system to put a car on the road!  And as far as bringing my Access Auto clients there, forget it!   It was so hard to get the deal there that I knew I could through my fleet contacts, I was tempted to just broker them elsewhere, and that would have been a huge conflict of interest. 

My previous experience working in a dealership was from 1978 thru 1982, when I worked at Val Strough Honda and Mazda in Oakland.  It wasn’t uncommon for me to sell three or four cars a day, and I remember one Saturday selling seven.  Not possible these days.  Now it takes three or four hours to get everything done on each car and then everybody has to go through “Finance” (that little glass room I try to keep people out of).

I was so tired at the end of each day, I had no energy for anything else!  Wearing a pedometer, I learned I was clocking seven to eight miles a day walking, and most of the rest of the time was spent standing around.  Six hours a day turned into eight hours most days.

That was way too physically demanding for me, and it took so much of my time, that in order to continue working with my Access Auto clients who didn’t want Toyotas I was working twelve hours a day.

I thought I’d found the perfect solution.  San Jose British Motors asked me to take over their Internet Dept.  They even told me they had no problem with my continuing to help my Access Auto clients (which they later reneged on).   Hardly any of my customers ever ask for Jaguar.  They bought the Kia franchise shortly after I started working there, but hardly anyone ever asks me for Kia, either.  I figured I’d sell their Jags, and spend my spare time (and there’s lots of it there) helping my Access Auto customers.  So every day, I commuted over the hill to San Jose, sat at a computer all day, and called and emailed people who had clicked on a link somewhere about Jaguar.  

Now, those of you who have worked with me, and that would be almost all of you, know that I’m not a pest.  In fact, follow up has never been my strong suite.  It’s something I really have to work at.  And there I was at Jaguar where that’s all I did all day long -- pester people.  I hated it, but the folks I worked with there were nice, and for some reason they thought I’d be really good at the job.  I kept at it, thinking “there’s gotta be a pony in here somewhere.”  At the end of two months, I realized that I had put together ten Access Auto deals and sold only three of their cars, and one of those--a Kia--was to an Access Auto client.

I finally found the “Pony”.  I came to the realization that I put you first before the dealership’s customers.  Even if it meant putting in ten to twelve hour days, I handled your request.   I learned I much prefer it when you call me looking for a car, than being on the phone eight hours a day drumming up business.  And on the upside, the extra money earned means not having to spend the busy summer months playing catch up.

Staying in touch by phone, email, my website and regular mail is very effective, definitely an area where I have room for improvement.  So you’ll be hearing from me on a more regular basis.  It’s a good way to prevent the Winter Blah’s

I also learned that working for someone else isn’t easy.  I’ve been self employed way too long to have someone telling me how to do my job or spend my time.   At the dealership, I had to punch a clock!  They frown on going out to lunch.  Can you imagine if I’d said, “Hey, it’s slow today, I think I’ll take a walk on the beach”?

I learned that I like interacting with my customers face to face, and that’s hard to do living in Santa Cruz.  While I was working at those dealerships, I did get together with some of you and it was great putting a face with a voice and name.  The Leasia’s, the Brandi’s, the Guttal’s and the Steen’s have been getting cars from me since as long ago as 1994, and it was nice getting to meet you.  If you check the Letterscolumn, you’ll see a picture of Bob Anderson and me.  Bob drove his BMW Z4 down here to Santa Cruz in June and let me drive it.  That was fun! It was the first time I’d seen Bob in probably ten years or more.  And Linda Michener lives just a few blocks away from the Jaguar dealership so we got together for dinner and a movie.

On the other hand, I’m glad I have a business that allows me to live anywhere I want and still work with my clients from as long ago as 1983, regardless of where they live now.  I just helped one of my clients, now living in Chicago, who wanted a new Chrysler 300.  The nearest dealer that had the car they wanted was in Wisconsin.  It all came together beautifully.

So all in all, the time spent was a great education for me.  I learned a lot about the new technology in cars today.  I learned I really want a new Toyota Rav 4.  But most importantly, I fell in love with my business and my clients all over again.   I’m looking forward to the next fifteen years or so, helping you have an easy time and saving you money when you get your new or pre-owned cars, getting to know you better, and meeting--if only by phone--your friends and family when they need cars.

So Thank You, Thank You for continuing to call me when you need a car and for all your referrals.  I think I have the best job in the world!

Thanks.. Linda


Well Hi everybody.  

It’s Spring again,  and feeling like summer here in Santa Cruz.

If you’ve been to my website, you might have noticed that it’s really outdated.  That’s because the server crashed that had my site, and  the server that had the backup also crashed.  So while I’m trying to piece it back together, and write new copy, I hope this will serve as an update.

You can always reach me with any questions or to introduce a friend at 800-763-9227, or you can e-mail me at linda@accessauto.com.   Should that fail for any reason, you can also e-mail me at linda@accessauto.com.

I’m going to introduce a few new features with the redesign of the website.   Sometimes a client will actually ask me, “Do you mind if I refer you to a friend of mine?”  Well, Duh!  I love referrals.  In fact I only work with past clients, who are like friends and family to me now, and their referrals.  So if you have friends you would like to refer, I will be including a “Tell-A-Friend” link where you can put in their names and e-mail addresses, and select them a pre-written e-mail, or perhaps write your own, to refer them. 

I plan on having some kind of pop-up (don't cha love pop-up’s) that will give you a way of updating your information for me, so I can keep you in the loop with  newsletters and specials.  I love to hear what’s happening in your life, so I think I’ll leave a space for notes there as well.

I also plan to put up a link to another great way to save money on health care benefits.  I found this for  myself when my health insurance became so expensive a couple of years ago, and wasn’t covering anything I needed.  Now for under $20 per month I have great coverage for Dental, Vision, Prescription and Chiropractic.  It’s saved me beaucoup bucks!  Until I get that link up, you can find out more about that at http://www.keepthatsmile.com.  Be sure to check that out, because even if it’s not a concern for you right now, it might become one in the future, and most of us know someone who doesn’t have adequate coverage.  I got if for myself and my daughter, Andrea, who many of you know from when she was working at Access Auto. She’s my little Gypsy, who will never work for anyone who offers her health coverage.

I also want to bring you up to date on how I’m doing business.  This has been a major change for me, one that people tell me I should have done years ago. 

As most of you know, for the last 14 years or so, I have had the dealer from whom I’m getting your car include my fee in the sales price, and then they pay me later.   There were times when a customer wanted to pay me themselves, and I’d always make the exception, and my customer always paid the fee if I was working on a used car. 

However, collecting from the dealer was like having another part-time job.  In fact, for a while I employed someone, and part of her job was to stay on top of that.  It sometimes took two months to be paid, and it was effecting my attitude as well as my cash flow. 

So officially beginning in January, 2004, I no longer accept fees from dealers.  I’m working for you anyway, not them, and there’s no reason you should have to pay tax and license on my fee, which is the case when it’s included in the fee.  I’ve also been able to reduce my fee, and I have a schedule which is very fair.  As you know, the purpose of my business is to add value to your car buying experience by saving you more than my fee, while also saving you the time and aggravation that car shopping entails.  I keep you out of that little glass room.  The fees are:

            $350 for anything up to a sales price of $25,000

            $500 for anything from $25,001 to $50,000

            $750 for anything over $50,000 up to $75,000 (or so)

You retain my service by giving me your order as always, and then mailing me a check for $100, which helps to compensate me for the time I spend contacting dealers in your behalf, negotiating finance and lease rates, and having trade’s evaluated.   The balance of the fee is due only upon delivery.  I also take Paypal, and within the next few weeks will be accepting Mastercard and Visa.

The effect of doing business this way has been incredible!   Since I’m no longer going on wild goose chases for everybody that calls, your order gets my full attention.  I’m able to work with dealers who wouldn’t ordinarily work with brokers.  Just because they didn’t want to pay referral fees doesn’t mean they won’t give us great prices!  I also find I’m better able to bargain with the dealer on the strength that I have a “payin’ customer.”

And since I’m not mad at anybody anymore, I’m much more fun to work with. : )

Everyone who’s worked with me this way has really been pleased.  So try it, you’ll like it!

April this  year is once again bringing income tax deadlines and Easter, but at least this year we’re not in the very beginnings of the war in Iraq.  Let’s hope that by next Easter, we’ll be out of there.   

Thanks.. Linda

 

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