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The new Stealership is in the Internet Department

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#11
#12
RE: Test Drives preventing online sales

We're at the beginning of all sorts of new realizations. To believe people are going to stick to anything anymore is a quick way to long term failure. Things have changed so fast.

As far as test drives go I used to believe people wouldn't buy a car without a test drive. My road to a sale training proved it! And then I started selling Hondas in 2001. People were lining up to wait months for a Honda Odyssey. No test drives; just a $500 deposit. It is a friggin' minivan! :thinker:

This was recently reiterated when I went car shopping with my girlfriend as she didn't want to test drive a car. All she cared about was how it looked, what color, would the interior handle all she wanted to put in it and was it affordable. It reminded me of a lot of all the customers I forced around the block pointing out ride qualities they would never notice.

And then you've got someone like me on the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm going to test drive the wheels off that thing. I'm going to find my own route and probably break some laws. And there is no way in hell I'm going to buy a car without test driving it. F that!

But car enthusiasts, like myself, are not the majority. There are entire brands of A to B cars that appeal to the people who know how to pilot a car, but don't know how to drive a car. I hate to point a finger at these guys because they've given us so much, but do you really need to test drive a Toyota?

And speaking of Toyota, they're one of the reasons we have such amazing cars today. When was the last time you saw a car broken down on the side of the road? How often are customers walking into the service department with a broken transmission or blown motor? Cars just aren't breaking like they used to. And the heavy competition within each segment is making the car choice mostly about looks, availability, and incentives. All cars are good and most segments drive very similar. Features are nearly 1:1 identical with differences just being in the user experience of control systems and interior ergonomics. None of this requires a test drive.

Yeah, things are changing. It is about the evolution of the products we sell and the evolution in the way customers want to shop that are caused by many external influencers outside our control. The future is realized by the people who recognize this. And we say thanks to the laggards who make us look good ;)
 
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#13
Alex Snyder said:
RE: Test Drives preventing online sales

We're at the beginning of all sorts of new realizations. To believe people are going to stick to anything anymore is a quick way to long term failure. Things have changed so fast.

As far as test drives go I used to believe people wouldn't buy a car without a test drive. My road to a sale training proved it! And then I started selling Hondas in 2001. People were lining up to wait months for a Honda Odyssey. No test drives; just a $500 deposit. It is a friggin' minivan! :thinker:

This was recently reiterated when I went car shopping with my girlfriend as she didn't want to test drive a car. All she cared about was how it looked, what color, would the interior handle all she wanted to put in it and was it affordable. It reminded me of a lot of all the customers I forced around the block pointing out ride qualities they would never notice.

And then you've got someone like me on the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm going to test drive the wheels off that thing. I'm going to find my own route and probably break some laws. And there is no way in hell I'm going to buy a car without test driving it. F that!

But car enthusiasts, like myself, are not the majority. There are entire brands of A to B cars that appeal to the people who know how to pilot a car, but don't know how to drive a car. I hate to point a finger at these guys because they've given us so much, but do you really need to test drive a Toyota?

And speaking of Toyota, they're one of the reasons we have such amazing cars today. When was the last time you saw a car broken down on the side of the road? How often are customers walking into the service department with a broken transmission or blown motor? Cars just aren't breaking like they used to. And the heavy competition within each segment is making the car choice mostly about looks, availability, and incentives. All cars are good and most segments drive very similar. Features are nearly 1:1 identical with differences just being in the user experience of control systems and interior ergonomics. None of this requires a test drive.

Yeah, things are changing. It is about the evolution of the products we sell and the evolution in the way customers want to shop that are caused by many external influencers outside our control. The future is realized by the people who recognize this. And we say thanks to the laggards who make us look good ;)
Click to expand...

@Alex Snyder - excellent points. These vehicles are just so much more reliable than they were a very short time ago. We just sold a 5 year old, 157,000 mile Tacoma for $23,000 and that was $2,000 under retail book! The customer was excited to find such a great deal to top it off.

Speaking for myself only, when I made reference to the test drive preventing the sale, I was not talking about the physical act of getting in the vehicle and driving it. I realize that is what I typed, but not what I meant. What I meant was the act of looking at the car, touching the car, sitting in it to check for leg room, making sure the seating configuration works, looking to see that it is big enough to hold all of their stuff, etc..
I don't see your girlfriend's lack of desire to physically drive the car that unusual. 25%-30% of our sales do not have a LITERAL test drive, or it may take place as part of the delivery process.
 
#14
Sweet article..

Of course, I did receive about a half-dozen other automated emails from this dealer, that gave me no helpful information whatsoever, but did mention “huge savings” and a “hassle-free buying experience.”

I have this same discussion with dealers ALL THE TIME!
 
#15
We need to push our value proposition to shoppers online: why this car, why our store, why this price, value, value, value. Actually, I'm glad we suck as an industry; because, if I can get my team good at this, we will be very productive.
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Good point. With the economy growing at near 0% for the foreseeable future, it will become increasingly important to be better than the next guy.
 
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#16
The value car dealers bring to this industry is misunderstood and undervalued.



Thoughts?

p.s. this is an internal vid I made. It's a prototype, so go easy on me ;-).
DMKT = DealerTrack Marketing team.
Earthling is nickname for old DDC employees.
 
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#17
JoePistell said:
The value car dealers bring to this industry is misunderstood and undervalued.



Thoughts?

p.s. this is an internal vid I made. It's a prototype, so go easy on me ;-).
DMKT = DealerTrack Marketing team.
Earthling is nickname for old DDC employees.
Click to expand...


I think it's great!

I also agree with it.

I'm not sure what the part about "bringing the Internet experience into the dealership...the wall disappear" means for sure.

ROBO= Research Online >> Buy _______?? Is it offline?

Damn nice prototype.
 
#18
Tallcool1 said:
I think it's great!

I also agree with it.

I'm not sure what the part about "bringing the Internet experience into the dealership...the wall disappear" means for sure.

ROBO= Research Online >> Buy _______?? Is it offline?

Damn nice prototype.
Click to expand...

Thnx Clint.

"bringing the Internet experience into the dealership...the wall disappear" Shoppers have a lot of questions when they arrive at our stores. They'd love an experience where they bring in all their ideas AND unsolved questions and sit down with an expert to fill in the gaps.

Think flat screen TV shopping at Best Buy. Research on the Internet... Go to Store.... Dbl ck Internet in-store... Buy at the store.

This path is called 'web-rooming'. It's taking over show-rooming.

HTH
Joe

p.s. yes, ROBO is Research Online, Buy Offline
 
#19
JoePistell said:
Thnx Clint.

"bringing the Internet experience into the dealership...the wall disappear" Shoppers have a lot of questions when they arrive at our stores. They'd love an experience where they bring in all their ideas AND unsolved questions and sit down with an expert to fill in the gaps.

Think flat screen TV shopping at Best Buy. Research on the Internet... Go to Store.... Dbl ck Internet in-store... Buy at the store.

This path is called 'web-rooming'. It's taking over show-rooming.

HTH
Joe

p.s. yes, ROBO is Research Online, Buy Offline
Click to expand...

I recall someone posting a video on this site a few months back. Some guy was talking really fast at some type of conference...talked a lot about Apple, and talked about Amazon opening some brick & mortar locations because Best Buy uses its existing infrastructure to blow Amazon away on the shipping......and a whole lot of other funny stuff. If I recall, he also used the term "web-rooming".

What are the key things that we need to focus on in order to embrace this type of shopper?
 
#20
I recall someone posting a video on this site a few months back. Some guy was talking really fast at some type of conference...talked a lot about Apple, and talked about Amazon opening some brick & mortar locations because Best Buy uses its existing infrastructure to blow Amazon away on the shipping......and a whole lot of other funny stuff. If I recall, he also used the term "web-rooming".
Click to expand...

Here's the video you mentioned:
 
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