Dealership salespeople are getting higher scores from auto consumers, 90% reporting a positive impression from their time with a sales staffer in March.

Though plentiful inventory moves the auto consumer satisfaction level the most, CDK Global has found in its monthly surveys, sales staff performance also has a big impact.

Experience with dealer salespeople has been on the rise over the three years CDK has been tracking the metric. It’s surveyed more than 11,000 car buyers about the purchase process over that period.

The time it takes a consumer to buy a car significantly impacts their satisfaction in the process, CDK points out. And if it takes more than three hours, the Net Promoter Score, which indicates the likelihood a person would recommend a dealer to others, drops nearly 20 points.

Since 2022, the percentage of survey respondents saying salespeople made efficient use of their time has increased from 75% to 82% last year, CDK says.

More consumers are also experiencing dealer salespeople as having solid vehicle knowledge, up from 77% in 2022 to 82% last year.

In the latest survey, CDK also found that 83% of auto shoppers found salespeople’s explanations of vehicles and the purchase process to be clear, an aspect many highly value, particularly the youngest consumers. That was also up from 77% in 2022.

And more auto shoppers are finding sales staff conducting themselves professionally, CDK’s survey finds. Eighty-five percent said the person guiding them through their purchase last year was professional throughout, up from 81% in 2022.

DIG DEEPER: Elevating the Auto Sales Experience