Mercedes-Benz, Mini rank highest in J.D. Power sales satisfaction study

(November 14, 2014) WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Mercedes-Benz ranked highest in sales satisfaction among all brands and led the luxury ranking, with a score of 761. The German company also improved the most — 33 points — from 2013 in the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study released today. 

For a fifth consecutive year, Mini ranked highest among mass market brands, with a score of 727,  a 9-point increase from 2013. Among mass market brands, Buick improved the most gaining 32 points year over year and ranking second in 2014. Overall Buick was ninth, moving up from 13th in 2013.

Infiniti ranked second among luxury brands with a score of 749 followed closely by Jaguar at 748. Chevrolet, with a score of 698, was third and GMC fourth among mass market brands.

The study, now in its 28th year, measures satisfaction with the sales experience among new-vehicle buyers and rejecters — those who shop a dealership and purchase elsewhere. Buyer satisfaction is based on four factors (in order of importance): working out the deal (17%); salesperson (13%); delivery process (11%); and facility (10%). Rejecter satisfaction is based on five factors (in order of importance): salesperson (21%); fairness of price (8%); experience negotiating (8%); variety of inventory (7%); and facility (7%). Satisfaction is calculated on a 1,000-point scale. Overall sales satisfaction improved by 13 points year over year to 686 in 2014 from 673 in 2013.

Increasingly, dealers are employing product specialists to enhance the new-vehicle sales process by demonstrating vehicle features and technological innovations.  They may also conduct second or follow-up sessions with buyers to reinforce feature understanding. Industry-wide, 15 percent of customers indicate they worked with both a salesperson and a separate product specialist when shopping for their vehicle.

This percentage is slightly higher among buyers of premium vehicles (19%) than among those purchasing non-premium vehicles (15%). Regardless of segment, overall sales satisfaction is slightly higher among buyers who work with a product specialist than among those who work only with a salesperson (856 vs. 853, respectively, for premium; 809 vs. 806, respectively, for non-premium).

“With such tech-heavy vehicles today, introducing product specialists into the sales process helps improve the delivery process and customer understanding of how to operate key features,” said Chris Sutton, vice president of the automotive retail practice at J.D. Power.

“Dealerships need to be mindful when dividing a customer’s time between a salesperson, product specialist, and the finance and insurance representative. That’s a lot of customer touch points. Adding more time to the sales process usually has a negative effect on sales satisfaction; thus, dealers need to ensure an integrated approach that respects a customer’s time.”

KEY FINDINGS

    • When a customer works with both a salesperson and a product specialist, satisfaction with thoroughness of feature explanation improves to 8.1 (on a 10-point scale) from 7.9.

    • Working with both a salesperson and product specialist is becoming more commonplace among new-vehicle buyers. Additionally, when assisted by a salesperson and product specialist working together vs. only a salesperson, a higher percentage of customers indicate dealer staff connected their phone to Bluetooth (79% vs. 76%, respectively); explained how to operate the navigation system (84% vs. 82%, respectively); and explained the communications system (88% vs. 86%, respectively).

    • The most important key performance indicator (KPI) in the sales process is the salesperson’s ability to completely understand the customer’s needs. This KPI is met 86 percent of the time and, when met, can positively impact overall satisfaction by up to 104 points.

    • The use of a computer/tablet in communicating price/payment helps drive satisfaction for working out the deal (784 vs. 770 in 2013). Satisfaction among customers who are shown pricing/payment on a computer screen/tablet is higher (827) than among those who receive this information in printed form (805), by verbal quotes (774), or as handwritten figures (764).

    • Computer/tablet use by dealer personnel while presenting price/payment options has increased to 22 percent from 18 percent in 2013.