Measure, Report and ImprovePSI® Omnichannel Fact-Based Mystery Shopping®
Recent Press - Fran O'Hagan (Page 10)
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Automotive News
Rethinking Scion
May 2011
According to mystery-shopping consultancy Pied Piper of Monterey, Calif., although Toyota's sales practices are near the industry average, Scion's are the third-worst. Scion trailed other youth-oriented brands such as Volkswagen, Kia and Mazda mostly because the brand's low-pressure sales techniques don't give customers a reason to buy now or return for a future visit. Scion salespeople fared well in product knowledge, not overselling, and having ... Read More >
Powersports Business
Industry's prospect satisfaction scores drop
May 2011
All but one motorcycle brand's dealers declined in their year-over-year Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) as measured in a benchmarking study by independent company, Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. Overall motorcycle industry performance declined across a majority of the sales process activities tracked by the study, which led to lower PSI scores for 13 of the 14 major brands. Only Husqvarna didn't decline, as it maintained its PSI score of 90 it ... Read More >
MediaPost News
Victory a Victor in Pied Piper Bike Brand Study
May 2011
American and European motorcycle brands are very good at something the import brands are still struggling with: creating a strong brand affinity and satisfaction at the retail level. For the second year in a row, Polaris' Victory Motorcycle brand is the top-ranking motorcycle maker in prospect satisfaction in the new Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI). Victory led the pack in areas such as providing a product walk-around demonstration, ... Read More >
Dealernews
Victory Motorcycles maintains No. 1 ranking in Pied Piper study
May 2011
Victory Motorcycle has again earned the top spot in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) U.S. Benchmarking Study. Victory is followed by Harley-Davidson in second place, and Ducati and Triumph, which tied for third, with BMW and Yamaha rounding out the top five spots. According to the report, all of these brands scored above the industry average. The independent Pied Piper PSI study employed 1,967 anonymous “mystery shoppers” to visit ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
Does your sales team sell, or are they ‘museum curators'?
May 2011
Our company applies the term, ‘museum curator' to describe salespeople who are friendly and knowledgeable and will happily answer any customer questions, but don't actively try to turn shoppers into buyers. Be careful, because when customers are asked about their experience with museum curator salespeople, the customers will often describe the experience positively, which can mislead. When customers visit a dealership they are thinking about all ... Read More >
Press Release: VICTORY MOTORCYCLE DEALERS RANKED HIGHEST BY 2011 PIED PIPER PROSPECT SATISFACTION INDEX(R)
May 2011
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA – May 2, 2011 – The Victory Motorcycle brand from Polaris Industries, Inc. maintained its top ranking in the newly released 2011 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) U.S. Motorcycle Industry Benchmarking Study. Harley-Davidson finished second, while Ducati and Triumph tied for third, followed by BMW and Yamaha, all of which scored above the industry average. 2011 marked the fifth year for the independent Pied ... Read More >
Wards Auto Blog: Steve Finlay
Don't Blame CRM System for Internet Ineffectiveness
April 2011
If auto dealerships respond slowly to Internet sales leads, don't blame customer-relationship management software, says Fran O'Hagan. He is CEO of Piped Piper, a consultancy that does an annual study using mystery shoppers to gauge Internet lead effectiveness of dealerships by vehicle brand. CRM systems help dealerships track and manage leads. But the systems only are as good as the people using them – if they use them at all. “CRM is great” and ... Read More >
PowerSports Business Blog
Internet Business is No Longer Incremental Business
April 2011
In the auto industry, we recently learned that industry-wide 36 percent of customer inquiries over the Internet remain unanswered after 24 hours. Granted, that is a car business figure, but when we measured the same figure for the motorcycle industry back in 2008, we found that the motorcycle industry responsiveness to Internet inquiries was roughly one-half of the auto industry's performance. Think about what that means. … Imagine if your ... Read More >
Wards Auto
Some Auto Dealers Master Internet, Some Don't
March 2011
Fran O'Hagan recalls when his vice president of operations, Miles Stearman, phoned him with a sudden realization about selling cars in the digital age. “Miles called from a dealership he was visiting and said, ‘The Internet is no longer incremental business at dealerships; it is the business,' and that's so true today,” says O'Hagan, president and CEO of Pied Piper Management, a firm that consults with dealers on boosting sales. Read More >
Automotive News
Survey: Dealers botch many Web leads
March 2011
Ninety percent of internet customers received some sort of response, but usually it's the e-mail equivalent of a form letter, according to a survey by Pied Piper Management Company of Monterey, California. Read More >
