Car Sales: Shoppers Still Want a Needs Assessment

In a recent study focused on the car buyer journey*, CDK uncovered that dealership Sales staff are extremely good at delivering two things that are critical to closing sales: test drives and assessing what a customer truly needs.

While many car shoppers come into the showroom with a general idea of the kind of vehicle they think they want, they often want their purchase considerations confirmed by expert dealership personnel. And, it turns out, car dealerships are delivering: 94% of customers reported that dealership staff spent time assessing their vehicle needs.

Dealership personnel ask a number of questions around vehicle type, leasing versus purchasing, and mileage. In a sign of the times, the sixth most asked question was whether a customer was interested in an EV, hybrid or traditional gas car.

Survey respondents also told us that dealer staff spent a good deal of time listening to them to get a feel for matching their needs with inventory. About three-quarters of respondents said Sales personnel spent between five and 20 minutes talking about the customer’s wants and needs. The other quarter spent more than 20 minutes performing this assessment.

All in all, dealer management should feel pretty good that this part of the Sales process is working well: Nine out of 10 (90%) of those surveyed felt that vehicles recommended by staff met their wants and needs.

Needs Translate to Demos

To circle back to another key insight of this shopper survey, converting these needs assessments into actual sales requires a hands-on demo.

Having inventory on hand and putting customers into one or more vehicles is critical to close these sales. With vehicle inventory on lots stabilizing, 44% of buyers said they were given a demo of one car, 38% said two, 18% received a demo of three or more different vehicles to determine which vehicle best matched their needs and budget.

Nearly 80% of respondents needed five to 20 minutes with each demo. In the end, 90% of all survey respondents told us that these demonstrations showcased how their needs could be met with recommended vehicles.

*Data collected from a shopping habits study of 1,048 new car buyers CDK conducted in the spring of 2024.

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