Major survey by Alphera finds consumers want the
personal touch.
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Although most car buyers are looking to dealers for
information on car purchases, there is still work to be done in
improving public perception and understanding of point of sale
finance, an extensive study of 532 car owners conducted by
multi-marque lender Alphera Financial Services has claimed.
Some 61% of people surveyed said
they relied on dealers as their main source of information on car
purchases, while 74% said they preferred to deal with a person when
purchasing a car.
In addition, several of the
report’s headline numbers regarding dealers confirmed safe
assumptions – that a majority (64%) believe negotiating is
imperative when buying a car, and that 36% believe the finance
sales representative to be the most useful source of
information.
“These findings are really
promising, but do highlight clear room for improvement amongst
dealers,” said Alphera sales manager at Kirk Franks.
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By GlobalData“It is clear that consumers respond
well to the personal approach that dealers have and it should be
explored to its fullest.”
The report suggests dealers, in
particular, could find opportunities to impress purchasers with
information about the financial products available. A majority of
60% said they did no research into such offers before arriving at a
dealership.
Doing so could combat two problems
identified by the report: the perception of dealerships and the
lack of information regarding the finance products available
there.
Despite the current popularity of
motor finance in the retail environment, the survey found that a
proportion of consumers still felt uncertain about taking finance
at the point of sale.
Findings
on public opinion on satisfaction were also challenging. Just over
half of car-buyers asked said they were satisfied with the
communication, honesty, clarity and help offered to them by car
dealers, ranging from 58% being satisfied by
‘communication/integration’ with their sellers to 51% satisfied
with the ‘honesty/trustworthiness’ of finance reps.
Other results of the survey,
however, suggest that developing consumer education on motor
finance could help improve public trust of the industry.
Three of the starkest results of
the survey are that 91% of consumers set a budget for purchasing
their car; 71% of men (and 59% of women) put the greatest worth on
the make/model of the car they wish to buy; and 76% of those who
choose dealer finance know which package they want before arriving
at the dealership.
Customers are coming to the
forecourt forewarned but not forearmed.
While 58% of customers surveyed
wanted to make their own finance decisions, 35% of those surveyed
claimed not to have a ‘good level of understanding of financial
products’ and only 26% had ‘undertaken some general research
online’.
That some people still have
negative connotations regarding car dealers may not shock.
The opportunity this survey raises for dealers is that of what
can be done to manage consumer expectations and understanding in
order to avoid dissatisfaction or distrust over the point of sale
finance process.
