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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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
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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Automotive News First Shift
Mystery Win for Benz
July 2013
For the fifth straight year, Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked first in Pied Piper's annual survey which rates how car dealers treat car-shoppers in person. Pied Piper's annual study sends thousands of mystery shoppers to dealerships nationwide to see how effectively salespeople sell.
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The Car Connection
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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The Detroit Bureau
Mercedes-Benz Tops New Car Shopper Satisfaction Survey
July 2013
Showroom policies likely to close – or lose – deals. When she began looking for a new car, Chris Anderson had her heart set on a midsize Ford sedan. But in the end, she wound up buying from the Detroit maker's cross-town rival General Motors. It wasn't that she liked her new car better. It was the dealer she liked – or more precisely, the Ford dealer she didn't want to buy from. And the Detroit saleswoman is not alone. What happens when a ...
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Automotive News
Survey: Mercedes stores have the most effective salespeople
July 2013
LOS ANGELES -- A study of car dealership sales techniques shows that luxury brands often are the most effective deal-closers and also are best at making customers happy. Among mass-market brands, Hyundai, Kia, Ford and Toyota were the leaders. Among all brands, Mercedes-Benz dealers finished atop the 11-month mystery shopping study by Pied Piper Management Co. of Monterey, Calif. Infiniti finished second, while last year's winner, Lexus, finished ...
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