Automotive News First Shift
Lexus Mystery Shopper Win
March 2015
Lexus dealerships ranked highest in a study that looked how auto dealers handle internet leads. Industrywide, one customer in 12 received no response of any type. Pied Piper's fifth annual study used internet mystery shopping to contact 13,000+ dealerships to see how the U.S. dealer networks for all car brands compare.
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Automotive News
Infiniti, Mini, Mitsubishi stores most-improved in responding to Internet leads
Lexus stays No. 1; Buick, Land Rover and Volvo have biggest declines
March 2015
Infiniti, Mini and Mitsubishi dealerships had the industry's biggest improvements in responsiveness to customer inquiries on the Internet, while Lexus stores led the way for the second consecutive year, according to a newly released study. Buick, Land Rover and Volvo had the largest drops in performance. The fifth annual Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index Internet Lead Effectiveness Benchmarking Study measured the responsiveness of 13,637 ...
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Press Release: LEXUS IMPROVES TOP RANKING FOR RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER INTERNET INQUIRIES, REPORTS PIED PIPER PSI(R)
March 2015
• Industrywide every 12th customer received no response of any type • Less than half of customers received answer to question within 24 hours MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA – March 9, 2015 – Lexus dealerships improved their top ranking in the 2015 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) Internet Lead Effectiveness(™) (ILE™) Benchmarking Study, which measured auto dealership responsiveness to customer inquiries received over the internet. Study ...
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Wards Auto
Tesla Salespeople Would Make Great Museum Curators
July 2014
I ask Fran O'Hagan for a point of clarification after he says he would have been impressed if his consulting firm's study showed Tesla dealerships were consistent “regardless of whether I believe they're doing the right thing.” Wait? Does that mean he might think it is wrong for Tesla to bypass the traditional franchised dealership system and instead run its own stores? A lot of state dealer associations think it's wrong. They cite various state ...
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The Detroit Bureau
Following the Pied Piper: Study Shows Which Dealers Best at Closing the Deal
Despite claims of doing things better, Tesla falls far short of rivals
July 2014
For many – perhaps most – motorists, buying a car is a process only slightly less painful than having a root canal. Yet some dealers do a markedly better job not only keeping potential customers satisfied but also making sure they close the deal. Who's doing the best job is the subject of a new study that puts Mercedes-Benz at the top of the list, and battery-car start-up Tesla way down at the bottom. It's the first time Tesla has been included ...
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MERCEDES-BENZ DEALERS RANKED HIGHEST BY 2014 PIED PIPER PSI(R)
July 2014
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA – July 7, 2014 – Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in the newly released 2014 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) U.S. Auto Industry Benchmarking Study, which measured treatment of car-shoppers who visited 5,671 dealerships throughout the country. Study rankings by brand were determined by the patent-pending Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” measurement and scoring to industry sales ...
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Wards Auto
Lexus Best, Mini Worst at Handling Customer Internet Leads
March 2014
March 2014 In a perfect world, every dealership would act on every Internet lead, responding quickly and following all the right steps leading to a sale. Some individual dealers currently do all that all the time, and their high Internet-related sales serve as evidence. But when it comes to groups of dealers representing particular auto brands, it's an imperfect world, according to a Pied Piper annual mystery-shopping study measuring dealership ...
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Automotive News
Lexus, Subaru rank high for responding to internet leads
March 2014
March 2014 LOS ANGELES -- Automakers whose dealers respond quickly to Internet leads with a personalized contact have tended to gain market share over those who treat those leads more casually with auto-response emails or salesman form letters. The 2014 Pied Piper's Internet Lead Effectiveness Benchmarking Study, found that although the industry-average performance was unchanged over last year, 21 of 33 brands improved their responsiveness. But ...
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Wards Auto
What Do Customers Know?
August 2013
Ask car shoppers how a dealership salesperson should act, and they'll tell you this and that. Trouble is, they might not really know what makes for good salesmanship. Henry Ford said if he had asked his original customers what they wanted, they would have requested a faster horse. “The same could be said of asking people about their car-buying experience,” says Fran O'Hagan, CEO of Pied Piper Management. His consultancy recently completed its ...
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Washington Post
Study: Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti Dealerships Treat Shoppers Best
July 2013
Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, and Lexus dealerships treat car shoppers the best, while at least some Scion and Mitsubishi dealerships have a lot to work on. These results are some of the top-level findings of the new 2013 Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI), from the California sales and service consulting firm Pied Piper. This is the seventh consecutive year that Pied Piper has conducted the PSI studies, and for 2013 it's reset the industry-average ...
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