Road to Car Sale Twists and Turns Today

Auto dealerships need to know where customers are in the shopping process, auto-retail experts say.

Steve Finlay, Contributing Editor

December 11, 2015

1 Min Read
ldquoEvery customer different Kershner says
“Every customer different, Kershner says.

Not that it was ever a straight shot, but today’s road to the car sale contains twists and turns.

Moreover, customers, especially ones relying on the Internet to shop and research before arriving at a dealership, tend to pick their individual routes.

“Every customer is different, is differently educated and has their own road,” says Jeff Kershner, founder of DealerRefresh, a website for Internet sales and marketing people.

Dealership salespeople should learn where a consumer is in the shopping process, say auto-retailing experts. Tracking technology can help determine that. Sometimes, it’s just a question of a salesperson asking how much research they’ve done and what websites they’ve visited.

It pays to know, otherwise a salesperson could go off track, Rob Campbell, CDK Global’s director- product marketing, says at a recent DrivingSales Executive Summit.  

“If they have done all this research and pricing and they’re at point eight, and you try to drag them back to point one, they’ll bail,” he says.

“You try to figure out where they are in the process,” Kershner says at the conference. “Knowing that, you might skip steps three or four and go right to the sale.”

Today’s route to the sale continues to undergo roadwork.

“It’s evolving,” says Danny Benites, general manager of Greg Lair Buick GMC in Amarillo, TX. “There are a lot more on and off ramps. We need to figure out which ramp a customer has entered. Salespeople need to be more adaptive.”

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About the Author

Steve Finlay

Contributing Editor

Steve Finlay is a former longtime editor for WardsAuto. He writes about a range of topics including automotive dealers and issues that impact their business.

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