Issue link: https://resources.automotivemastermind.com/i/1344286
3 Tips to Modernize Customer Experience in Your Dealership 1. Convenience While consumer buying behaviors are changing, one fact remains the same: Convenience is critical to your customer experience. Start with ensuring your website is easy to navigate and offers what your customers are searching for. This includes details on your available inventory and transparent pricing as well as self-serve features like trade-in estimators and credit applications. Seek out opportunities to speed up the sales process, such as haggle-free pricing or offering online credit applications and pre-qualification forms. By providing your sales and F&I staff access to the same customer insights and information, dealers can reduce the need for repetitive information collection, improving customer handoff, reducing overall transaction time and improving the customer experience. As customers increasingly want – and expect – online buying options, dealerships are now all but required to offer at least partial virtual dealership experiences to remain competitive. In a recent study conducted by IHS Markit, 80% of first-time car buyers said the availability of online options influenced their purchase decision. How can you modernize your customer experience to ensure your team is meeting customer expectations? Proactive dealerships have adapted their time-tested best practices and reconfigured their process for the future with an eye on the past. This has resulted in happier, more engaged customers – and more importantly, a sustainable increase in vehicle sales. While there's no "one-size-fits-all" approach, a modern dealership experience comes down to three critical elements. 65% of recent vehicle purchasers expect more online purchase options after COVID-19 Google/LRWGreenberg 'Understanding the Automotive Path to Purchase' Study, U.S., 2020 Online and retail consumers rank "ease or convenience" the primary reason for choosing their purchasing method. 74% of online buyers found their recent online purchase easier than previous transactions. IHS Markit, 2020 Vehicle Buyer Journey IHS Markit, 2020 Vehicle Buyer Journey