Dealers crucial for vehicle purchase, J.D. Power study finds
Online tools may make it easier for consumers to shop for vehicles and products at home, but interacting with a salesperson is a key component of high customer sales satisfaction, a J.D. Power study finds.
Jackie Charniga Automotive News | November 15, 2017 - 12:44 pm EST
Online tools may make it easier for consumers to shop for vehicles and products at home, but interacting with a salesperson is a key component of high customer sales satisfaction, a J.D. Power study finds.
The J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study reports that while car buyers can study vehicles online before entering a dealership, they want to interact with a salesperson before buying.
"Dealers can't control a customer's pre-purchase activities, but they should be prepared to positively influence areas that will affect a customer's likelihood to buy as well as their level of satisfaction," Chris Sutton, vice president of J.D. Power's automotive retail practice, said in a statement.
As vehicles add emerging technologies, shoppers rely on dealerships for in-person demonstrations. The study finds 41 percent of mass-market buyers and 33 percent of luxury buyers want full tutorials of vehicle features and controls during delivery.
Additionally, buyers respond to follow-up calls or texts from dealership employees after purchase, the study finds, reporting 80 percent of mass-market buyers and 87 percent of luxury buyers said they were contacted.
Sutton said virtual engagement is important to the buying process and encourages dealerships to update their websites with specials and to post photos of inventory.
"These simple things go a long way toward earning a sale and satisfying a customer," he said.
The study, based on responses from 28,989 consumers who bought or leased new vehicles in April or May, also measures brand satisfaction among buyers.
The study, in its 31st year, was retooled for 2017. Areas of customer satisfaction measured include dealer personnel, delivery process, working out the deal, paperwork completion, dealership facility and dealership website.
Results are based on a 1,000-point scale. For mass-market brands, Buick led the pack with a sales satisfaction score of 808, the brand's second consecutive win. Mini followed at 803 and GMC was third at 793.
Fiat was at the bottom in mass-market brand satisfaction at 707, 59 points below the segment average of 766.
In the luxury segment, Lincoln and Mercedes-Benz tied for first at 830. This is the first top finish for Lincoln. Mercedes most recently finished first in 2014.
Infiniti was third at 821, followed by Porsche at 818. Genesis had the lowest score at 743, 63 points below the segment average of 806.
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