Jeep raising the bar for dealers as it heads upscale with Wagoneer

As Jeep crosses into six-figure pricing territory with the Grand Wagoneer, Mike McVeigh is a prototype of what the brand wants its sales force to look like: highly trained and flush with details about the product.

McVeigh undergoes a rigorous annual education and testing process for the right to be called a "Jeep expert." His business cards carry an emblem touting that status to shoppers.

"I'm going to be in the minority as far as people that actually show the vehicle and demonstrate the vehicle the way that it was intended," said McVeigh, who works at David Dodge- Chrysler-Jeep-Ram in Glen Mills, Pa. "They're going to get further and further away from the old-school car-sales thing. I think that is why Jeep's decided to elevate everything with this."

Building up the showroom experience is the latest rock the adventure brand will have to climb.

The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will draw an affluent clientele who will have to open their wallets wider than most previous customers of the brand to drive off in the plush three-row SUVs.

To meet those shoppers' expectations, Jeep has ambitious aspirations for the retail experience as some stores begin catering to a consumer base they haven't dealt with before.

The vision calls for schooled salespeople, known as certified Wagoneer Ambassadors if they undergo proper training, who will be well-versed in presenting the parade of advanced features housed in the revived nameplates. The buying process is to be guided by what Jeep calls its "10 Customer Promises" that were developed in coordination with dealers and provide an array of perks, including free Wi-Fi at the dealership and remote test drives, along with 24/7 concierge support and roadside assistance.

Stores that dedicate themselves to the plan and develop a dedicated Wagoneer display area in their showrooms in addition to a new-vehicle delivery area will be able to call themselves Wagoneer-certified.

Other stores and salespeople will still be able to sell the Wagoneer, but they could find themselves disadvantaged relative to nearby Jeep dealerships that have the philosophy ingrained in their operations.

"I really believe that the level of sophistication — the technology that we have in the car — is so high that it's going to be almost impossible for a salesperson to sell that car without that training, and without the Wagoneer Ambassador certification," Jeep global boss Christian Meunier told Automotive News. "We're going to push hard for dealers to make it happen, and I'm pretty confident they will. But, at the same time, the requirements are pretty high and the customer expectations are high."

The customer promises go further. The plan is for consumers to deal with certified Wagoneer salespeople who use tablets during the buying process. When visiting a store, Wagoneer buyers will be offered premium drinks and snacks.

David Kelleher, chairman of the national dealer council for Jeep parent Stellantis, is pleased to see the brand raising the bar for its retailers. He wants his sales crew to take advantage of the training.

"It's very hard to make an argument that it doesn't benefit the dealer, the brand and the client to do the things that they're asking us to do," said Kelleher, owner of David Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram. "I want my salespeople to be as good as they should be. I want my customers to have that type of experience. I want my sales professional to know more about the vehicle than the customer."

Kelleher said Jeep dealers are in "new waters" and will be selling vehicles they've "never sold before at this level."

Jeep began taking orders last week for 12 available preconfigured models, with deliveries scheduled to start this summer. The Wagoneer has a base price of $59,995 including shipping, but the only varieties available at launch cost at least $10,000 more. The Grand Wagoneer opens at $88,995 and tops $111,000 when loaded up.

The customer promise calls for dealers to offer buyers home delivery. Owners also receive five years of worry-free maintenance and VIP access to exclusive Jeep events.

Some of the benefits, including a full tank of gas that Stellantis will pay for and free washes after service, might seem basic but have become less common in recent years as dealerships trim costs.

"A vast majority of the things that we're requesting are very simple things," Meunier said. "We're not asking for a lot of money here. We're asking more for focus, determination, process and a mindset. Because we know we need to make some progress. We're not delivering a customer experience good enough today for Jeep, and let alone for the Wagoneer when we launch it."

McVeigh finished his latest expert test in January and still has one for the Wagoneer ahead. He said Jeep upped the difficulty this year, covering not only product knowledge, but running the gamut of the sales experience — from initial contact with a customer through delivery and to the post-sale follow-up.

The pandemic has taken away the ability for Jeep to hold drive events that would have given those in the program valuable insight. As of now, McVeigh has yet to drive the vehicles he'll be quizzed on or to even see them in person.

He had to go through 15 classes of prerequisite training even before starting the 2021 Jeep expert program. The final test has multiple parts, and pupils are given three attempts to pass each one.

"It's a whole different ballgame now," McVeigh said. "Jeep's definitely seen the writing on the wall, and they've taken the steps to [put] the Jeep experience ... on a different level."