Charlie no longer at Lotus of Austin

[Charlie Lunsford]

Well everyone I wanted to let you guys know that I am as of Saturday no longer with Lotus of Austin/John Eagle European....... I wish them over there the best in the future.

If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to call me or drop me an email.

cell (512)818-0083
clunsford578@gmail.com

[...m...]

...sorry to hear you're leaving, charlie; you really went out of your way as an ambassador for the marque...best of fortune wherever your future takes you...

[dickedup]

Originally Posted by Charlie Lunsford

Well everyone I wanted to let you guys know that I am as of Saturday no longer with Lotus of Austin/John Eagle European....... I wish them over there the best in the future.

If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to call me or drop me an email.

cell (512)818-0083
clunsford578@gmail.com

... does this mean that the new Evora will NOT be sold at MSRP there now?

Best of luck amigo... never could spot that freaking dealership while racing by on that Hwy 183!

[jasperw4]

They lost a good one.

[mcoupe]

Wish you the best Charlie...Will see you around!

[Scott Bowman]

Charlie, sorry to learn this news, but I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up.

[Charlie Lunsford]

Thanks for the kind words. It was not my wish or desire to leave the company. Unfortunately they were unwilling to work with me on scheduling so that I could honor and fullfill my duties and religious beliefs at church on saturdays. As most of you on here know by RichS's infamous "athiest poll" i am a devout Christian and follow the true Sabboth, saturday. This is something I am not willing to compromise any longer as I have the past few months. Previous employers were able to work with me on that. I had hopes that this one would as well..... I am still loyal to Lotus Cars and hope to soon be representing this amazing brand someplace. The boys up at corporate have been very good to me over the years, I've moved a lot of cars for them, lol

I will still be here to offer any assistance I can with anyones needs with their car or in purchasing a vehcile.

Oh, and DU, I am pretty sure the guys over there will still honor the Evora at MSRP, they are good guys. LOL

[RichS]

Charlie, I'm sorry that you and the John Eagle team were not able to work something out. You've been a great asset to the Lotus community.

Freedom from religion is a great thing...

Seriously, I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do next. If there is anything at all that I can help you with, just let me know. If you need a reference for a new job, let me know, I'm more than happy to provide one.

[Chris Mackey]

Best of luck, Charlie. Their loss.

[mrcarcrazy]

pretty insane they'd rather lose a great employee than let you off on sat.

blows my mind actually. Best of luck.

[RichS]

Originally Posted by mrcarcrazy

pretty insane they'd rather lose a great employee than let you off on sat.

blows my mind actually. Best of luck.

+1

There were some great techs that could have worked there, but they wanted flexible schedules... The owner wasn't interested.

[mrcarcrazy]

Originally Posted by RichS

+1

There were some great techs that could have worked there, but they wanted flexible schedules... The owner wasn't interested.

Wow. Great way to get incompetent people in there..."out with the good, in with the bad..."

This technique may prove fatal for yet another Lotus of Austin.

[Charlie Lunsford]

I stand in hopes that perhaps I can work something out to continue my employment there. I have always tried to represent the Lotus marque with integrity. I believe I have done a good job of helping keep the Lotus community strong here in the central Texas region. Perhaps they will realize what an asset to the industry I have been....

[RichS]

Originally Posted by mrcarcrazy

Wow. Great way to get incompetent people in there..."out with the good, in with the bad..."

This technique may prove fatal for yet another Lotus of Austin.

I think that is going a bit too far. Just because someone good didn't make it doesn't mean the person that is there is bad.

I can understand the owner's position and he's been very successful in the auto industry. Given the choice between someone who is a great salesman and will work on Saturday and someone who is a great salesman who won't work on Saturday, I think we all know what we would do.

That said, this is sales. And if Charlie can come up with some way to deliver results without working on Saturday then it would be silly for the owner to let him go.

If I was in Charlie's position I'd work very hard to communicate how I can deliver results despite the fact that I'm unable to work on Saturday and then deliver on those results. Charlie has been the number one Lotus sales person in the country in the past, but of course the really bad thing about sales is that every sales manager/owner asks "What have you done for me lately?" If I put in extra time/effort on the other days of the week such that I was able to deliver better results than the other sales people I'd hope that I would be able to stay. Maybe agree to 20 hours of cold calling a week for instance... Heck, start calling all the Lotus customers who purchased from Lotus of Austin and tell them you need used Lotus cars to sell.

[dickedup]

Originally Posted by Charlie Lunsford

Oh, and DU, I am pretty sure the guys over there will still honor the Evora at MSRP, they are good guys. LOL

God speed Charles.

[wallabyguy]

I had a lot of hope in the new franchise, mostly based on our involvement Charlie. Now I fear we will witness yet another dealership fall flat on it's face. Very disappointing.

God will reward you ten fold for your faith and commitment to his work.

[mrcarcrazy]

Not sure on the workforce there...but there a lot more poor salesman, than there are great salesman here...

And if he (the owner) has run off good mechanics too then I don't see how he'll manage. Its easy to work on cars, its hard to work on cars quickly/efficiently/properly/safely all at the same time.

All relationships are give/take. Many bosses don't believe this...they have a high turnover rate. Higher the turnover rate, less the employees know about what they are doing (typically). poorer the customer service, which drives customers an hour down the road to Lotus of San Antonio.

at least that's how I see it going down (I could be wrong).

I'm not a religious person, and I find it wrong to force your ideas/beliefs on others...in any manner. To me his boss was doing that by forcing him to work on the true sabbath (Which I do agree, sat. is the real sabbath...I've often wondered why Sun has taken that away...I think its ignorant people, but not sure.)

Originally Posted by RichS

I think that is going a bit too far. Just because someone good didn't make it doesn't mean the person that is there is bad.

I can understand the owner's position and he's been very successful in the auto industry. Given the choice between someone who is a great salesman and will work on Saturday and someone who is a great salesman who won't work on Saturday, I think we all know what we would do.

That said, this is sales. And if Charlie can come up with some way to deliver results without working on Saturday then it would be silly for the owner to let him go.

If I was in Charlie's position I'd work very hard to communicate how I can deliver results despite the fact that I'm unable to work on Saturday and then deliver on those results. Charlie has been the number one Lotus sales person in the country in the past, but of course the really bad thing about sales is that every sales manager/owner asks "What have you done for me lately?" If I put in extra time/effort on the other days of the week such that I was able to deliver better results than the other sales people I'd hope that I would be able to stay. Maybe agree to 20 hours of cold calling a week for instance... Heck, start calling all the Lotus customers who purchased from Lotus of Austin and tell them you need used Lotus cars to sell.

[RichS]

Originally Posted by mrcarcrazy

And if he (the owner) has run off good mechanics too then I don't see how he'll manage.

Again, the owner has not 'run off good mechanics'. You have not talked to the people involved, yet somehow you keep reading more into the story than there is.

Owner to mechanic: "Do you want to work for me?"
Mechanic: "Well, I'd like to be able to work on these days and not these days so I can keep another job that I have."
Owner: "That doesn't really work for me. Good luck."

That's not 'out with the good, in with the bad' or 'running off good mechanics'.

Folks, let's not go overboard here. People are making personal decisions to not work on particular days that have the potential to impact the business that the owner is trying to run.

And it does appear that he is running it well:
John Eagle European Austin, Texas Soars Nationally in Sales of Aston Martin and Bentley Motorcars | Reuters

[mrcarcrazy]

oh ok. my mistake. well I hope it doesn't crash and burn. But I think he's made a mistake by letting charlie slip away.

I based my words on this

Originally Posted by RichS

There were some great techs that could have worked there, but they wanted flexible schedules... The owner wasn't interested.

guess I read more into it. oh well.

best of luck to Charlie...I'll continue going to Lotus of S.A. (they've been good to me, and now I have no reason to check out another DLR).

[geezer]

Originally Posted by RichS

Again, the owner has not 'run off good mechanics'. You have not talked to the people involved, yet somehow you keep reading more into the story than there is.

Owner to mechanic: "Do you want to work for me?"
Mechanic: "Well, I'd like to be able to work on these days and not these days so I can keep another job that I have."
Owner: "That doesn't really work for me. Good luck."

That's not 'out with the good, in with the bad' or 'running off good mechanics'.

Folks, let's not go overboard here. People are making personal decisions to not work on particular days that have the potential to impact the business that the owner is trying to run.

And it does appear that he is running it well:
John Eagle European Austin, Texas Soars Nationally in Sales of Aston Martin and Bentley Motorcars | Reuters

Heh. No mention of Lotus in with those other British marques. Wonder why?