DrivingSales Customer Experience Research Study Update

New research shows dealers could see nearly a 25 percent increase in sales – all that is holding them back is their customer experience.

The results of the DrivingSales Consumer Experience Study was released to the automotive industry in a press release yesterday. The study seeks to discover the current state of customer expectations and how that correlates to consumer touch points throughout the car purchasing process through sound research methodologies.

This is the final installment in a series of presentations by the organization based on a 16-month, $1 million study. Over 1300 car shoppers were interviewed by behavioral scientists to determine what those shoppers like and don’t like about the car shopping experience. The stated goal according to a press release is to determine, “the rational and emotional factors that cause modern automotive shoppers to connect, or disconnect, with automotive dealers in the buying process.”

That connection, or the lack thereof, between car shoppers and dealers was on full display during the DrivingSales Executive Summit last October in Las Vegas. Video interviews from real car shoppers shared their candid thoughts and expectation while buying a car in today’s world. As we reported previously, those car shoppers told ethnographic researchers in interviews exactly how they feel about the retail automotive experience.

Two shoppers from that presentation, Bill and Tara said that dealership websites could be improved. During the presentation on this topic by DrivingSales CEO Jared Hamilton at DSES October, Bill said that he trusts third party and automaker websites more that those from an individual dealership. Tara told the interviewer she felt that dealership websites were too filled with ads, too cluttered or, in her words, had a lot of “cobwebs.”

While some dealers may feel that their websites are perfectly fine, and perhaps under appreciated, Hamilton noted in the same address, referring to dealers, “We are not the consumer and our opinion doesn’t count.”

Today, the remaining part of the research project is about to be unveiled at the DrivingSales Presidents Club in New York City. Speaking about the final portion of the research Hamilton said, “Yesterday’s formula for automotive retail success is deterring consumers and suppressing sales volume. Our research shows the key to sales success today is building trust through an open and transparent customer experience at every stage of their buying process.”

The DrivingSales Consumer Experience Study points to how consumers are evolving. Consumers are used to retailers like amazon.com bending over backward for them. The consumer of 2015 simply demands more from retailers. This means their expectations are often not met by their experience in retail automotive. The DrivingSales study is aimed at discovering key pain points in the car purchasing process and revealing best practices dealers can implement in order to be equipped to compete as the industry evolves during the next decade.

Part of that evolution will likely be changing customer perceptions and thus their expectations. The DrivingSales study found that 99 out of 100 car shoppers expect a difficult experience. Specifically, they expect a “hassle” from the dealer from start to finish. They reportedly think this way because of their own experiences as well as those shared with them by their friends and family. Those same shoppers seek information about their desired vehicles online before talking to a dealer. The study found that when the shoppers want to have contact with the dealer, 61 percent of them walk onto the lot to speak to someone. However, of those shoppers (50 percent) apparently will walk out if they can’t get a price quote before a test drive or if they have to provide personal information beforehand (43 percent).

According to this study, many consumers distrust the dealership experience. Customer expectations have evolved and dealers need to prepare to meet those expectations quickly. We will have more details of this customer experience study in the coming weeks and months as additional research is released.