My Brother's Burnin' Gas Follow up...
I asked him:
"In your opinion, where did you do most of your internet research & shopping... Home or Away from home?"
Answer:
80% home. 20% away from home.
I asked him:
While away from home, were you researching & shopping at work? On the go (i.e. mobile)?
Answer:
Almost always at work, in my office.
I asked him:
Did you use your smartphone for research or shopping? If so, how much?
Answer:
No. The screen's too small (5.7" Moto X Pure). His words: "the screens too small, I can't see anything on mobile" (IMO, in research mode, the desktop's screen real estate experience is superior to mobile)
Other notes:
My brothers research workflow looked like this.
- Choose Vehicle Class (i.e. segment)
- Use Consumer Reports reliability report and user feedback to remove bad performers (he often mentioned Dodge & Jeep's poor scores).
- Read reviews from content experts like MotorTrend, Car & Driver, etc (he's down to 2 make/models at this stage)
- OEM sites to compare features & trims
- TrueCar*, CarGuru, Google to find dealers, then...
- shopped car dealer sites (thinking about which dealer NOT to visit)
- Winner: Inventory depth & best dealer reviews
- Used Consumer Reports/TrueCar pricing service. He recieved 3 'real prices' from dealers
- Tradein: Wife went to KBB, he got a BlackBook quote from the dealer's website (interestingly, he considered the the BlackBook quote to have more 'weight' because it was on the dealer's site)
Buying Workflow looked like this:
- Dealer Selection: the dealer with the best selection and the best reviews is noticeably better than the competitors, so, he mentally prepares for the 1 dealer close.
- Considers CR/TC 'real price' quote (from this dealer) to be his fixed, pre-negotiated price (this takes one variable off his plate and reduces his anxiety)
- Negotiates trade (they meet at BB's valuation)
- F&I: Buys OEM financing & a 100k wrapper.
- Spot delivered quickly.
Demo: White male, married, mid 50's, white collar, owns home, always owns 2 cars. Highly comfortable with all things technical.
*note: he noted that didn't like how TC's asking for contact info early in the research
