Customer satisfaction research from Pied Piper Management Company shows local new car and truck dealerships dramatically outperform factory direct sales in customer satisfaction.

Pied Piper research found Cadillac, Infinity and Mercedes Benz held the top spots in customer satisfaction among 25 luxury brands, while direct sellers Tesla, Lucid and Rivian scored 21st, 23rd and 25th respectively.

Pied Piper uses the following measures to gauge customer experiences:

• Responsiveness to website customer inquiries

• Continued responsiveness when customers visited retailers in-person

Pied Piper based responsiveness to website customer inquiries on 22 best-practice behaviors and effectiveness of shopping in-person on over 50 best-practice behaviors. The evaluation, which took place between July 2021 and July 2022, examined 1,657 measurements of response to website customer inquiries and 1,096 measurements of the in-person sales experience.

Fran O’Hagan, CEO of Pied Piper, said the research found that direct sellers Tesla, Rivian and Lucid  use brand reps “who answer only simple, scripted questions without being proactively helpful.” She added, “It’s a missed opportunity that does not currently compensate for the missing retail experience.”

Tesla also did little to help website customers, she said, noting “Tesla’s model today appears to be, ‘If you want what we sell, and require no assistance, it’s easy to order.’”

Learn more about the 2022 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index Premium Auto Study (USA) at: www.piedpiperpsi.com