Following his debut on Undercover Big Boss, Robert Forrester has been in the media quite heavily in past few weeks with his most recent survey results showing 83% of customers (4 in 5 customers) would still prefer to visit a showroom to purchase their next vehicle.
The reasons for this? We forget how important cars are in our everyday lifestyle - as they say “purchasing a vehicle is the second most important purchase after a house”. People still want to physically see a car, sit in the car, touch the car, even smell the car (mainly for the fresh new upholstery scent or alternatively to make sure the previous owner wasn’t a smoker). I was always encouraged to test drive every single customer in my Dealership days, simply because the cars sell themselves.
Like many businesses, the Dealerships had to change their route to selling quite drastically due to Covid-19. The sales world changed from walk in's and appointments to Zoom/telephone appointments and a Click & Collect Service, which caused mixed reviews. New to Brand customers found it an anxious experience, whereas those who were existing customers to the Brand and Dealership were ready to buy (with Personal Contract Purchase being a leading product for Dealers and customers nearing the end of their agreement, this was the perfect time for the sales specialist to make their prospecting calls!)
However, with the help of modern day tech - video calls and new software - allowing sales teams to send their customers personalised videos, those who don’t wish to spend their Saturday afternoon in a showroom and are busy working Monday to Friday now have the ideal, convenient buying platform!
But don’t worry sales guys, you still have your elderly couples coming in with that “people buy from people” mindset, young couples coming in to check the boot space for prams and singletons with their lockdown puppy wanting to visit you in person for their next car!
Reasons that people surveyed prefer in-showroom car purchase included that it was easier to ask questions (59%), they could look at their own pace (48%) and they could understand the options better (41%).
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