Customer treatment, not price, is the key to sales success, a new study says

Customer treatment, not price, is the key to sales success, a new study says

Dealership behavior matters in determining if a shopper accepts a particular deal, according to data from CarWoo.com, an automotive marketplace website.

Using transactional and behavioral data, the Carwoo.com study found that in the majority of transactions (55%) the lowest price offer was not the one the buyer took. This finding is corroborated with buyer opinions expressed in online reviews of their dealership experience showing that highly satisfied buyers ranked dealer professionalism as the most important factor 47% of the time and price only 14%. Similarly, dissatisfied buyers cited unprofessionalism as the reason 44% of the time and price only 19% of the time.

Only when buyers gave middling reviews did price become the driving factor, ranked as primary 52% of the time. These reviews, while neutral, were often negative in tone, much more akin to a grade of a D than of a C, the CarWoo.com study says.

The website analysis indicates there are four major elements that go into the car-buying decision. In order of importance, these are:

Professionalism of the dealership staff, including engagement and responsiveness.

Having the right vehicle and how close it is to meeting the buyers wishes and specifications.

Vehicle price, in the context of its competitiveness in the market.

Distance to the dealership.

CarWoo.com concludes that as consumers increasingly use the Internet during their car shopping to know values, its more important to offer a good experience than the lowest prices in town.