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DEALER TIPS
What Not to Do on a Dealership Test Drive
By Steve Finlay, WardsAuto
Dealers shouldn’t do certain things on a test the driver. Without going to such extremes,
drive, lest they freak out customers. “get creative with explaining technology,”
Kolodge says.
So says Kristin Kolodge, J.D. Power’s
executive director-driver interaction and That’s because when dealers take time to
human/machine interface, while promoting do that, customer satisfaction increases,
the need for consumers to understand the she says. “When consumers understand the
advanced technology in their vehicles, but technology, they will use it on a day-to-day
without experiencing the trauma of a real- basis.”
world demonstration.
Yet the in-store delivery of a vehicle to a
One no-no she cites is to show how buyer should not turn into a protracted
automatic emergency-braking works by technology tutorial. “It is not reasonable to
putting customers driving a demo car in a explain everything,” Kolodge says.
tight traffic spot and telling them, “Don’t
brake.” Some dealers who take time to explain the
technology end up doing what amounts
That may show the wonders of collision- to double vehicle deliveries, says Peter
avoidance systems, but it may also stress out Hoffman, president of Sierra Autocars, a
14 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer FEBRUARY 2018
