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Car Dealers Should Offer Paper Brochures, Engage Consumers Better

Detroit Free Press, Monday, July 12, 2010 1 PM

A study of automobile dealerships to be released today finds that Mercedes-Benz and Lexus showrooms earn the highest scores, while Ford and Lincoln, whose salespeople were more likely to ask why the shopper considered the brand, rate above the industry average, Jewel Gopwani reports. Overall, however, fewer salespeople offer vehicle brochures than in the past and that may be a mistake.

"I'm absolutely certain that paper brochures help sell cars," says Fran O'Hagan, CEO of Pied Piper Management, which deployed 3,658 secret shoppers, ages 21 to 65, to dealerships between July 2009 and June 2010 to collect more than 50 observations.

O'Hagan says many potential car buyers may still be holding off on vehicle purchases in the second half of the year and that salespeople must "engage the shopper in some way that isn't just... lecturing them."

Read the whole story at Detroit Free Press »

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