Auto dealers are adapting to buyers’ new behavior.
They are personalizing the buying journey for each customer, tailoring it to how shoppers would like to proceed with their vehicle purchase. Sales staff are now keen on driving a great customer experience, then identifying which vehicle is best for the buyer — less sales talk and improved people skills.
“The auto industry is one of the most disrupted in the world, across the whole chain,” GP Strategies’ vice president-automotive, Merlin Stevenson, told Wards Auto. “Retail is the most affected part.”
Salespeople need not only traditional skills but virtual-selling and social media skills as well, he said. Dealerships should also leverage data to further understand customers and use these in decision-making.
In his talk at the virtual CXAUTO2021 conference, a customer strategy and retail innovation summit, Stevenson identified four types of customers. They are the “dealer-trusting traditionalists who usually are older, hybrid customers who shop and research both digitally and in-person, online savvy modernists, and online-focused information seekers.”
Approximately 55% of car buyers go to the dealership fully informed about their vehicle of interest, and 70% of customers visit a dealership mainly because they want to test drive the vehicle, according to Wards Auto.
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