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Why you'd rather go to the dentist than buy a car
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Why would consumers rather go to the dentist than car shopping?
Image courtesy of mix941.fm
In today's depressed auto markets, it seems like the vehicle shopping and purchase experience should be relatively enjoyable. Dealers should be happy to see consumers who have the income and credit to buy a vehicle - and who doesn't get just a little excited about the prospects of a new ride? But too often, shopping for a new or used vehicle is still a painful experience.
According to Edmunds.com Auto Observer, John Krafcik, acting president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, said in a speech at the Chicago Auto Show in February that dealers and their sales teams "have an immense image problem with their consumer base. Thanks in great part to manufacturer programs that put more focus on moving the iron than consistently delighting our customers, we have reached the point where, frankly, Americans would rather go to the dentist than visit a car dealer."
The "dentist vs. car dealer" comparison is old enough that it's probably safe to say most consumers have been uncomfortable with their dealership experiences for some time. And while Krafcik points at factory programs for "moving the iron" as a primary culprit, dealers don't do themselves any favors with the way they typically structure their business and compensate their salespeople.
Dealerships treat "walk-ins" in many different ways.
Image courtesy of centralbeachwood.com
Floor traffic control
If you're just "walking in" to a dealer showroom without some prior contact or an appointment, there's usually that awkward period of time where you wait to be greeted by someone. Most stores will have a traffic control system, or rules about who is "next in line" to talk to a new customer, but they usually have different ways of getting the customer to that person.
Some dealerships will have "greeters." Their job is to get your name and make you comfortable before they turn you over to a sales consultant. Other dealerships think it's a good idea to let customers wander the showroom so they don't feel "pressured." Unfortunately, there's a fine line between being unpressured and ignored. Then there are stores who have sales consultants standing out in front of the dealership waiting to pounce on the next unsuspecting shopper. If you're shopping multiple dealerships, you could experience any or all of these approaches to the initial greeting.
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Experienced, informed sales consultants are typically few and
far between. Image courtesy of blogs.edmunds.com
Inexperienced and uninformed sales consultants
Customers who walk into a showroom "cold" without any prior relationships or an appointment, are most likely to do business with a fairly inexperienced sales consultant (less than a year on the job). There are a few reasons:
The average annual turnover rate at U.S. dealerships is at least 50 percent. So every two years, the entire sales team is new - and no one has more than a year's experience.
Any sales consultant who has survived the turnover cycle and stayed at one dealership typically has a "book" of repeat customers they tap into every day to see who might be ready to buy or who might have a referral. If they're any good, they'll be too busy to take an "up" from the street.
Most sales managers became sales managers because they were good at selling cars - not because they were good managers, sales trainers, or sales coaches. So a new sales consultant probably isn't getting much help from his or her supervisor about how to make a customer's experience more comfortable.
Too many "cooks" stirring the deal
Some dealerships have a traffic control system that turns customers over from a "greeter" to a "presenter" to a "closer." Other dealerships require sales consultants to get deals approved by a sales manager or finance person before it can be closed. The end result, the customer never gets to close the deal with the person who has listened to their needs, found the right vehicle and developed a relationship. It often adds to the discomfort of the process.
Dealership pay plans
Most dealerships compensate their sales consultants on some sort of commission-based pay plan. It's simple, the more vehicles a sales consultant sells, the more money he or she makes. And the fewer vehicles he or she sells, the less it costs the dealership. However, if the sales consultant can't sell enough vehicles to make a living - they leave the business - and the consumer gets to deal with a new sales consultant with less than one year's experience.
Further, commissions are often based on vehicle price. So the more expensive the vehicle a sales consultant sells, the more money they make. And when the sales consultant tries to "upsell" it often makes for an uncomfortable situation. The customer has to tell the sales consultant "No, I don't want the leather seats." Or, "No, if you don't have a model without a moonroof and premium sound system, I'll have to go somewhere else." And if the sales consultant says, "I can get you these features for the monthly payment you have in mind," some customers will say to themselves, "Well, then just give me the features I asked for and save me some money."
So there are some good reasons for John Krafcik to compare shopping for a car with going to the dentist. And as automakers are going through some gut-wrenching changes, it will be interesting to see if auto dealers are willing to go through the same degree of change to make customers more comfortable with the purchase process, to make people want to sell cars as a career and to consign the comparison of car shopping to dental work to history.
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