I left out a key point that I wanted to get across. From a sales perspective, it might be the most controversial thing I would have said.
I believe that dealers have to understand the psychological difference between an in store guest and an online guest to be able to sell them best. We've always known that the transactional is more of an emotional transaction and less about logic for a customer. That is still true to this day.
I argue that's it is the exact opposite with an online guest. The guests emotions are much less involved, because they are not put on the spot and not nearly in as high pressure of a situation as they are at the store. It helps that they know they can literally just ignore you at any moment. So I believe that transacting with an online guest becomes more about logic than emotion.
They are more willing to listen to logic and be shown evidence supporting various aspects of the deal than they are when they are in the store. This makes transparency online even more important than it is in the dealership. This is why transacting online and providing information like a firm price, a concrete trade evaluation, and proper payment options often becomes easier online than it is in person. The more information you can provide the online guest the more empowered they feel. This all makes them much more willing to transact with a dealer online.
