Luxury brands top Prospect Satisfaction Index
For the seventh straight year, Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, which measured treatment of mystery shoppers at more 6,370 dealerships nationwide. Infiniti and Lexus ranked second and third. But Mini and Toyota were next, so luxury brands didnêt grab all the top slots.
Brands that showed the most improvement from last year were Mini, BMW, Lexus, Chrysler, Dodge, Lincoln and Ram. Brands with the greatest declines: Volvo, Smart, Jaguar and Cadillac. Eight brands have ranked at or above industry average for each of the past five years: Mercedes, Infiniti, Lexus, Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen, Honda and Cadillac.
Almost all salespeople (94 percent) offered a test drive. Just over half provided reasons to buy from their dealership, and 83 percent suggested sitting down at a desk. All those behaviors were more likely in 2015 than any previous year.
Salesperson behaviors less likely in 2015 than in previous years: asked how vehicle will be used (72 percent of the time), asked why prospect considered that brand (59 percent) and offered printed materials for shopper to take home (47 percent).
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