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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Automotive News First Shift
Secret shoppers pick Porsche
March 2013
Porsche and dealerships ranked highest in a study that looked how auto dealers handle internet leads. Pied Piper's annual study used internet mystery shopping to contact 11,000+ dealerships to see how the U.S. dealer networks for all car brands compare.
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Automotive News
Study: Dealerships respond better to Internet leads
March 2013
LOS ANGELES – Car dealerships are doing better at responding to Internet leads, but the quality of the responses still leaves something to be desired, according to a new study. Mystery-shopping consultant Pied Piper Management Co. found that most of the 11,353 dealerships it submitted Internet inquires to in the past year now use customer relationship management software. And although the software usually automatically responds immediately to an ...
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Automotive News First Shift
Secret shoppers pick Benz
July 2012
Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in a study that looked how auto dealers treat customers. Pied Piper's annual study sends thousands of secret shoppers to stores across the U.S. and measures how salespeople perform.
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Automotive News
Mercedes has most effective sales process
July 2012
Some vehicle brands that score high in customer satisfaction surveys do less well when the effectiveness of dealership salespeople is measured, according to a California consultant. Mystery shopping consultant Pied Piper of Monterey, Calif., sent 4,419 shoppers to dealerships nationwide, from July 2011 to June 2012, to measure salespeople's effectiveness in selling cars on the showroom floor. Mercedes-Benz ranked first in the survey and led all ...
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Automotive News First Shift
Secret Shoppers Pick Mercedes
July 2011
Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in a study by Pied Piper Management Company to measure how effectively dealerships sell cars. Jaguar and Lexus tied for second.
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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 ...
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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.
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Automotive News First Shift
Lexus, Honda and Toyota Dealerships Rank Highest
March 2011
Lexus, Honda and Toyota dealerships ranked highest in a study to measure how dealerships treat car customers online. Pied Piper tracks dealerships' performance with mystery shoppers, but in this case, online mystery shoppers.
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Automotive News
Pied Piper helps track dealerships' internet results
February 2011
Mystery shoppers are nothing new, but Internet mystery shoppers are. That's part of the expansion plan for Fran O'Hagan as CEO of Pied Piper, which tracks not whether customers enjoyed their shopping experience but whether dealership salespeople did the things that would lead to a sale.
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