| Dealership marketing firm Digital Air Strike released its 9th annual Automotive Customer Experience Trends Study, which gauges how technology influences customers when they make purchasing decisions and chose dealerships for vehicle service. Here are some study highlights. | |
| Customers who select a dealership for service work based solely on online searches and reviews: | |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 67% |
| 2020 | 46% |
| Service customers who said online review sites helped in their dealership selection process | 87% |
| Service customers who research a few days or more before selecting a dealership | 51% |
| Sites customers use to research dealerships: | |
| 60% | |
| Kelley Blue Book | 17% |
| Cars.com | 17% |
| CarGurus | 17% |
| Autotrader | 13% |
| 6% | |
| Edmunds | 6% |
| Yelp | 4% |
| After you brought your in for service, did the dealership ask you to write an online review of your experience? | |
| No | 71% |
| Yes | 29% |
| Was that review positive or negative? | |
| Positive | 88% |
| Negative | 12% |
| How helpful were review sites in your dealership selection? | |
| Helpful | 58% |
| Not helpful | 42% |
| Service customers who say a 4- or 5-start rating influences which dealership they choose | 41% |
| Service customers who said social media ads were helpful | 60% |
| Cox Automotive released its 2021 Service Industry Study, which polled 2,500 consumers who had at least 1 service visit in the past 12 months. Here are some study highlight. | |
| Average number of service visits per year: | |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 2.3 |
| 2018 | 2.8 |
| 2021 share of service visits: | |
| Dealerships | 34% |
| General repair/service station | 26% |
| Quick lube | 11% |
| Tire store/repair chain | 11% |
| Retail | 6% |
| Specialist | 4% |
| Body shop | 3% |
| Mobile service | 3% |
| Other | 2% |
| Reasons consumers prefer dealership: | |
| They know my vehicle | 55% |
| Prior experience | 46% |
| Location | 41% |
| They know me | 33% |
| Top reasons for not returning to the dealership for service: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2018 | 2015 | |
| Not a convenient location | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Total cost not reasonable | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| They will overcharge | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Unreasonable labor charges | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Unreasonable parts charges | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Cox also surveyed 529 dealers with decision-making authority over fixed ops. These are their top service operation frustrations. | |
| Parts delays from manufacturers | 58% |
|---|---|
| Finding, hiring right technician | 45% |
| Dealers who say their service department is not fully staffed | 57% |
| Dealers who expect labor shortages to continue or worsen | 80% |
| Dealers who report an increase in service staff turnover since before COVID-19 | 29% |
| Top reasons for staff turnover: | |
| Employee wants to do something else or not work at all | 43% |
| Employee leaves for better-paying job | 42% |
| Top roles dealerships plan to grow: | |
| Service technician | 60% |
| New-vehicle sales associate | 54% |
| Used-vehicle sales associate | 48% |
| Service adviser | 38% |
| BDC specialist | 33% |
| Most important skills for technicians: | |
| Mechanical | 91% |
| Electrical | 58% |
| Computer | 25% |
| Customer service | 9% |
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