Deloitte’s Global Automotive Consumer Study revealed that more than 50% of all U.S. consumers spend more than 10 hours researching vehicles on their own before committing to a purchase. Plus, another 30% spend between 4 and 10 hours doing online research on vehicles. Due to the pandemic, many shoppers are more comfortable beginning a transaction online, and expect transparent pricing from online to in-store.

So, what does that mean for you? Customers are entering your dealership more knowledgeable and further along in the buying experience than ever before.

It is essential that you let the Kia customer guide their in-store experience the same way they are able to guide their online experience. Doing this ensures the transition from online to in-dealership is a seamless and positive experience.

One of the things that customers may enjoy most about the online car shopping experience is that they control the pace. They can explore and research how they want to and when they want to. And because of that, customers want to have similar autonomy over their in-dealership experience.

Here are some best practices to ensure your customers are getting the kind of dealership experience they expect after starting their buying process online.

Best Practices:

• Ensure the online price is the same as the in-store price
  Customers expect that the price they are quoted online is the same price they pay when they come into your dealership to buy or lease the vehicle, or they may take their business elsewhere.
• Be prepared with a greeting that helps you understand where the customer is in the buying process
  Ask the right questions at the start of your interaction to identify where the customer stands. “Have you done any research prior to your visit today? What kind of research have you done? Have you looked at our Kia website? Did you build a vehicle online?”
• Allow the customer to guide the engagement
  Let the customer guide the process and pace the same way they would online. This means you may not be going through the steps in the sales process in your typical order but instead pick up with customer right where they left off during their online experience. What is the customer’s main purpose for coming in the store today? Be flexible in your sales approach and start where your customer wants to start.
• Weave in questions when appropriate to help you fully understand your customer’s needs
  Once you’ve identified where your customer is in the process and their reason for visiting the dealership, you can start asking clarifying questions to find out anything you need to know about what they are looking for in a vehicle. This will allow you to guide them all the way through the buying process while ensuring that they end up in the vehicle that best fits their needs.
• Digital retail tools allow customers to transact online
  Making digital retail tools available on your website lets customers buy at their pace and in the comfort of their own home. This includes final pricing, trade-in valuation, F&I eMenus, credit approvals, and eSigning where possible. Customers can still purchase vehicles while observing social distancing. During this time of practicing social distancing, digital retail tools show concern for customers and allow customers to transact as much as possible remotely.

Ultimately, customers today do a lot of research online. But it’s the dealership environment that offers them the chance to experience what they researched online by seeing, touching, and driving the Kia vehicle. This is the perfect opportunity to put the customer at ease with a feeling of total control over the purchase process. By allowing the customer to guide the process, the dealership experience becomes just as comfortable for them as the online experience.