A Closer Look on the Car Buyers Journey

With the recent changes and events, the car buying process has moved to the online world. Most people will check the website, directories, database, and online listing sites before visiting the car lot. This trend may have existed long before the pandemic, but the recent numbers prove that it is steadily rising. While most dealerships understand this, not many have shifted from the traditional advertising campaign to the modern marketing strategy that supports the car buyers journey.

Steps in Modernizing the Car Dealership Buyers Journey

The recent reports will give you an insight into how important it is to develop a system that supports the latest trend on the buyers journey. For instance, about 59% of car shoppers will spend a considerable amount of time researching online before purchasing a car. It is considerably higher, especially when compared to the 2% who use print ads when shopping for their next vehicle. Around 88% of the consumers nowadays will use the online portal when shopping for cars. 14% use one mobile device to browse the web for vehicles, and around 46% have several devices. Only 30% are firm with their car choices, and 70% are undecided. Therefore, they need accessible information to help them choose the best option.

Defining Your Modern Car Buyers

Before, millennials were defined as a generation disinterested in purchasing cars. However, as time passed, things have evolved, and their thinking has shifted, especially when building a family. Gen Z has also shown great interest in buying vehicles. Based on the report, this generation has around $3 trillion purchasing power. Although these two generations have different preferences for their preferred vehicle, optimizing the sales process can greatly help in marketing your company to them and shorten their buyers journey.

Investing in Digital Tools

Before Covid happened, only 32% of the car were open to the idea of buying their vehicle online. Today, about 61% are willing to do this. Therefore, you will have to meet the expectations of your car buyers to ensure that they will see you as someone trustworthy in the market. One way to do this is to invest in digital tools. Whether you want a process that completes the entire sales cycle online or wants a ‘hybrid’ system wherein part of the process can be done online, it is essential to ensure a seamless transition. Here are some of the features you should consider when looking for an online retail tool solution.

• It must allow the consumer to understand Finance and Insurance options and protection.
• A solution that offers precise calculations incorporates crucial factors such as related fees, taxes, FICO score, etc.
• A retail solution that will integrate seamlessly with your CRM system and website. It should eliminate the errors caused by manual processes and speed up the time-consuming process, eventually shortening the buyers journey map.
• Ability to configure their online shopping experience, including financing and payment.
• Allow the customers to save and retrieve information online or in the car lot.

Streamlining the Sales Process

Most people will have to deal with at least three people during their car buyers journey. If you choose to go to the big dealership, that can increase to more than eight people. For instance, the car shopper will approach the company by talking with online customer support. They will then be transferred to an agent, then an online salesperson. After chatting online, there could be other people assigned to sales when in the showroom. Some may have to talk with a sales consultant and a sales manager. Those applying for a financing option will need to deal with a finance manager. There are just too many people you will need to talk to before completing a single transaction. Most modern buyers are looking for a streamlined process.

Therefore, you will need to reduce the number of people as quickly as possible. Instead of having numerous salespeople, you can assign a particular buyer to a specific contact person. After that, ai to reduce the required time necessary to complete the transaction. Based on the research, the success of closing the deal will decrease once the consumer spends more than 90 minutes in the car dealership. Your goal is to reduce the buyers journey map by using the available technology.

What Tools Can I Use to Streamline the Buyers Journey?

The tools that we will list here should work on different devices. It would be a perfect way to introduce new technology into the car dealership buyers journey. Usually, these are not expensive, and most of your employees and customers will know how to utilize them.

• A tool that captures electronic signatures should also come with a laser form that can be signed electronically and stored digitally.
• A digital menu for F&I- With this, it would be easier for your customers to navigate. You can add a video presentation, features, survey, etc.
• Appraisal tools
• Digital CRM to facilitate your customers’ transition from online to your physical office.

Documentations of Car Buyers Journey

The introduction of online retailing into your system has increased the potential point of connection of the buyers with your dealership. Depending on how they reach you, there may not be any need to perform long and tedious tasks. Therefore, you need to make the buyers journey of your customers. It is essential to guarantee that you will offer them a customer-centric process. You should not do the documentation by yourself; make sure to seek the help of the other members of the department. When creating the map, be specific, especially when determining who handles the particular process. The way they should handle the lead and the customer’s expectations during every step must also be included. Documentation of the process can also be handy when developing a training booklet that you will hand to your new employees.

Realigning the Responsibilities and Roles of Your Staff

Since most of the process has been streamlined, thanks to the digital retailing tool, and you have minimized the customer’s point of contact, some of your staff may have to be delegated to other roles and responsibilities. The online world has brought new processes that will make the process more effective. For instance, you will need people to handle the lead generation task and another for nurturing these leads.

Like most dealers, you may have to experiment with the process that may directly affect the car dealership buyers journey. For instance, they may add a concierge process to their business. For this to happen, your people will have to be intensively trained to ensure that they can handle an online or remote car buying process. By rethinking the role of your staff, you will open your company to more opportunities.

Training Your Staff

The secret to creating a customer-centric buyers journey is to ensure that your people are properly trained. Therefore, you need to guarantee that your staff has enough knowledge and skills to facilitate sales. If a prospect has to wait for hours to receive an answer to their questions, then don’t expect that you will close this deal. Your reputation and authority will suffer if your people lack the talent. Be sure that they know the ins and outs of the car buying process, the specs, and the features of the different makes and models of the car. Today’s customer is looking for a fast and transparent process. They want it to be focused on their needs rather than a convenient process for the business or staff.

Factors that Affect the Car Buyers Journey

When people start researching their desired vehicle, about 6/10 will be undecided. They will be open to different manufacturers of cars. However, once they reach the car dealership, most of them will have a specific make and model of the vehicle in mind. Therefore, the dealership’s opportunity to influence the buyers journey is through online. Here are some of the things that you should consider.

Sites Which Influenced Car Buyers

The car buyers will use various sources to help them decide which car they should buy. However, there are some channels that they prefer more than the others. Most of them will rely on third-party websites when researching rather than the manufacturer’s or the dealership’s website. About 56% of the car buyers claimed that the information here are more useful. Buyers will spend at least 8 hours researching cars.

Activities During the Sales Process

By understanding the activities they often do during their research and buying process, you can create strategies that will help you create personalized messages and marketing techniques that target these consumers. Understand that content marketing is essential throughout buyers journey map. Most dealerships will use blog posts that aim to improve their search ranking. Nonetheless, the dealership needs to use a diverse strategy to drive the conversion rate. About 71% of the customers will be researching the car price. 68% will be looking for vehicles that are listed for sale. 64% will be using the online world to compare vehicles, and 63% want to understand the current market value of their car.

Content That Drives Conversion

Here are some of the types of content driving the conversion rate. Be sure to consider this.

• Photos- Images can increase the lead generation by 117% and the page views by 142%. The more pictures you will add, the better the user experience will be.
• Prices- We’ve mentioned above how most people will research the cost of the car. Therefore, you should also add this to your website.
• Videos- 72% of vehicle purchases were due to the CTA added on the videos. About 25% will spend hours watching videos to know more about the car.
• Service Department- 83% of the consumers will likely head online to look at the details related to the dealership’s service and repair department.
• Reviews- Customer testimonials will validate the information they gathered. At least 70% of the Gen Z buyers trust the reviews found on third-party sites.

To create a modernized car buyers journey, pay attention to the data and information provided here. Before the buyer can even make their decision, you need to ensure that you have an established digital presence and streamlined process to increase your conversion rate.