Press

Monterey, California – June 5, 2023 – Group 1 Automotive was ranked first of the seventeen largest U.S. auto dealer groups by the 2023 PSI^® Service Telephone Effectiveness™ (STE™) Study, which measured the efficiency and quality of service telephone calls from a customer’s objective of quickly and easily setting up a service appointment. Following Group 1 in the rankings were Berkshire Hathaway Automotive and Ken Garff Automotive Group.

Since 2007 Pied Piper has applied Prospect Satisfaction Index^® (PSI^®) “fact-based mystery shopping” to measure how effectively dealerships for each major brand follow best practice sales process behaviors. On average, dealerships with higher PSI scores have proven to sell more vehicles to the same quantity of online or in-person sales customers. The same fact-based PSI approach has also been applied to measure behaviors that maximize service customer loyalty. An auto dealer’s relationship with a service customer typically starts with a customer phone call to schedule a service appointment. STE has been used to measure the effectiveness of those phone calls for more than ten years, but 2023 marks the first time that STE results have been compiled into an auto industry study.

“Customers who find scheduling a service appointment difficult vote with their feet by moving to another dealership or independent shop, or postponing service,” said Fran O’Hagan, Pied Piper CEO. “The auto industry has long focused on the experience of customers who bring their vehicle in for service, but what really happens leading up to the appointment? STE fills-in that gap.”