Cars.com offers more security to car buyers

In the US, just like here in the Netherlands, they have a number of large car portals. Autotrader.com and Cars.com are important players who follow the market very closely. Cars.com has recently announced a new feature to offer buyers more security. Security, or the lack of it, has turned out to be a topic that many buyers have to deal with. For us, that discussion about security is not new, just think of the commotion surrounding the BOVAG guarantee. What applies here in the Netherlands also applies to the US: the car buyer is looking for security.

Every research shows that the seller should be a security factor. The customer puts a good salesman high on his list of securities. A salesperson who sells talks is not attractive and even appears as unreliable. That is why it is actually strange that most reviews, also in the Netherlands, are mainly about the company and not about the seller. It is precisely that seller who, in many cases, can have more influence on the success of the deal than the reputation of the car company.

Reviews for the car salesman

Cars.com also has a review website called DealerRater. On this website it is possible to write a review specifically about the seller. This way the seller creates his own reputation and name! That is important and convenient, because that security-seeking buyer can often find it difficult to find information about that seller who is about to sell him a car. To become friends through Facebook is too private in that purchase phase and LinkedIn is just too businesslike. So how do you discover as a customer whether you are dealing with a good salesman? Cars.com solves this with DealerRater.

I believe that sales people should have their own website on which they present themselves, including objective reviews. And why not, you do want to do business in all openness, right? In the Netherlands there are already dealers who present themselves much better than the rest. See the examples of, among others, Hendrik Liewes and Edwin Ietswaard.

The product page (VDP)

On the product page of Cars.com, the so-called Vehicle Detail Page (VDP), you can see the reviews of the company AND the reviews of the various sellers of that company. That’s nice, so the buyer can choose which seller he prefers to do business with. Indeed, yes, salesman or saleswoman. There are customers who prefer to sit with the other sex at the negotiating table.
The approach to add reviews from sales people is a valuable one. It fits the trend that BDCs and CCCs are just there as a patch because the lead follow-up is lousy. A real solution to the problem isn’t such a BDC or CCC. Lead follow-up should primarily lie in the hands of the seller. Actually, at the hands of the best seller. And let the customer decide who is the best.

About Paul de Vries

Paul de Vries became a Key Automotive Spokesperson at eBay (Marktplaats) after selling Nieuweautokopen.nl to eBay back in 2015. Paul is the founder and CEO of the #DCDW Academy and the presenter of the #DCDW Podcast. He is also a by dealers and importers frequently asked speaker in the online automotive industry. Paul is the winner of the prestigious Lighthouse Award 2016 in the U.S.! `Lead the Way op de digitale snelweg’ is Paul’s new book, which can be used as a guide in the online automotive industry. More information is available at: DCDW.nl.