Given my role at Motors.co.uk, you might presume that I would be well placed in searching for and buying a car. But the truth is that I was absolutely petrified going through the process. It highlights to me the massive opportunity that awaits Motors.co.uk to go beyond the traditional classified offering and provide real confidence to the consumer.
Even though I run a used car website, I am not a natural car enthusiast. I have a reasonable knowledge, but nowhere near a natural interest in the variety of cars. This has always left me emasculated amongst friends and family who have an encyclopaedic knoweledge of cars (my brother could identify makes of cars by their headlights by the age of 3) - another thing to put on my growing list of insecurities. In short, I consider myself a typical (scared) customer.
It's dangerous to think of yourself as the market, but I was intrigued by my approach, my fears and behaviours. A couple of points marked my car search process, months of research online and a single retail site visit because I couldn't be bothered to go further. I'm not sure if this was because I felt sufficiently empowered (I had done a LOT of research) or because on balance I knew that I had found a car that pretty much met my requirements and I was at a retailer who I felt I could trust. Whilst I don't consider myself normal, my behaviour was normal - consumers are visiting more and more websites in their research whilst making fewer visits to the dealer themselves.
Obviously the internet was key in my research process, it was also invaluable in the purchase too. As I was walked into buying the car, I regularly took time out to look at similar prices of cars on the Motors.co.uk iPhone app. This gave me confidence that i) the car was priced in-line with others so the convenience of buying on first visit could be justified; and ii) that the salesperson might view me as a "knowledgeable" buyer and not try to sell me a dud.
However, the fact I felt obliged to do that shows just how scared I was face-to-face with a sales professional. Paranoid about being sold a dud is a fallacy as I was buying from a reputable retailer who I know has a longer-term business model than ripping off one poor mug. But my fear was there nonetheless and I am sure it is there with almost every other consumer. This needs to change.
There are two major routes that I see. Firstly, consumers will become increasingly comfortable buying online. Even with a non-homogenous product that is a used car, I had a very good basis for believing that this car was right for me. My retail experience could have been made much more enjoyable had I been offered the option to test drive the car at home. I am convinced that I would have happily bought the car rather than the nervous twitches I had at the dealership as I was walked into a purchase. For new car sales, this is a no brainer.
The second route is for retailers to provide a great level of customer service. There will always be some differences between volume and prestige brands, but good customer service with sales people who want to build a long-term relationship should be a united aim. I experienced buyers remorse when I got the car home, wondering why the sales person was so happy to have me buy the car, rather than being grown up enough to accept that a mutually beneficial transaction had taken place. To overcome this, the consumer will use the internet to arm themselves when going "into battle". Take myself, not only did I know the make and model, but I knew the trim, mileage range and price that I wanted. At no point was I asked, "why do you think that's the right thing for you?". There may well have been better alternatives for me, but I had gone in with such a game face that it being about getting in and out as quick as possible. I dearly wanted someone to say, "I understand, you've made the right choice" and then give me a hug.
There are many dealers who are making real strides at improving the consistency of their sales process and investing in long-term customer retention, but I do believe that there is a real opportunity for the industry to find ways to better increase overall confidence with consumers. If we can do this, I believe that we will make car buying an enjoyable process and not just one that is entered into when life circumstances dictate that we need to change our car. The number of transactions in the UK is stifled by this nervousness.
At Motors.co.uk, we are having great fun brainstorming ways to be part of this. The next time I buy a used car, I want to drive away not praying that the car won't fall to pieces. My recent purchase didn't, and it won't, but I never got the hug that I needed. What if all or part of that hug came online?
