Customers, used to buying virtually everything on the internet, expect an Apple Store experience and no longer are willing to put up with the extended length of time it takes to buy an automobile.

Automakers and their dealers finally recognize this reality and the need to be more respectful of their customer’s time.

Based on Rikess Group research we found:

• 70% of all sales take at least three hours to complete, not including delivery.
• At best, customers actually are engaged, (meaning actively moving the process forward) for slightly over an hour. This means the rest of the process – 60 to 90 minutes – is wasted time for the customer.
• Sales consultant productivity is crippled by the elongated sales process, especially during peak times (weekends, end of the month, etc.). Due to so much wasted time, salespeople get at best only two opportunities a day to sell a car during peak hours.

• On average, customers are left alone or abandoned 11 times during the sales process.
• Sales managers often do not recognize the problem because they are not negatively impacted financially.

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