Press Release: TOYOTA DEALERS RANKED #1 FOR RESPONDING TO WEBSITE CUSTOMERS REPORTS PIED PIPER PSI(R)
Growth of text messaging: 48% of customers now receive dealer text messages in response to website questions
March 2020
Monterey, California – March 9, 2020 – Toyota dealerships ranked highest in the 2020 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 Cadillac vehicles were ranked second, followed by dealerships selling MINI or Subaru. Brands with the greatest improvement from 2019 to 2020 were Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, ...
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Automotive News First Shift
BMW Dealers Most Responsive
July 2019
BMW’s U.S. dealers were ranked number one in Pied Piper’s 2019 PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness Study
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Wards Auto
Luxury-Brand Car Dealers Best in Internet Effectiveness, Study Says
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July 2019
Luxury-brand car dealerships take the top five top spots of the 2019 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness Benchmarking Study. The annual by-brand mystery shopping exercise uses various measurements to answer an essential question, “What happens when customers visit a dealer website and inquire about a vehicle?” says Pied Piper CEO Fran O’Hagan. Dealerships that field those leads the best – from responding quickly to answering a specific ...
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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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INSIDE EVs
Tesla, BMW & Nissan Stores Top Ranked As Most Helpful To EV Buyers
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March 2019
According to the latest 2019 Pied Piper “PSI® for EVs” U.S. Auto Industry Benchmarking Study, Tesla‘s dealerships (in the case of Tesla there are no dealers but stores/galleries) were ranked highest in terms of being most helpful to customers interested in plug-in electric cars. Tesla scored 118 points (18 over industry average), which is interesting especially because the brand was last in the general 2018 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction ...
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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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