As your prospective customers determine where to buy a car, several factors play into their decision. That’s why it’s important to position your dealership as more than simply a convenient location to complete their vehicle purchase using a few key differentiators.

Our recent National Consumer Survey collected responses on what car buyers liked most about their vehicle purchase: read on to explore the insights and find out how you can develop an in-store shopping experience that helps close more deals and keep customers for the long term.

Key Differentiators That Create a Positive Experience for Car Buyers

Knowledgeable, Helpful Sales Associates

Most of your potential customers have completed at least a few hours of online car research, and some have even begun the vehicle purchase process online. When it comes time to visit the dealership, though, the biggest drivers of positive purchase experiences are your sales associates.

Staff your store with a great team by making hiring, training, and leading a priority. Set clear, attainable goals, create an inspiring work environment, and provide your salespeople with the support and tools they need to succeed. These might include:

• Wireless access to customer data and interactions to free your sales team from a desk while building transparent customer relationships
• Real-time internet lead monitoring to ensure every opportunity is promptly captured and contacted
• A single, user-friendly display to view all showroom activity, helping manage each customer experience from start to finish

Streamlined, Speedy Sales Transactions

Over 40% of consumers found a quick sales transaction to be a positive aspect of the vehicle purchase process—and a slow sale topped the list of negative factors. Many of the main ways you can improve the customer experience in-store involve expediting the sales process.

Ensure your sales team can make deals happen quickly with the right technology at hand. With tools such as customer license plate and driver’s license scanning, you can accelerate deal processing while accurately capturing necessary data. Your current and prospective customers would likely enjoy if their deal times were cut in half—and you can offer this advantage with professional electronic paperwork.

Multiple Available Financing Options

Car shoppers want options, especially the options that are the most optimal for their budgets. The availability of multiple financing options is important to customers deciding where to buy a car.

Increase your store’s chances over the competition by offering your customers the financing that’s customized to their needs. With the right solution, you can view incentives and factory programs based on vehicle selection and customer credit history, helping ensure each offer is the ideal one. By allowing your sales team to adjust customer payment options with retail, lease, and balloon deals, you can guide indecisive customers to the option that works best—leading to more satisfied customers that will return for later sales or service and recommend your dealership to others.

High Vehicle Trade-In Value

For many customers, part of their vehicle purchasing power is tied up in their current vehicle. They may be unaware of the equity available to them, keeping them on the fence about their next vehicle purchase.

A great way to encourage these customers to choose your store is by offering guaranteed, top-dollar vehicle trade-in values. A trade-in tool that helps you offer the high vehicle values customers want can make a big difference in your deals. Car buyers don’t want guesses, and neither do you—with a live, third-party appraisal desk, you can guarantee the offer at your dealership to build confidence and trust with customers. This not only helps you capture more leads and close more deals but also increases your quality pre-owned selection as well.

Elevate the In-Store Customer Experience

To create the positive experience customers want when shopping for a car, you must meet their expectations with these key differentiators to earn their trust and their business. But your sales staff can’t make it happen without the most advanced solutions.

Our industry experts know how dealerships operate and have designed Affinitiv XRM to be a CRM powerhouse that provides real-time showroom monitoring, internet lead management, and wireless access to customer data and interactions. When seamlessly integrated with Trade-In Valet, your store will be able to attract more customers with guaranteed offers proven to generate higher gross profit.

If you’re interested in finding out more, contact us today for your live demo.

#AffinitivInsights