Customer Experience

Automotive customer journey: Surveys for every stage

Jul 4, 2022

8 mins read

Manisha Khandelwal

What do you do when you want to buy a new car?

You would research, right?

You ask Google, social media, and your friends and family! 

You find the newest car in the market and research its features. Then compare those features with the other cars of similar prices. Talk about it with the people around and ask for their experience.

At last, take a test drive.

And if everything satisfies you, you book the car.

But, sometimes the car delivery takes days and you want a car NOW. So, you do everything again and choose a different car that’s available now.

There are many stages in the journey of the consumer who wants to buy a car.

Now the question is – how are you helping the consumers buy the car they want!

Are you there where your customers are?

In this article, we’ll talk about how you can listen to your customers’ experiences at every touchpoint of their car buying journey with your brand. It will help you answer certain questions like,

  • Are you there to provide them with the info on the car they need?
  • Are you there to offer them the confidence in the car they want?
  • Are you there to help them choose the car that is a fit for them?

Well, you can be!

But first, understand your customers’ expectations, know what they want at every step of their journey and offer them just that. 

How? – By simply asking them and listening to their feedback.

But asking the right questions at the right time on the proper channels is also important.

We are here to help you with that. Let’s first understand the touchpoint of the customer journey of buying a new car!

A Customer Journey – Buying a new car

A Customer Journey - Buying a new car

STAGE 1: Awareness

At this touchpoint, the consumer gets acquainted with the new car launch via social media, newspaper, advertisements, etc., or becomes aware of their desire to buy a new car. When he wants to buy a car, he can check car’s number with car identification checker.

STAGE 2: Discovery

Then they start exploring the cars suitable to their expectations via digital channels and asking the people around. 

STAGE 3: Consideration

When a car catches their attention that meets their expectations, they visit the brand’s store. Research on the make and model, talk to the salespeople, and take a test drive, weighing the pros and cons of each make and model.

STAGE 4: Purchase

When everything checks out and they are happy with the service, the ongoing process prior to the handover takes place such as negotiations, arranging finances, car offers, insurance, and more.

STAGE 5: Handover

At last, post the purchase and the notified waiting period, the car is delivered to the consumer with the celebration of their achievement. 

STAGE 6: After-sales

The consumer may visit the brand’s workshop to get the maintenance or repair service done or check the car’s spare parts. 

Now the question is, where you can take feedback from your customers and ask about their experience? 

Surveys to launch in an Automotive Customer Journey

Let’s start with consideration.

  • Take a survey before the sale of the car – Pre-Sales Surveys

Take a survey before the sale of the car - Pre-Sales Surveys

Now you can’t take their feedback at the first two stages because you are making them aware of the brand. But you can start from the 3rd milestone, that is, consideration.

This milestone is one of the primary touchpoints where consumers reject cars.

Many consumers abandon a car merely because the sales agent didn’t show the car properly or were unable to share the features. And sometimes the test drive didn’t go well. That’s why understanding customer experience is really important here. 

→ Here are some of the questions you can ask at this touchpoint.

  • Please rate your overall experience at the center.
  • How satisfying was your test drive? For vehicles that do not meet expectations, a total loss calculator can help determine if it’s more beneficial to pursue a claim.
  • Were you happy with the sales agent’s behavior?
  • How satisfied were you with the information shared by the agent?
  • What is the delivery they promised?
  • Which other car brands are you looking at?

When to launch this survey? – Same day after the test drive

What will you get out of it? – The Result

You get to know 

  • How well your agents are trained at each dealership?
  • Are they making any false promises?
  • Which brands are your direct competitors and in which particular region?
  • How satisfied your customers are with each dealership center?
  • Survey after booking the car

Survey after booking the car

If and when the consumer chooses the make and model of a car of your brand, their journey with you has just started. It’s time to discuss the finances. They talk to the sales advisor about the loan process, insurance, offers on the car, and later book the car.

→ Here are some of the questions you can ask at this touchpoint.

  • How easy was the process of booking the car?
  • Did you find any discount offers?
  • Did the sales advisor help you with the finances or the loan for the car?
  • What were the delivery timelines promised to you?

When to launch this survey? – Same day after booking the car

What will you get out of it? – The Result

You’ll learn

  • What your customers are looking for while booking your car?
  • Are the sales agents well versed to help customers with their finances?
  • During the car delivery

During the car delivery

The car is finally delivered to the consumer. But that’s not it. How was their experience from the time they booked the car to the time when the car was finally delivered, how did they feel, or were they satisfied with the entire experience? And how was the waiting period?

→ Here are some questions you can ask to understand their experience. 

  • Was the delivery date clearly communicated to you?
  • Was the car delivered to you on the promised date?
  • How easy-going was your communication with the agent during the waiting period?
  • How would you rate your overall experience today – from walking into the showroom, getting attended by the dealer, and getting your car delivered?

When to launch this survey? – Same day after the car delivery

What will you get out of it? – The Result

You’ll understand

  • How smooth is the process of your car delivery?
  • Is there a gap between the agent and customer communication?
  • Are the sales agents well versed to help customers with their finances?
  • After the car delivery – Post Sales Survey

After the car delivery - Post Sales Survey

Yaay! Finally, the car is delivered and your customers must be really happy with it. But are they? Or are they facing some problems with it? Know about by launching a post-sales survey, after 5-6 days of delivering the car. 

→ Here are some questions you can ask to understand their experience. 

  • ​​How satisfied are you with your driving experience?
  • How satisfied are you with the features of your car?
  • How happy are you with your purchase?
  • Did you face any trouble in the last 5 days? 
  • Was the dealership helpful during the trouble you faced? If yes, please explain.

When to launch this survey? – 5 days after the delivery

What will you get out of it?

You’ll discover if there is anything more you need to know to make your customers feel special while delivering the car. 

  • When your customers come back for the service

after service survey for the car

Take a survey when your customers are coming back to your workshop for their car service or repair. It is your time to engage with them and build a healthy relationship.

→ What can you ask?

  • How satisfied were you with the service advisor’s behavior when you shared your problems with them?
  • Were you informed of the costs covered for the car service?
  • How smooth was your experience with the car post its service?
  • Were your listed problems fixed post the car service?

When to launch this survey? – 3 days after the car service

What will you get out of it? – The Result

You’ll get to know how well each service station performs.

  • What if the customers dont come back for the service?

when customers dont come back for the service

And that’s not it. Launch a survey or call the customers who didn’t come to you for their car service after a year or so. If they are going somewhere else to use their services and if yes, understand their reasons. 

→ What can you ask?

  • Did you face any challenges while getting the service done from the workshop? If yes, please explain.
  • Where are you getting your car serviced?

When to launch this survey? – 1 year after the car’s delivery date

What will you get out of it? – The Result

You’ll get to know what your customers are not liking about your workshop or services.

At last…

All the data gathered is analyzed by each dealership. And the feedback is shared with every dealer so that they can work on their customer’s experiences. Moreover, the dealers are notified as soon as there are customers with negative feedback.

 

Manisha Khandelwal

Senior Content Marketer at SurveySensum

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