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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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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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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Automotive News
Mercedes-Benz stores take first in online response study
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March 2018
Mercedes-Benz dealerships took the No. 1 slot in an online lead-responsiveness study, displacing two-time consecutive champ Porsche, Pied Piper Management Co. said Monday. The eighth annual Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index Internet Lead Effectiveness Benchmarking Study, conducted through secret shoppers between April 2017 and March, measures the response time and quality of 17,391 U.S. dealerships to customer queries received through the ...
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Wards Auto
Dealership Study: Overactive Filters Block Some Legit Customer Leads
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March 2018
Bots don’t buy cars, but efforts to block them can unwittingly prevent real customer digital leads from reaching car dealerships. When Internet filters diligently battle bots and spammers, such collateral damage can occur. That’s an ancillary finding of the 2018 Internet mystery-shopping study by consultancy Pied Piper Management Co. Overall, it annually measures how dealerships by brand respond to customer inquiries received through dealer ...
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Press Release: MERCEDES-BENZ DEALERS TOP RANKED FOR RESPONSE TO WEBSITE INQUIRIES REPORTS PIED PIPER PSI(R)
Industry average performance improved, but 1 out of 4 customers still failed to receive a personal response within 24 hours
March 2018
Monterey, California – March 5, 2018 – Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in the 2018 Pied Piper PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness® Benchmarking Study, which measured how auto dealerships responded to customer inquiries received through dealership websites. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) brands Chrysler, Ram and Dodge were among the most improved compared to the previous year, along with Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Buick. Study rankings by ...
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