THE NEW ERA OF THE CAR BUYING PROCESS

At PHM we wanted to hear personally from a recent new car purchaser what their buying experience was like without visiting the showroom first as you normally would.

The pandemic has brought many things, zoom quizzes, your favourite restaurant now doing home delivery, eating and drinking outside whatever the weather. The nation has adjusted to making their own entertainment at home during lockdown and taking advantage of new social settings when lockdown restrictions lifted. The Automotive industry had to adapt as well and efficiently sell to customers that could no longer visit showrooms or make the journey to browse car showrooms.

At PHM we wanted to hear personally from a recent new car purchaser what their buying experience was like without visiting the showroom first as you normally would.

Carli (PHM): Are you happy with your new BMW X3?

Rachel (Car Buyer): Yes, I love it, I’ve had a BMW before, but I wanted more room for the staycations we’ve been doing over England the past year, so it felt like the right time to upgrade.

Carli: Have you bought a new car before?

Rachel: Yes, I have, that’s why I knew it was the right decision for me.

Carli: So how was your buying experience when you were purchasing your new car?

Rachel: Well, I saw the car online and sent an interest request. Had a few conversations over the phone with the dealer. They then sent me a personalised in-depth video of the whole car, which I liked. I then paid a deposit and arranged to see it the following week when I could. Then I was able to test drive and go into the showroom to buy the car and sort all the paperwork out.

Carli: What did you like about the experience?

Rachel: I liked the experience, no in your face sales peoples trying to force you to buy anything, I felt more confident to say no over the phone to all the additional extras they try and sell you. In the past I have done everything in the showroom and sometimes it can be overwhelming, this new process I was able to take my time, process it and make the right decision for me.

Carli: What did you dislike about the experience?

Rachel: The paperwork, always the paperwork!

As the automotive industry adapts it is important to understand what customers enjoy and dislike about the recent customer journey they experienced. Understanding the journey will help you identify gaps, areas for improvement and measurement techniques. For example, is there a correlation between, how long the phone calls were with the customers who bought a car, were the calls longer, or shorter? How many questions did the customer have about the car, did the in-depth video cover enough? Understanding the audience can help Automotive manufacturers and dealers put their best foot forward and elevate the selling process, whether the cars are being sold the old way or the new way.

To find out more about what PHM do visit here!