A few days ago I bought a new car. Now this may not seem to be a reason for a blog posting, but the automobile industry has certainly been in the news and has one of the most established buying cycles in any industry. So, it was interesting to see how this market has evolved – or not.

As almost any shopper today knows, the process typically begins with an online search on the different models, prices and reviews. This is a critical opportunity for any dealership to build brand awareness. I was surprised at how few dealerships took advantage of simple search techniques or posted any ads.

Once I had narrowed my list, I went for the test drive. This was an earlier step in the cycle than previous car buying experiences and put me in the hands of a dealer much earlier than I typically like. I must say that test drives have really improved. This became the basis for my top choice. What happened next? Nothing. I didn’t hear from the salesperson, dealership or anyone involved in selling me a car. How strange!

Did my car buying process stop? No, I just started watching the Saturday newspaper for deals. So I had started online, moved up the evaluation process and then went back to a standard awareness practice. Finally, after about a month, I saw an ad for the car I had selected at 0% financing. I called the sales rep at the dealership and was sent to someone’s home voicemail. Huh? I checked back to the car brand website and was sent to a different dealership. Wait a minute. I’m trying to finish the process, not start over. I was really frustrated by this time. I went back to the originaldealership’s website and saw a button to contact an online sales rep. I did and within one day and after about four emails had settled on a car and a price. All I had to do was go to the dealership, sign the paperwork and pick up the car.

There were several points in this process where I could have walked, and any good salesperson would have seen this and kept me engaged in the car-buying process. I didn’t want to contact someone online but it turned out to be the most pleasant and productive part of the process. If the automobile industry is going to recover, shouldn’t someone be taking a hard look at the buying process? Seems like an ideal place to improve.

Posted in Marketing Mentor |

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Trackback from your own site.