Nearly half (47%) of surveyed car buyers intend to buy their next car from a franchised dealer, according to research from WhatCar? published in Car Dealer Magazine.
Good news for the dealer groups, where concern on order numbers is growing, and it remains vital to ensure they maximise the opportunity on each and every one of those new buyers.
However, what about customers who don’t intend to buy from a franchised dealer?
Interestingly, the report shows that the most common reason for customers being unlikely to engage a franchised dealer is down to pushy sales staff.
In fact, almost one in four respondents who claimed they wouldn’t use a franchised dealer next time they buy a car said it was down to sales teams behaving in this way.
If you analyse the buying journey, as we are continually, where would you expect the pushy elements to exist?
At the start when the customer joins the buying journey and is fairly open-minded or at the end when it feels as though the frequency of interactions are dropping and the chance to increase the value of that customer is slipping away?
Before we give our view on that, it should be said (and the point was made well on LinkedIn as a comment to these numbers when originally posted) the pushyness will often be driven by group or manufacturer targets, needs and desires. In which case it could come at any moment, and as much as the sales team want to be consultative, they often cannot, as there is something else fuelling those interactions.
But, going back to the original point, it is far more common to see over-selling at the end of the buying process and traditionally many retailers will see that at point of order.
At order point, we have all experienced it, GAP and paint protection are quickly demonstrated as well as service plans and all those additional, profitable accessories.
The problem is, that's the exact the point when the customer wants to end the process and move on to ownership. The natural reaction will be one of resistance, unless of course, there is an overwhelming desire to own a service plan or boot mat.
But, what we know now, is that the belief that the buying journey is coming to an end and profit must be crammed in at this stage is false. It’s a false horizon because in reality when managed effectively, the customer journey will continue for a while longer yet.
It could be five days, 20 days or six months. We are discovering that it's rare the journey has ended at point of order.
In fact, interestingly, this is the point when customers start to get excited about their purchase and across the following days, weeks or months those excitement levels are likely to increase.
The problem is, the sales team have no visibility on those customer excitement levels. For so many the order to handover ‘gap’ is not a marketplace, it’s a dark and quiet zone with no insights on customer activity and very little opportunity to instigate positive customer conversations.
Imagine, then, not feeling like the pushy elements of a sales executive have to surface at point of order, but instead once the customer has clearly shown an interest and intent to purchase the likes of GAP or paint protection.
At which time it's not actually very pushy, is it?
By not seeing the post-order, pre-handover space as a problem zone and by triggering regular engaging communication with clever technology, dealers can be consultative with the additional, profitable sales and, perhaps even more importantly, drive up customer experience.
Diluting that bottle-neck of sales activity that materialises at point of order with technology enables the sales team to focus efforts in the right places and as a result far less than one in four will feel it necessary to look past the showroom next time they are in the market for a new car.
Find out how AutoBuzz enables dealers to understand and leverage the true value of the ‘journey within the buying journey’ from order to handover. It’s a stage in the process that is worth far more to your business than you might think.
Want to find out more, hear about how our automotive clients are using the platform or simply see a demo for yourself? Click here to Get in Touch, we’d be happy to have a chat and get you set up on AutoBuzz!
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