Recent Press

A courteous, knowledgeable salesperson isn't enough. The most successful salesperson is an enabler, a cheerleader, an ally in supporting and justifying the purchase of a motorcycle.

Customers who work with an excellent salesperson will nearly always describe that salesperson as helpful. "Helpful," that's the key word, whether the salesperson is helping the prospect choose between two different models or picking up the phone to call a prospect to share some news and invite them back into the dealership.

Most dealership owners have figured out that they need to sell their dealership to customers and not just sell the products carried by their dealership. On the other hand, the facts say that most salespeople are focused solely on selling a product and not the dealership. In fact, when we recently measured nationwide how often a motorcycle salesperson gave compelling reasons to buy from their dealership, we found that it happened only 34% of the time. Two times out of three there was no mention of why buying from this dealership was a better idea than buying somewhere else. The focus was solely on product.

Visit the most successful motorcycle dealerships and in nearly every one you will find an F & I manager. For good reason too given the incremental profitability an F & I manager generates. Some dealerships with F & I managers take it a step further and forbid their salespeople from making any mention of financing. After all, the possibility of mistakes and litigation today makes it dangerous for anyone other than the experts to talk about financing.

Really? Is that the best approach?

Daimler AG's Mercedes and Toyota Motor Co's luxury Lexus brand topped a ranking intended to measure how well U.S. car shoppers were treated in dealer showrooms whether they bought a new car or not. The survey released by Monterey, Calif.-based sales consultancy Pied Piper showed Mercedes and Lexus in first and second place followed by Jaguar, Saturn and Land Rover.

The study ranked 14 brands below the industry average, including all three Ford Motor Co brands — Ford, Lincoln and Mercury — and all three brands with Chrysler Group LLC — Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge. By contrast, three of the four brands that General Motors Co is keeping as part of the leaner operation that emerged from a federally sponsored bankruptcy scored above average — Cadillac, Chevy and GMC.

Fran O'Hagan, study author and president of Pied Piper, said up to 90 per cent of U.S. car shoppers now walk out of car dealerships without buying, making satisfaction with the shopping experience very important in a declining market.

If you want to be treated well at a car dealership, buy a Mercedes-Benz or a Lexus. That's the conclusion reached by researchers based on a new study that looked at how various dealerships treated potential car shoppers.

Reuters reports, "Daimler AG's Mercedes and Toyota Motor Co's luxury Lexus brand topped a ranking intended to measure how well U.S. car shoppers were treated in dealer showrooms whether they bought a new car or not." The study, conducted by the sales consultancy firm Pied Piper, sent paid researchers into dealerships posing as car shoppers, and asked them to rate the dealerships on qualities that actual car shoppers had ranked as being important to them in an earlier study.

Motor Trend adds, "Study author Fran O'Hagan says up to 90% of car shoppers walk out of dealerships -- as opposed to driving out with a new car -- and stresses the importance of a satisfactory shopping experience."

Mercedes-Benz and Lexus lead a survey designed to rank the new car shopping experience with or without a vehicle purchase. Following the two luxury makes are Jaguar, Saturn, and Land Rover. All Ford and Chrysler brands fell below the study's industry average.

The survey, created by sales consult company Pied Piper, used results from 3531 paid researchers who posed as customers at multiple dealerships. The researchers scored the dealers on qualities deemed important by actual shoppers.

Daimler AG's Mercedes and Toyota Motor Co's luxury Lexus brand topped a ranking intended to measure how well U.S. car shoppers were treated in dealer showrooms whether they bought a new car or not.

The survey released by Monterey, California-based sales consultancy Pied Piper showed Mercedes and Lexus in first and second place followed by Jaguar, Saturn and Land Rover.

The study ranked 14 brands below the industry average, including all three Ford Motor Co brands -- Ford, Lincoln and Mercury -- and all three brands with Chrysler Group LLC -- Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge.

By contrast, three of the four brands that General Motors Co is keeping as part of the leaner operation that emerged from a federally sponsored bankruptcy scored above average -- Cadillac, Chevy and GMC.

Fran O'Hagan, study author and president of Pied Piper, said up to 90 percent of U.S. car shoppers now walk out of car dealerships without buying, making satisfaction with the shopping experience very important in a declining market.

Daimler AG's Mercedes and Toyota Motor Co's luxury Lexus brand topped a ranking intended to measure how well U.S. car shoppers were treated in dealer showrooms whether they bought a new car or not. The survey released by Monterey, California-based sales consultancy Pied Piper showed Mercedes and Lexus in first and second place followed by Jaguar, Saturn and Land Rover.

Fran O'Hagan, study author and president of Pied Piper, said up to 90 percent of U.S. car shoppers now walk out of car dealerships without buying, making satisfaction with the shopping experience very important in a declining market.

The Pied Piper study, now in its third year, was based on the results from 3,531 paid researchers posing as car shoppers who rated dealerships on the qualities that actual car shoppers report as being important.

Pied Piper clients include major automakers such as Honda Motor Co and Volkswagen AG as well as listed dealership groups Group 1 Automotive Inc and AutoNation.

Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in the new 2009 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) U.S. Auto Industry Study. The study measures how consumers are treated when shopping for a new car, motorcycle, RV or boat via 3,531 hired anonymous "mystery shoppers" who go into auto dealerships and measure how each brand's dealerships treat car shoppers.

The 2009 study showed that a brand or dealership's treatment of shoppers paralleled their retail sales success. Eight of the Top 10 brands when ranked by PSI also gained market share from 2008 to 2009, while eight of the bottom ten brands when ranked by PSI lost market share from 2008 to 2009, per the firm.

It's partly the cars that keeps customers coming to a dealership, but it's also the experience those customers have in the showroom. Forbes reports that in the midst of dealership closures, several international brands, including Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus are leading the way in customer satisfaction at the dealership. To generate its list of the best car dealerships this year, Forbes used data provided by marketing firm Pied Piper Management.