Redefining the new car buying process

The client challenge: To re-engineer its customer communication strategy to maximise the impact of online, offline and in-dealer touch points with customers.

Our approach: Working with this premium car marque we undertook both online and telephone research among customers to understand the information sources that potential buyers use and trust at the different stages of the purchase process.

We combined our analysis of primary research data with analysis of secondary data around online behaviour, print and TV viewing and social media use to gain a 360 degree perspective on information consumption throughout the customer journey.

Client benefits: The client gained fundamental insight into the length and stages of the typical customer decision process and the role and relevance of offline vs online information at each stage.  Crucially, the client was able to update its dealer communication and training to ensure that showroom staff were prepared with relevant and timely information when customers came in at the vital ‘kick the tyres’ and test drive stage of the purchase journey.