The Detroit Bureau
Turning Shoppers into Customers: Mercedes Tops the Chart in New Study
Tesla turns its showrooms into museums.
July 2015
When Linda Brightman started out to buy a new car she had her heart set on a new BMW 3-Series. The suburban Los Angeles mother of two made one concession to her husband, agreeing to at least visit a few other showrooms to see what the competitors had to offer. He was nonetheless surprised when she drove home in a new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. She liked a lot of the safety features, Brightman explained. But what had clinched the deal was the way the ...
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The Detroit Bureau
Following the Pied Piper: Study Shows Which Dealers Best at Closing the Deal
Despite claims of doing things better, Tesla falls far short of rivals
July 2014
For many – perhaps most – motorists, buying a car is a process only slightly less painful than having a root canal. Yet some dealers do a markedly better job not only keeping potential customers satisfied but also making sure they close the deal. Who's doing the best job is the subject of a new study that puts Mercedes-Benz at the top of the list, and battery-car start-up Tesla way down at the bottom. It's the first time Tesla has been included ...
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The Detroit Bureau
Mercedes-Benz Tops New Car Shopper Satisfaction Survey
July 2013
Showroom policies likely to close – or lose – deals. When she began looking for a new car, Chris Anderson had her heart set on a midsize Ford sedan. But in the end, she wound up buying from the Detroit maker's cross-town rival General Motors. It wasn't that she liked her new car better. It was the dealer she liked – or more precisely, the Ford dealer she didn't want to buy from. And the Detroit saleswoman is not alone. What happens when a ...
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The Detroit Bureau
Mercedes Doing the Best to Close the Deal
July 2012
Mercedes-Benz dealers are most likely to deliver customers the sort of shopping experience they want – and then close the deal, according to a new study. Asian luxury dealers were close behind, along with Jaguar and Cadillac, according to the latest Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index which uses so-called “mystery shoppers” to measure the way potential car buyers are treated. The study looks at 60 different sales activities, from the simple ...
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Detroit Bureau
Mercedes-Benz Tops at Handling Shoppers, Finds New Study, But even the best makers have slipped coming out of recession
July 2011
Mercedes-Benz is doing the best job treating potential buyers when they walk into the showroom, reports a new study, which is one reason the maker has continued building demand as the luxury market recovers. But while it's the third year in a row that the German marque led the annual Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, its score actually slipped from last year, and the industry, on the whole, has seen a declining in the handling of “ups,” or ...
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The Detroit Bureau
Mercedes Dealers Best At Treating Potential Customers
July 2010
Product, product, product? Perhaps, but even the best vehicles won?t sell unless dealers know how to work with their customers, and according to a new study, Mercedes-Benz leads the way when it comes to doing the best job on the showroom floor. Not surprisingly, luxury makers lead the way when it comes to satisfying customers during the shopping experience, according to the latest annual Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, which uses a cadre ...
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TheDetroitBureau.com
Mercedes-Benz on top of shopping survey: Study finds many makers losing frustrated customers.
July 2009
A happy customer, it's been said, is a repeat customer. Yet a surprising number of automakers and their dealers seem to almost go out of their way to frustrate potential buyers, sending them scampering over to the competition. That's a key finding of the Prospect Satisfaction Index, an annual study by the California research firm, Pied Piper. It reveals that Mercedes-Benz dealerships ranked highest in the newly released 2009 PSI, which looks at ...
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