According to recent research, most car buyers are undecided at the start of their shopping journey. In fact, only 1 in 3 car buyers knows the exact vehicle they want to purchase when they start shopping. But while potential customers are still exploring and considering options as they narrow down their search, they are spending less time in the market. Shoppers are spending a total of four fewer days in the market for a car than last year.
While car shoppers can be influenced about what to buy and who to buy from, the time to direct and convert them is while they are online, where they spend the majority of their shopping time making decisions. Eighty-eight percent of prospective car purchasers go online to research their vehicle purchase before heading to the dealership. With the abundance of automotive information available, they can get everything they demand to know for their investment, from the make and model that suits their requirements to the cost, rebates, discounts and sales incentives currently on offer.
Given there are dozens of touch points along the way, it is imperative for dealers to understand where potential customers gather information and to make sure their dealership is present as shoppers move along their journey to a buying decision. If you’re a dealer looking to get ahead, you may want to look for ways to connect with your customers across their entire online car-buying journey. If you are willing to go the extra mile, you can help guarantee they pick your dealership and develop the enduring relationship that drives higher profit sales now, creates opportunities to generate service revenue, and leads to more sales down the road.
So, what’s involved? How do you find the connections you need to make with potential customers? At the highest level, it starts with an understanding of the three stages of the vehicle buyer’s journey.
The Awareness Stage: The buyer realizes they have a want or need for a car. At this early stage, the person may not have even decided to purchase; fixing up an older vehicle or simply going without may still be options for them. They might not have committed to a purchase, yet, but they’re casually weighing their options before deciding they’re going to jump whole-heartedly into the process.
The Consideration Stage: As the name implies, the buyer has defined their need for vehicle purchase and is considering and actively researching their options. In this stage, they are determining the parameters of their vehicle search. What can they spend? What is their current credit rating? What will they be doing with the car and where will they be driving? Is fuel-efficiency and making a green choice essential for them, too? They might be looking at the current rebate offers from trusted manufacturers, trade-in incentives, cost of ownership, or the pros and cons of used versus new, but they are all about gathering information.
The Decision Stage: The buyer has decided on a solution and is ready to make their final decision. Their choice could come in many different forms; the buyer might have settled on a specific model and is eager to see if your dealership can give them the most competitive offer, or they might be looking at used vehicles and reviewing CARFAX Reports to find a well-maintained, one-owner car at an excellent price. While no two shoppers are identical, these are the customers upon which the overwhelming majority of automotive dealers focus: The ones who are looking to make a deal today.
Savvy dealers, however, understand the value of engaging with buyers closer to the start of their journey in the first two stages. It is here where a dealer can build a rapport with a potential buyer, outside the fray, that will come in handy as shoppers approach the buying stage. How can you do that?
In these initial stages, the buyer is not yet ready for the hard sell, but you can still position your organization in their eye as a potential source. The average buyer has 24 research touchpoints along their journey to a new car purchase; the more of these you can capture, the better the odds are that they will choose your dealership in the third stage. There isn’t too much information you can provide to the shoppers in these stages. Consumer tips and advice, photos and comparisons, ratings and reviews, vehicle history and transparent pricing, are all ways you can satisfy the needs of customers who are just starting.
One important thing to keep in mind is that most of your potential clients will be spending the largest percentage of their research time on a smartphone. The use of mobile is a massive chance for the digitally aware dealer to gain the competitive edge. Things like optimizing your content for the mobile user will help you stand out from the crowd and achieve the advantage at more of those consumer touchpoints.
Here is one insider tip: The start of next year’s car buying season is the day after Christmas. Yep! As soon as customers know they’ve finished their holiday shopping and may be looking for an escape from all that family time, they start looking for new cars. Maybe this year your dealership starts engaging potential customers online and through mobile apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, etc. by showing pictures and video of your vehicle inventory.
Post content and give shoppers advice for how to navigate their car purchase, new and used, this coming year. You may find that this is an excellent opportunity to share that the best time of year to buy a car might be February or March. Publish articles and share reviews of your vehicles, even evergreen stuff like guides on the car buying process, tips for keeping a vehicle well maintained, getting top dollar on a trade-in, and other consumer advice works wonders. The objective is to position yourself as a partner in the customer’s process, a trusted resource at each step of their journey.
Online and streaming video is the fastest-growing source of information for online car research and a great format to reach mobile device users. An engaging video can draw in buyers that might not have considered your brand or build excitement in buyers that might otherwise be ambivalent about purchasing a new vehicle. Consider taking a few of your hot sellers out to the track for a day of shooting, or have salespeople do walkthroughs of your top models. Be the window through which buyers discover their next car!
Buying a car can be intimidating for many customers. It’s a big decision, and the process can seem arcane to those who are unfamiliar with it. Fortunately, by understanding the buyer’s journey and the digital toolbox your sales team has at its disposal, you can demonstrate your expertise and position yourself as their ally along the way. In combination with the excellent customer service every great dealer strives to provide, their journey can end in a business relationship with your dealership for many years and many vehicles to come!
