Do you need to know what is really happening within a car dealership?
or a dealership network?
or a whole network?
We can help!
Call Customerwise now on 01392 984224, email connect@customerwise.co.uk, or book a call with Paul Taylor, here.
We provide a full range of mystery shopping services (covering all and any enquiry channels) with tailored solutions for car brands, dealership groups, FCA compliance organisations, automotive consultancies and others. Video Mystery Shopping is a speciality.
Why use Customerwise for Automotive Mystery Shopping?
We focus on what's most important:
- High quality, realistic interactions from well briefed and highly skilled mystery shoppers.
- Accurate and reliable reporting output, tuned to client requirements.
We use the class-leading SASSIE online reporting platform to deliver feedback to clients. SASSIE provides huge amounts of flexibility in terms of reporting (including tailored dashboards for different stakeholders).
We offer a number of unique service features that really make the difference for our clients, including Kaizen Action Plans.
(We also provide mystery shopping services for motorcycle dealerships and we're one of very few providers that can recruit real bikers - who can take test rides - nationwide)
What Our Clients say...
We have worked with Customerwise for several years now. They support us with the oversight of our Appointed Representative network and our Directly Authorised clients. The Team at Customerwise are always on hand to support us and with the technology behind them deliver strong management information which informs risk, and our policies and procedures that follow. We would highly recommend the team at Customerwise to other firms wishing to use mystery shopping as part of their compliance monitoring program.
Product Partnerships
“I’ve been consistently impressed with the quality of delivery and the responsive account management that we’ve received from Customerwise, and I would highly recommend them.”
Fiat Chrysler Automotive (now CA Auto Finance)
From the outset the team at Customerwise where extremely helpful and consultative in creating bespoke programs to measure the customer experience both across our own network and in comparison to other manufacturers… Customerwise were highly efficient in the turning the initial brief into a working program within a matter of weeks. The shoppers used were very professional and were excellent in asking relevant ‘natural’ questions whilst adhering to the overall brief. The shopping reports and dashboard were extremely professional in appearance and were simple yet very effective to use and provided clear results and the ability to benchmark. In addition, when they carried out a wave across other competitors they also provided a presentation style report of their…
(Top 10 Global Vehicle Manufacturer)
We moved to Customerwise around one year ago. We were looking for a new company to re-ignite our mystery shopping programme after our old programme had become stagnant over the years. Since being with Customerwise, we have had more regular mystery shop sessions and there is always great communication…Tamsin and the team are always on hand to help. They have been accommodating when we required last minute changes and have demonstrated that they want to build a relationship with us to genuinely improve our customer experience.
Mercedes Benz South West
Great communication, excellent attention to detail.
Norton Way Group
A vehicle is a major purchase for most people, and can be fairly complex. A customer's motivations and their decision making factors can be many and varied. Often they go beyond just the utility and practicality of a vehicle.
The way that a vehicle brand, a dealership, and individual staff members are perceived can have an enormous impact on a customer's decisions. The sales skills of, and the service and advice provided by an individual staff member can be pivotal firstly to whether a sale takes place, and to the value and profitability of any transaction.
Mystery Shopping can help to monitor whether everything that should be happening is happening. It can also help reveal clear opportunities for improvement in terms of customer satisfaction and business performance.
What types of businesses invest in Automotive Mystery Shopping?
The most common types of businesses that commission Mystery Shopping include dealerships and dealership groups offering new and used vehicles of all types including cars, motorbikes, motorhomes & recreational vehicles, commercial vehicles and others. This includes main franchised dealers, and independent used vehicle dealers as well as garages and vehicle servicing providers.
Vehicle manufacturers / brands also use Mystery Shopping to test their network, and lenders also use it (increasingly) to test associated dealers to help assess their regulatory (FCA) compliance.
How is Mystery Shopping used and what are the potential benefits?
Due to the historically sales-driven nature of the automotive industry / "motor trade", Mystery Shopping (and especially Video Mystery Shopping) has been used for years to gain greater understanding of the fine detail of real-life sales interactions.
In recent years though, customer service and the overall customer experience has become an equal or greater area of focus.
Mystery Shopping activity is most often focused on sales enquiries relating to new and used vehicles, but it is also used for servicing-related enquiries and experiences.
Due to increasingly strict regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (including the new Consumer Duty), FCA compliance has become a key focus area and driver of Mystery Shopping activity, particular where it is commissioned by dealer groups and lenders.
Experiences and reports typically cover the entire customer journey, often involving initial online enquiries, telephone conversations, booked visits (often video recorded), sometimes video chat interactions (e.g. Zoom), and follow-up activity.
The benefits of Mystery Shopping for the automotive industry can be many and varied.
- Improved customer experiences and increased customer satisfaction (and ultimately customer loyalty).
- Improved FCA Compliance (reducing business risk).
- Improved lead conversion and therefore increased sales volumes.
- Increased sales values and profit (through choices made through the sales process, e.g. trim options, add on sales, etc.).
If you would like to discuss the possibility of Mystery Shopping for a business in the automotive industry, please don't hesitate to contact us here at Customerwise using connect@customerwise.co.uk or 01392 984224.