The pandemic forced us to reinvent the way we sell vehicles. We reviewed our online shopping experience and realized we had to remove any obstacles — make it possible for a customer to 100% buy online.

We didn’t particularly like it, but it was necessary.

Here’s the good news: It worked. Even better news: Customers still prefer to come to dealerships to complete their transaction. In 2023, only 7% of transactions were completed 100% online.

Still, there is bad news: Our online and showroom processes aren’t in sync. Why? Because we haven’t updated our showroom process. Buyers should be able to show up at the dealership needing only to answer a few more questions to finish their purchase. We’ve already adjusted our online process to answer the questions shoppers used to ask in the showroom:

  • What’s the best price?
  • What’s the trade-in value?
  • What do you want your payment to be?
  • What’s your down payment?

This is the main reason email inquiries and phone sales have dropped. Most of a dealer’s leads are simply customers asking “is it still available?” We’ve already told them that online. However, we still have our BDCs and showroom process built to anticipate addressing these questions in person.

Here’s the worst news: We don’t give shoppers the information online they’re looking for today. We are still using generic, VIN-populated descriptions that simply list standard equipment. Buyers today already know that vehicles come with air conditioning, power windows, locks, tilt steering wheel and cruise control. The ironic part is, if your description didn’t list that info, shoppers can find that same info in 5 other places on your listing.

Don’t believe me! Look at your listings the way car shoppers will. The pandemic has caused customers to be more conservative with their spend in the “new normal” than before the pandemic.

Today’s car shoppers have “Future Cost” questions they want answered:

  • Where did you get the car from?
  • What was it used for?
  • Was it well taken care of?
  • What did you find wrong with it, if anything?
  • What did you fix?
  • Did you replace the brakes?
  • Did you replace the tires?
  • Does this vehicle come with any kind of warranty?

There are two things we need to look out that will help us figure out how to reinvent our communication processes:

  1. Our online listings need to answer the “Future Cost” questions buyers are asking today.
  2. And our showroom, BDC and sales processes need to account for the buyers’ increased pre-contact knowledge. Make sure your salespeople are educated on a vehicle’s history including ownership, service, and any reconditioning done at your dealership. That will get the job done.

–Just The Fax

By Robert Grill, Carfax Senior Partner Development Manager

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