Understanding the wants, needs and pain points of modern car buyers has become more critical than ever since the COVID pandemic. Dealers must constantly analyze the preferences and expectations kept by their customers so they can provide excellent service and drive growth for their business.
On this episode of Inside Automotive, host Shyann Malone is joined by Kevin Frye, marketing director for the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family. Frye has spent decades studying consumers and tailoring his marketing campaigns to suit their specific needs. He has also helped the retail automotive sector integrate new technologies into its business models, successfully using digital retail to boost sales and increase engagement. Now, he discusses the emerging behaviors of car buyers and the current innovations driving dealership excellence.
Key Takeaways
1. Form conversion has dropped as much as 70% over the last five years because modern car buyers are worried that they will be overwhelmed with follow-up phone calls, texts and emails from the dealership.
2. The modern-day consumer wants real-time answers. Form submissions and other communications that take time to process simply prolong the process and feel like delays.
3. Dealers should ask modern car buyers for their preferred method of communication and be ready to speak on whatever channel is provided.
4. Modern car buyers have proven to be more comfortable with artificial intelligence than expected, thanks to the technology’s ability to provide tailored communications in a short amount of time.
5. Dealers should accommodate the way car buyers shop by adjusting their internal operations and training their teams.
"We need to understand what the consumer is looking for so that we can be, once again, best consumer-facing." — Kevin Frye
