Piped Piper: Prospect Satisfaction Index News
07-12-2010, 02:52 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Piped Piper: Prospect Satisfaction Index News
A study measuring how dealerships treat customers rated Mercedes-Benz highest but said Detroit's brands have showed the most improvement.
Ford, Lincoln and Chevrolet scored above the average for the first time in the four years that Piped Piper Management Co. has conducted its study. Lexus was No. 2 and Mitsubishi placed last in the survey.
Pied Piper, of Monterey, Calif., sent 3,658 mystery shoppers into dealerships to develop its Prospect Satisfaction Index. The shoppers ranged from 21 to 65.
In the latest report, 25 of the 34 brands surveyed had better scores than a year earlier. Luxury brands continued to outperform mass-market brands, but BMW scored below Cadillac and Lincoln and tied with a host of other brands, including Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen.
“Today's car shoppers are armed with far more vehicle and pricing information than ever before,” said Pied Piper CEO Fran O'Hagan. “Successful brands and dealerships have responded by acting as helpful enablers for today's shoppers. At the most successful dealerships, the stereotype of the old-fashioned car salesperson no longer exists.”
Relatively soft consumer demand for new cars, along with tougher standards from many lenders, has put more pressure on dealer personnel to sell and provide new-car financing options for many consumers.
“Customers have come to expect the type of treatment that they get at Mercedes, BMW and Lexus in all their shopping experience," said Mark Cannon, vice president of communications at AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest holding company for new car dealers. "They want someone who is knowledgeable and can help them with the process.”
When Ford launched the Taurus, AutoNation sent a sales trainer to every dealership and trained sales people on the product.
"I don't ever remember that being the priority five or 10 years ago,” said Cannon.
Old stereotypes are dying, as well.
The study found that showroom visitors are likely to encounter an overbearing salesperson just 6 percent of the time. In contrast, 18 percent of the time, shoppers encountered a salesperson who was not helpful enough and did not devote enough time and attention.
In an example, Pied Piper said Ford dealership sales personnel scored better than the competition in three areas:
• More likely to discuss Ford's unique features.
• More likely to introduce themselves.
• More likely to discuss available financing options.
About 18 percent of the time, salespeople did not pay enough attention to the shopper. Only 57 percent offered a brochure, underlining the decision “by some brands and dealerships to limit or discontinue offering brochures,” the study said.
The study also found:
• 95 percent of Lexus and Porsche sales personnel reviewed a vehicle's features and controls before a test drive, compared with 74 percent at BMW.
• Land Rover, Smart and Mini salespeople rarely introduced shoppers to dealership personnel.
• Suzuki, Volkswagen, Nissan, Toyota and Infiniti dealership employees used introductions to dealership management 40 percent of the time to help clinch a deal.
• Nissan, Mazda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen dealerships are most likely to initiate follow-up contact within 48 hours after an initial visit.
• Buick, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet and Acura dealerships were the least likely to follow up within 48 hours after a shopper's first visit.
• At BMW and Volvo stores, 80 percent of the time, personnel told shoppers about their free scheduled maintenance programs.
• Land Rover, Smart and Mini salespeople rarely introduced shoppers to dealership personnel.
• Suzuki, Volkswagen, Nissan, Toyota and Infiniti dealership employees used introductions to dealership management 40 percent of the time to help clinch a deal.
• Nissan, Mazda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen dealerships are most likely to initiate follow-up contact within 48 hours after an initial visit.
• Buick, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet and Acura dealerships were the least likely to follow up within 48 hours after a shopper's first visit.
• At BMW and Volvo stores, 80 percent of the time, personnel told shoppers about their free scheduled maintenance programs.
You can reach Diana T. Kurylko at dkurylko@crain.com.
07-13-2010, 06:28 AM
#2
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Chart
Not sure if it is Piped or Pied Piper since it was written both ways in the original AutoNews article ... however it is Pied in the chart below:
07-13-2011, 06:52 AM
#4
Safety Car
Thread Starter
2011
It looks like Mercedes-Benz' focus on retail, including giving sales staff at dealerships iPads and installing interactive video displays on showroom floors, has paid off. The brand's dealers have gotten the highest satisfaction index ranking for the 3rd year in a row in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, which uses mystery shoppers to rank the retail experience.
The automaker has just opened a flagship dealership "laboratory" in Manhattan to test some of the above-mentioned retail innovations, pulling up stakes at its old showroom near the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel and heading over to the East Side. The company 2 weeks ago held an opening bash for the 5-story facility on East 54th Street.
The Pied Piper study, involving 3,524 paid, anonymous "mystery shoppers" in dealerships nationwide, suggests that overall auto industry performance dropped from 2010 to 2011, after 4 years of gains.
The only gainers were Mini, Infiniti, Buick, Jeep and Scion dealerships. The firm says 2/3s of all of the parameters that go into determining ranking have declined.
The findings suggest that salespeople are less likely to mention maintenance programs and costs, less likely to address specific features and benefits relevant to the shopper, less likely to focus on 3 to 5 memorable features and benefits, and less likely to discuss features that are unique from the competition. What salespeople were more likely to do was offer a brochure, give compelling reasons why consumers should buy now, involve shoppers with visual aids, and determine factors preventing purchase.
Fran O'Hagan, CEO of Pied Piper Management Company LLC, notes that dealerships have been cutting sales staff. "Over the past year, the quantity of car buyers has rebounded, leading to higher sales spread among fewer salespeople, but also leading to deterioration in customer treatment."
Not surprisingly, luxury brands did better than mainstream brands because of higher profitability and higher salesperson commissions per transaction, which encourages salespeople to devote more time and effort to each prospective customer. But Toyota and Chrysler's Ram Truck division achieved 6th place rankings in a tie along with Cadillac and Land Rover.
2nd-place overall among the 35 brands ranked was Jaguar, followed by Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Cadillac, Land Rover, Ram, Toyota, Audi, BMW, Buick, and Chevrolet. The brands with the lowest-scoring dealerships in the study were, in descending order, GMC, Jeep, Lincoln, Chrysler, Dodge, Saab, Scion, Smart, Suzuki and Mitsubishi.
Pied Piper says Toyota salespeople were 48% more likely to introduce customers to dealership management, 18% more likely to determine factors preventing purchase and 12% more likely to provide compelling reasons to buy from their dealership.
The Ram brand offers a test case because many of the same people who sell Ram also sell Dodge. But they behave differently when they are selling the truck. For example, they were 21% more likely to mention the availability of financing options; compelling reasons to buy from their dealership; and 19% more likely to talk features and benefits than salespeople selling Dodge, per Pied Piper.
07-10-2012, 06:44 AM
#6
Safety Car
Thread Starter
2012: Acura #2
LOS ANGELES -- Some vehicle brands that score high in customer satisfaction surveys do less well when the effectiveness of dealership salespeople is measured, according to a California consultant.
Mystery-shopping consultant Pied Piper of Monterey, Calif., sent 4,419 shoppers to dealerships nationwide, from July 2011 to June 2012, to measure salespeople's effectiveness in selling cars on the showroom floor.
Mercedes-Benz ranked first in the survey and led all brands in 10 of 60 sales activities measured in Pied Piper's Prospect Satisfaction Index. For example, Mercedes led in salesperson introductions, offering a thorough test drive and focusing attention on important features. Mercedes was followed by Acura, Infiniti and Lexus.
Pied Piper said it looked at everything leading up to the purchase decision, starting from the 1st contact by the salesperson to the customer's decision to purchase or not. J.D. Power's Sales Satisfaction Index asks consumers for their impression of the dealership where they had recently purchased a vehicle.
Pied Piper CEO Fran O'Hagan said the high scores for Mercedes and the 3 Japanese premium brands are not surprising, since luxury salespeople will spend more time with a customer to get a higher gross.
But not all luxury brands have an effective sales process. Although Porsche and Audi are stalwarts in the J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index, O'Hagan called their dealership salespeople "museum curators" -- that is, they are knowledgeable and friendly, but do little to sell a car.
At Mercedes dealerships, "customers love the experience, and the salespeople do an excellent job of turning shoppers into buyers," he said.
But, said O'Hagan: "Audi skips stuff like giving a walk-around demonstration or giving compelling reasons to buy from a specific dealership or encouraging shoppers to go through the transaction numbers."
Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda dealerships -- brands that have struggled in the Power sales satisfaction survey -- were tops among mass-market brands in effectively turning a shopper into a buyer.
"It's not as though sales satisfaction is not important," O'Hagan said. "But it's not what determines if you buy a car to begin with."
Overall, the industry has improved since Pied Piper began collecting mystery shopping data 5 years ago. A brand that was at the industry average in 2008 would be 3rd from the bottom of this year's Prospect Satisfaction Index.
As a result, some subpar brands that have made big strides since 2008, such as Chrysler, Mini and Jeep, still rank below the industry average. Middle-of-the-pack brands in 2008 that have moved to the top ranks are Mercedes, Infiniti, Cadillac and Honda.
Despite overall industry improvement, Pied Piper reported inconsistency in the way sales practices were used. For instance, salespeople at Subaru, Buick and Volkswagen dealerships were much more likely to offer a brochure to a shopper than those at Hyundai, Jeep or BMW dealerships.
And Jaguar, Volvo and Infiniti salespeople were almost twice as likely to point out their brand's unique features as were salespeople for Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Jeep.
O'Hagan said the Internet has led to big changes in the selling process.
"Pre-Internet, salespeople had all the information," he said. "Now it's about the salespeople helping people become owners."
Overall, he says the stereotype that all salespeople use high tactics is exaggerated.
In fact, O'Hagan says, a lot of "underselling" goes on in stores -- low-pressure sales tactics that don't lead to a sale. If a salesman doesn't smell an instant sale, he said, more likely he will brush off the customer and move to the next potential sale.
PHP Code:
Courting customers
Pied Piper sent shoppers to grade sales techniques. Here are the high and low scores; 100 is a baseline measurement from the 1st survey 5 years ago.
Top 5 brands 2012 score Change from '11
Mercedes-Benz 109 1
Acura 108 2
Infiniti 108 2
Lexus 108 1
Jaguar 107 —
Industry avg. 105 2
Bottom 6 brands
Audi 102 –2
Jeep 102 —
Kia 102 –2
Porsche 102 –2
Suzuki 99 5
Mitsubishi 97 6
Source: Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index
03-08-2021, 06:48 AM
#7
Safety Car
Thread Starter
2021
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...iper-PSI%C2%AE
Infiniti Dealers Ranked #1 for Responding to Website Customers Reports Pied Piper PSI®
- Industrywide, more digital retail tools appear; “click to buy” now offered by one in four websites
2021 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness Auto Industry Study www.piedpiperpsi.com (Graphic: Business Wire)
March 08, 2021 12:01 AM Eastern Standard TimeMONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Infiniti dealerships ranked highest in the 2021 Pied Piper PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness® Benchmarking Study, which answers the question, “What happens when customers visit a dealer website and inquire about a vehicle?” Dealerships selling Subaru vehicles were ranked second, followed by dealerships selling Acura.
“What happens when customers visit a dealer website and inquire about a vehicle?”
Tweet thisBrands with the greatest improvement from 2020 to 2021 were Infiniti, Subaru, Acura, BMW and Land Rover. Twelve brands improved their performance from 2020 to 2021, while the performance for eighteen brands, and the industry overall, declined.
Pied Piper submitted customer inquiries through the individual websites of 4,356 dealerships, asking a question about a vehicle in inventory, and providing a customer name, email address and local telephone number. Pied Piper then evaluated how the dealerships responded by email, telephone and text message over the next 24 hours.
Response to customer web inquiries varied by brand and dealership, and the following are examples of performance variation by brand:
- How often did the brand’s dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer’s question within 30 minutes?
- More than 45% of the time on average: Infiniti, Volvo, Subaru, Acura, Jaguar
- Less than 25% of the time on average: Buick, Genesis, Ford, Mitsubishi, GMC
- How often did the brand’s dealerships send a text message reply to a website customer’s inquiry?
- More than 57% of the time on average: Kia, Toyota, Nissan, Ram, Hyundai, Mitsubishi
- Less than 35% of the time on average: Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, MINI, Porsche, Alfa Romeo
- How often did the brand’s dealership reply emails land in the customer’s junk/spam folder?
- Less than 16% of the time on average: Porsche, Lincoln, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes-Benz
- More than 33% of the time on average: Mitsubishi, Fiat, Kia, Genesis
- Did the website have a "buy now" or "buy from home" button?
- More than 40% of the websites on average: Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Genesis
- Less than 12% of the websites on average: Fiat, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Ford
- Did the website offer to provide a trade-in value?
- More than 95% of the websites on average: Ram, BMW, Kia, Chrysler, Dodge, Lincoln
- Less than 75% of the websites on average: Cadillac, Mitsubishi, GMC, Buick, Porsche
- Did the website provide a financing/payment estimator, and/or credit application?
- More than 95% of the websites on average: Ram, Dodge, Jeep, Ford, Lincoln
- Less than 82% of the websites on average: Land Rover, GMC, MINI, Porsche, Lexus
PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness® (ILE®) Benchmarking Studies have been conducted annually since 2011. The 2021 Pied Piper PSI-ILE Benchmarking Study (U.S.A. Auto) was conducted between April 2020 and January 2021 by submitting website inquiries directly to a sample of 4,356 dealerships nationwide representing all major brands. Examples of other recent Pied Piper PSI studies are the 2020 PSI-ILE U.S. Motorcycle/UTV Industry Study (Harley-Davidson brand was ranked first), and the 2019 “PSI for EVs” U.S. Auto Industry Study (Tesla brand was ranked first for selling EVs in-person). Complete Pied Piper PSI industry study results are provided to vehicle manufacturers and national dealer groups. Manufacturers, national dealer groups and individual dealerships also order PSI evaluations—in-person, internet or telephone—as tools to measure and improve the omnichannel sales effectiveness of their dealerships. For more information about the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, and the fact-based PSI process, go to www.piedpiperpsi.com.
About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC
Founded in 2003, Pied Piper Management Company, LLC is a Monterey, California, USA company that helps brands & manufacturers improve the omnichannel performance of their retail networks. Go to www.piedpipermc.com.
Contacts
Pied Piper: Ryan Scott (831) 648-1075Last edited by TSX69; 03-08-2021 at 06:50 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
00TL-P3.2
Automotive News
3
09-27-2018 10:48 AM
gavriil
Automotive News
3
11-17-2006 02:40 PM
