Press Release: BMW AUTO DEALERS RANKED #1 FOR RESPONDING TO WEBSITE CUSTOMERS REPORTS PIED PIPER PSI(R)
Texting gains popularity among dealers—39% of website customers now receive dealer texts—but dealers often fail to obtain customer permission first
July 2019
Monterey, California – July 8, 2019 – BMW auto dealerships ranked highest in the 2019 Pied Piper PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness® Benchmarking Study, which answers the question, “What happens when customers visit a dealer website and inquire about a vehicle?” Dealerships selling Acura vehicles were ranked second, followed by dealerships selling Mercedes-Benz or Volvo. New for 2019 was an update to ILE scoring, which increased weighting for the ...
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Automotive News
Plugging EVs just wasn't enough
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March 2019
Some of the most effective advocates for plug-in vehicles are being unplugged from the business. This month, Tesla said it would close most of its factory-owned stores as a cost-cutting move and switch entirely to online sales. Many employees of those stores and investors were pretty surprised to hear the news, Bloomberg reported, especially as it came just weeks after Tesla affirmed the value of its showrooms in a public filing, talking up its ...
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Auto Remarketing
Tesla salespeople rank highest in EV ‘prospect satisfaction'
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March 2019
Electric vehicle technologies are often new to many customers visiting an auto dealership, so the salesperson must also be able to introduce and explain the operation of EVs and the features and benefits of EV technology, such as understanding garage-charging options, according to Pied Piper Management Co. Success selling EVs depends on many of the same salesperson behaviors that customers find helpful when shopping for traditional automobiles, ...
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Automotive Design & Production
What Tesla Might Miss With Its Store Closures
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March 2019
“Imagine what it would have been like to sell a gas-powered automobile in the early 1900s,” said Fran O’Hagan, president and CEO of Pied Piper Management Company LLC. “Customers back then were buying their first car, and salespeople would have had to explain the basics, such as how to operate the vehicle or where to find fuel while travelling.” O’Hagan is talking about the experience back then in the context of what’s happening now, as customers ...
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Automotive News First Shift
Tesla tops EV mystery-shopper study
March 2019
Pied Piper ranked 19 brands to measure how effectively each brand’s retailers helped EV shoppers become buyers.
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Wards Auto
Survey Ranks Tesla Dealerships First in EV-Selling Effectiveness
Ironically, the electric-vehicle maker plans to shutter most of its retail outlets.
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March 2019
Fran O’Hagan sees a striking paradox in Tesla saying it will close down almost all its dealerships and switch to an online sales strategy. He is president and CEO of Pied Piper Management, a consultancy that today releases results of a mystery-shopping study on how effectively dealerships brand-by-brand handle electric-vehicle shoppers. Tesla scored first. “It’s so ironic,” O’Hagan tells Wards. Referring to the dramatic retailing pivot, ...
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Press Release: BMW MOTORCYCLE DEALERSHIPS TOP RANKED FOR RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER INTERNET INQUIRIES, REPORTS PIED PIPER PSI(R)
Annual industry study rated Powersports and Outdoor Power Equipment brands that sell motorcycles or UTVs
September 2018
Monterey, California, USA – September 10, 2018 – BMW motorcycle dealerships ranked highest in the 2018 Pied Piper PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness® (ILE®) Industry Study, which measured how motorcycle and UTV dealerships responded to customer inquiries received through dealership websites. Study rankings by brand were determined by the Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” measurement and scoring to dealership sales success. ...
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CAR & DRIVER
Audi Dealers Do It Best, Tesla's Are Worst, According to Car-Shopping Study
The study measured how well dealerships are selling cars to potential buyers.
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July 2018
Audi topped an annual study called the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI), which measures how well dealerships are doing at selling cars to potential buyers. Tesla finished last. Pied Piper Management (a real company, not the fictitious one on the Silicon Valley television show) said the results of its study, which carries the full name of 2018 Prospect Satisfaction Index U.S. Auto Industry Benchmarking Study, came after mystery ...
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Automotive News
Audi tops study of sales-prospect satisfaction
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July 2018
Audi, for the first time, landed atop an annual dealership study that evaluates brands based on how effective salespeople are at handling consumers and closing deals. The 2018 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index measures how mystery car shoppers sent to 3,466 dealerships in the U.S. were treated and later surveyed by consultant Pied Piper of Monterey, Calif. The latest study was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018. Audi, whose score rose ...
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Wards Auto
Auto Dealership Mystery Shopping Indicates Which Brands Rock
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July 2018
For the first time, Audi dealers top the Pied Piper Satisfaction Index. In the cellar is Tesla. A by-brand mystery-shopping study of how well auto dealerships deliver customer satisfaction indicates top scorers had something in common: They helped customers more. “‘Helpful’ is one word that determines how dealerships did,” says Fran O’Hagan, president and CEO of Pied Piper Management, a consultancy that sent secret shoppers to 3,466 dealerships ...
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