Thursday, July 31, 2014
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Buying a New Car: Value and Excitement
The car buying process is very interesting and actually kind of funny. It can be frustrating for the customer because I see it all the time. Being that I have never purchased a new vehicle myself, I never understood how frustrating it could be for the customer until I started selling cars. A new car buyer might think buying a car is a logical decision; meaning crunching numbers, compare and contrasts, shopping around etc, etc but it rarely is. There is a big emotional component that goes into which vehicle and which dealership that shopper chooses to purchase the vehicle. This component is looked at as an afterthought and underestimated by many a shopper. As humans beings, emotions control a lot of the day to day decisions that we make. Many car shoppers have a negative perception of car dealers and deservedly so. In the past, when the car business had less competition, car dealers got away with a lot of deceptive practices and a lack of good customer service. The manucfacturers have put a lot of effort into making sure dealers give customers excellent customer service and curtailing deceptive practices.
Back to my main point: In advertising, there is a dogma of 'sell the sizzle, not the steak'. This applies greatly when selling a car. One example; I don't know how many times a customer has come to the car lot, and told me they're not looking to pay more than $300 or $400 on a particular vehicle and end up paying $350 or $450 a month when they leave with their new car. There is a sense of excitement that one feels when they are on a new car lot amongst so many new vehicles, when they step into a new car, smell that new car smell, when they first drive it. The soccer mom can almost envision herself pulling it out of her driveway, stopping at the Starbucks and ordering her morning coffee, taking her kids to soccer practice. These are all the things that I know the customer is thinking of when she is test driving the vehicle. There are certain customers that come in with the poker face that are hard to read, that no matter how much you poke and prod them will never fold. But I know underneath that calm exterior there is a larva of emotions that is just bubbling underneath. I never buy that "a new car is a new car" statement that I have heard some customers tell me. Next to buying a house and a college education for your kids, this is the next biggest investment that a buyer makes. There is nothing nonchalant about purchasing a new vehicle.
No matter how much a buyer's thinks the biggest factor for buying a new car is the lowest price, price is irrelevant. If price is such a big factor, then why do people purchase products like Rolexes, Mercedes Benz vehicles, Apple products, Coach handbags, etc. etc. without asking for a discount. It's all about perceived value; if there is enough value seen by a buyer in a product, price is irrelevant. If a buyer is excited enough to buy a certain product, price is irrelevant.
Back to my main point: In advertising, there is a dogma of 'sell the sizzle, not the steak'. This applies greatly when selling a car. One example; I don't know how many times a customer has come to the car lot, and told me they're not looking to pay more than $300 or $400 on a particular vehicle and end up paying $350 or $450 a month when they leave with their new car. There is a sense of excitement that one feels when they are on a new car lot amongst so many new vehicles, when they step into a new car, smell that new car smell, when they first drive it. The soccer mom can almost envision herself pulling it out of her driveway, stopping at the Starbucks and ordering her morning coffee, taking her kids to soccer practice. These are all the things that I know the customer is thinking of when she is test driving the vehicle. There are certain customers that come in with the poker face that are hard to read, that no matter how much you poke and prod them will never fold. But I know underneath that calm exterior there is a larva of emotions that is just bubbling underneath. I never buy that "a new car is a new car" statement that I have heard some customers tell me. Next to buying a house and a college education for your kids, this is the next biggest investment that a buyer makes. There is nothing nonchalant about purchasing a new vehicle.
No matter how much a buyer's thinks the biggest factor for buying a new car is the lowest price, price is irrelevant. If price is such a big factor, then why do people purchase products like Rolexes, Mercedes Benz vehicles, Apple products, Coach handbags, etc. etc. without asking for a discount. It's all about perceived value; if there is enough value seen by a buyer in a product, price is irrelevant. If a buyer is excited enough to buy a certain product, price is irrelevant.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Hybrids: Buy Now or Later
For those out there that might be thinking about buying a Prius, the choice is kind of a difficult one. On one hand, you can choose to buy now and pay a premium price for this hybrid or you can choose to wait and take a chance that production ramps up in Japan and the supply increases. Mother Nature does not care what the desires of the automobile shopping public in America are unfortunately. As I type right now, the unfortunate news is that another 7.1 richter scale after shock hit the coast of Japan.
There were two production facilities for hybrids opened within the last couple of weeks but with the most recent event who knows whats going to happen now. As someone who works in the automobile industry, my advice to anyone out there who is thinking about purchasing a Prius would be to buy now before dealers start adding a $500 or more bump to the sticker price. Dealers like the Toyota dealership I work at have already started selling at sticker and it might be like this for the next few months. As a result of what's happening in Japan, it has created a sales hike the past month to bump Toyota Prius sales over the millionth mark. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42455700
There were two production facilities for hybrids opened within the last couple of weeks but with the most recent event who knows whats going to happen now. As someone who works in the automobile industry, my advice to anyone out there who is thinking about purchasing a Prius would be to buy now before dealers start adding a $500 or more bump to the sticker price. Dealers like the Toyota dealership I work at have already started selling at sticker and it might be like this for the next few months. As a result of what's happening in Japan, it has created a sales hike the past month to bump Toyota Prius sales over the millionth mark. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42455700
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