The growing electric vehicle market offers your dealership profitable opportunities, and knowing how to sell to these EV shoppers can help you stay competitive, win customers, and drive business. In our recent EV survey, we uncovered some of the top selling points for in-market electric vehicle consumers, data that can help guide your electric car sales strategy to success.

Sales Strategies That Spotlight What EV Shoppers Want

Focusing on the Top EV Features

While savings at the pump and in the service lane are both important to many EV customers, they aren’t the only deciding factors. For each customer segment, here are a few of the EV features your store should focus on:

EV Intenders value cost savings on gas and vehicle maintenance but the positive impact on the environment ranks as their most favorable feature of EVs​. EV Intenders also indicated that best-in-class technology and superior performance were important selling points.

Undecided EV consumers value the savings on gas far more than other features EVs offer. In addition to the reduced maintenance costs, the Undecided segment also indicated the extended vehicle life of EVs was an important factor​.

Reluctant EV consumers are most interested in gas savings, lower maintenance costs, and environmental factors. This segment showed less interest than the other groups in EV technology and design features.

Winning Your Next Electric Vehicle Customer

Knowing what your prospective EV customers want is just part of your sales and marketing strategies. Attract these customers and capture more electric car sales with:

1. Targeted Marketing

As you formulate your EV marketing plan, be sure to dive into the demographics of your EV customer segments. This marketing segmentation can help ensure each customer receives the right messaging at the right time, boosting your success and securing more electric vehicle sales.

For your EV Intenders, highlight the advanced tech and performance that electric vehicles offer, in addition to the fuel and service savings. For the Undecided and Reluctant shoppers, be sure to make the lower maintenance costs and electric vehicle longevity the featured details. These adjustments in your EV marketing can help bring more customers into your showroom.

2. Knowledgeable Sales Staff

Once your potential customers arrive at your dealership, ensure your sales team is ready with EV expertise and exceptional customer service. Your best EV salespeople will be ready to answer common EV questions, debunk EV myths, demonstrate the technology and performance features, and guide intenders through the electric vehicle sales process (including introducing your EV maintenance team).

Making the switch to electric from an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle can be confusing for customers, so be sure your sales, finance, and service teams are prepared to offer a seamless transition by having the necessary technology and processes in place. This will go a long way in differentiating your store from the competition while earning and establishing stronger customer relationships.

3. Advanced Technology

Just as electric vehicles are constantly evolving, so is the tech designed to sell them. In order to wow and capture EV customers, your dealership needs industry-leading tools to ensure a seamless sales process. The right technology can help you:

• Keep track of showroom activity in real time, preventing costly errors by monitoring each step of the sales process
• Give sales staff the ability to wirelessly manage customer data and interactions, accelerate deal processing with license plate and driver’s license scanning, and complete follow-up
• View incentives and factory programs, adjust customer payment options, and cut deal times in half with electronic paperwork

Ramp Up Your EV Sales Strategies

Our team is here to help. Whether you’re in need of a results-driven CRM powerhouse for a smooth purchase process, multi-channel marketing campaigns to promote key EV features, or expert assistance along the way, all you have to do is contact us.

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