Ready or not, your customers expect to be treated differently
We can all get caught up in the hype of a new trend or technology. Auto dealers are not immune to this reality. The fear that someone else has adopted some great new customer retention tool or has mastered the art of gathering and responding to online leads can lead to many a sleepless night for a dealer that is already leveraged to the hilt and hoping his strategy will be the winning one.
But in the midst of all this, there are larger societal shifts and technology trends that are transforming the expectations of your customers — and despite all the other hype and noise — dealers would be wise to take heed.
The best quote I’ve heard that helps describe this “see past the hype” phenomenon is from Roy Amara, an engineer and futurist who is the former president of the Institute for the Future. “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”
That’s why it’s so important for dealers to track changes in the buying habits of their customers, and why research from groups such as J.D. Power is so important. The J.D. Power 2014 Autoshopper Study has some interesting findings dealers should really take note of.
For instance, there is a perception that people who shop online, narrow their choices thereby leading to the decline in the number of dealerships they need to visit. But the study finds that new-vehicle buyers who do a lot of Internet shopping actually go to more dealerships to shop.
The automotive Internet users who spend an average of nearly 14 hours online shopping prior to purchase, visit more dealerships (3.3 on average) than those who spend minimal time shopping online (one to four hours) who visit an average of only two dealerships.
I find this statistic interesting because it goes against what now passes for conventional wisdom that the Internet shopper is dialed in and just wants to come negotiate a price for the car they’ve selected. But it makes logical sense: that the people who really like to research online, are likely more apt to research in person as well.
The study also looked at how new-vehicle buyers use their digital devices to gather information prior to their purchase. Something dealers need to accept is that more than one third (34%) will use either a smartphone or tablet while shopping at their dealership. That’s up from 29 per cent in 2013 and will only continue to rise. What are they looking for the most? Vehicle pricing tops the list with 61 per cent searching for that content while at your dealership, followed by model information (42%), searching inventory (40%) and special offers/incentives (36%).
But the most important stat in all of this is that 84 per cent leverage this pricing information in the negotiation process and 73 per cent feel they got a better deal as a result. They probably did.
But here’s the lesson in all of this. These seemingly small changes are transforming your world. This showrooming of your vehicles against competitors is the new way of the world. Your only play is to ensure your prices are competitive, accessible and transparent on all devices — especially mobile ones.
There really is no going back. Welcome to the future!
