Which car brand has the best customer service?
A mystery shopper research on car brands and salons conducted in Lithuania showed that only Lexus dealerships currently provide the highest quality customer service. 25 brands were tested, among which Lexus (100%), Mini Cooper (80%) and Alfa Romeo (76%) took leading positions. This time Fiat (19%) and Volvo (10%) received the least points.
The research evaluated various aspects: beginning of contact with a client, automobile presentation, determining customer needs, test drive, price offer, car leasing, sales skills and closing of sale. The study took place in four largest cities in Lithuania - Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Panevėžys. Among highest scoring cities were Kaunas and Panevėžys, the quality of service in Vilnius was average and weakest customer service results were in Klaipėda.
“In essence, the sales managers of tested dealerships were polite and pleasant when interacting with customers. What’s more, they were quite good at determining the customers’ needs and making a suitable price offer based on them,” says Neringa Kazlauskienė, Shopper Quality Group board member.
Unfortunately, the research also showed that 41%, that is, less than half of the tested salons, were not ready for a test drive.
“In terms of closing the sale, the situation is not much better: 32% of tested salons do not send a written price offer to the client, and up to 86% of sales managers do not call the client after a visit in the salon. Given these statistics, it is not surprising that the result is so bad: customers do not have the opportunity to test the car here and now, nor do they receive a call from the managers about their decision. The average result of the tested car salons is poor: only 53% meet the criteria for good customer service. In most cases, sales managers in car dealerships displayed great knowledge about cars sold in their own salons and they were able to advertise the goods and present them in an attractive form for the customers,” commented N. Kazlauskienė.