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Recent Press - Car Buyers
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Wards Auto
Why Dealership Showroom Staffers Should Follow Sales Process
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July 2017
Successful car salespeople regularly follow established sales processes, says Fran O’Hagan, president and CEO of Pied Piper Management, a consulting firm that mystery shops dealerships to determine showroom effectiveness. Dealers themselves, not automakers, should establish those processes. And it shouldn’t be optional for staffers to follow them or not, he says. For the second year, Nissan’s Infiniti brand dealerships ranked highest in the 2017 ... Read More >
Automotive News
Infiniti tops sales-prospects survey
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July 2017
Infiniti secured the top spot in a study on prospect satisfaction with dealerships for the second consecutive year. The study, released Monday, measures how effectively each brand’s dealerships sell when car shoppers visit the stores. The 2017 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index is based on how dealerships treated mystery shoppers who visited 5,289 stores in the U.S. between July 2016 and June 2017. The study is conducted by Pied Piper ... Read More >
Press Release: INFINITI DEALERS RANKED HIGHEST BY 2017 PIED PIPER PROSPECT SATISFACTION INDEX(R) (PSI(R))
July 2017
Monterey, California – July 10, 2017 – For the second year, Nissan’s Infiniti brand dealerships ranked highest in the newly released 2017 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) U.S. Auto Industry Benchmarking Study. The study measured treatment of car-shoppers who visited 5,289 dealerships throughout the country. Study rankings by brand were determined by the Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” measurement and scoring to ... Read More >
Automotive News
How dealerships can fix 'underselling' right away
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July 2016
Changes in auto retailing can take effort and time. Lots of time. Think of changing consumer attitudes towards a brand, increasing foot traffic or moving a dealership to a new location. But on the sales floor, change can occur immediately. There are numerous things dealerships can do fairly quickly to improve their sales processes and boost the satisfaction of potential buyers, says Fran O’Hagan, CEO of Pied Piper, a company that deploys mystery ... Read More >
Automotive News
Infiniti impresses mystery shoppers
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July 2016
Infiniti stores outperformed all brands in a study on prospect satisfaction, while Tesla lagged all brands. The 2016 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index is based on the treatment of mystery shoppers who visited 6,157 stores in the U.S. between July 2015 and June 2016. Lexus and Mercedes-Benz stores tied for second behind Infiniti, followed by Toyota, Audi and BMW. Porsche, Land Rover and Mitsubishi had the biggest year-over-year ... Read More >
Automotive News
Infiniti tops survey on satisfaction among sales prospects
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July 2016
Infiniti stores outperformed all brands in a new study on prospect satisfaction. The 2016 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index is based on the treatment of mystery shoppers who visited 6,157 stores in the U.S. The study was conducted between July 2015 and June 2016. Foreign brands dominated the upper echelon of the index -- now in its 10th year -- taking nine of the top 10 spots. Lexus and Mercedes-Benz stores tied for second; Toyota ranked ... Read More >
Wards Auto
Mystery Shoppers Put Tesla Dealerships in Cellar – Again
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July 2016
Fran O’Hagan is a methodical guy who’s baffled as to why Tesla stores year after year score so low in an annual mystery-shopping study of dealership sales effectiveness. The electric-car maker, which has skirted the traditional dealership franchise system in favor of owning its own sales outlets, ranked dead last on this year’s Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index. The study by brand measures how well dealerships follow sales processes, such ... Read More >
Press Release: INFINITI DEALERS RANKED HIGHEST BY 2016 PIED PIPER PROSPECT SATISFACTION INDEX(R) (PSI(R))
July 2016
Monterey, California – July 11, 2016 – For the first time, Nissan’s Infiniti brand dealerships ranked highest in the newly released 2016 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) U.S. Auto Industry Benchmarking Study. Now in its tenth year, the study measured treatment of car-shoppers who visited 6,157 dealerships throughout the country. Study rankings by brand were determined by the Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” ... Read More >
Wards Auto
Luxury Brands Have Great Cars, and Great Salespeople
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July 2015
Why do Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus rank 1-2-3 in U.S. luxury-brand sales? Reasons vary. But one of them is that their dealership salespeople are real pros. And a reason for that is their staff retention rates are high, meaning good people stick around. And they do so because they're earning a good living from healthy margins on premium cars. “It boils down to profitability,” says Fran O'Hagan, head of Piped Piper Management, a consulting company ... Read More >
The Car Connection
Mercedes-Benz Is Tops In Shopper Satisfaction, But Tesla? Not So Much
July 2015
Today's auto market is a tough one for consumers. There are loads of great cars on the lots, and the differences between those from Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, and most other mass-market automakers are disappearing. In that kind of environment, customer service is king. The way sales personnel treat shoppers can make or break a dealership. That's why studies like the Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) from research firm Pied Piper are so important ... Read More >
