Great post Adam. Technology is certainly changing the way consumers interact and make buying decisions. Millennials may be the early adopters of technology but the environment for adaptation is too fast paced to assume utilization doesn't span generations. Humans will always want to interact (and do business) with people they like and trust.

@Joy Great points. The tendencies of doing business with those we trust/like certainly hasn't changed, just the way we do business. It used to be the only way to establish trust was through face to face, but that has definitely moved online with transparency and ease of transaction.

Amen to this stuff. I am a big advocate of a fluid sales process within a wider framework, not a dictatorial sales experience for customers!

RE: "1. A gentleman goes to a dealership ready to pay cash for a car, but walks out when he is required to give his personal information before a test drive." HINT - You absolutely do NOT do test drives without a copy of the drivers license left in the store. Anyone suggesting that practice be stopped has obviously never owned a dealership. Its always a good idea to learn a business before setting out to change it.

RE: "They tend to be less brand loyal, distrust marketing, trust friends and do their research."All true. Consumers have always done research. Customers today have so much more information. They also have less ability to unpack that information, so they have more info but "know" less. Its like drinking from a fire hose for them, but they think they know, which can make them really prickly to work with. Auto retail has run off a LOT of talent. Putting a bunch of youngsters who think they know more than they do with youngsters who are inexperienced and who aren't given all the information by their ownership isn't an equation easily solved.BTW, don't think I'm suggesting we give sales people "all the info." I'm not. Its none of their business just as it is none of the business of the consumer. For those who think "transparency" is the answer, I suggest posting your triple net cost and listing your margin separately. See how that works out. Apple will be transparent when they do the same. Do you ask the grocer what the cost is of the head of lettuce you are buying?Another hint to those who want to remake auto retail in the image of Amazon, Apple, Disney, or whomever. We already retail new vehicles for about break even after expenses. And consumers as a group still aren't happy. Decades ago consumers were happier when our industry sold new cars for real net profit. Our mission is to win them over one by one, not try to mollify them as a cohort. If we are successful one out of three times, we're doing well. What piques customers is the thought that someone might have gotten a better deal than they did. Its the FTC that prevents us from sticking to MSRP. If we could, consumers would all be happy, right? They'd all pay the same. There would be no Scott Painter "friction" and we'd be doing a 20 million SAAR, right? How do you please them all? I do my own surveys. Every time I'm in front of a group I ask for a show of hands of everyone who believes a dealer is entitled to an 8% to 10% return. I don't use terms like gross profit and net profit, because few people are accountants. 80% to 90% raise their hand feeling that this is reasonable. A little later I ask the same question differently. "How many of you would be happy if you got home and discovered your dealer had just made a $3K profit off of you. NO ONE raises their hand. Go figure. So much for surveys. What is important is to know what they mean rather than what they say.

RE: "The result of this frustration is that 56% of those surveyed would buy more often if the process were easier."This is entirely incorrect. You can say that 56% SAID they would buy more often if the process were easier, but until you can measure that, to say they would buy more often just isn't accurate.The process would be easier if consumers all had great credit and no trade negative equity. The process would be easier if we could just ignore all of the government forms and regulations. The process would be easier if new vehicles didn't cost so much..... then there's that pesky sales tax. The process would be easier if we could charge everyone the same. But most people learn as they grow older that we can't change the world until we first learn to live in it the way it is first. And as we grow older, we frequently discover there might be good reasons things are the way the are.

David, you are a wise man.

@David Thanks for the added color to some of my supporting statements. I should have made some points clearer in my post (as you have pointed out): 1. "You absolutely do NOT do test drives without a copy of the drivers license left in the store." Agreed, and that was not the issue with this customer. The customer I referred to in the DrivingSales study was frustrated that the dealer wanted to get his personal information to run is credit before allowing him to test drive the vehicle, that was the point of frustration, not that he was unwilling to give his driver's license. I assumed that would be clear since as you said that is a basic practice in the industry, but I should have made that point clearer. 2. "You can say that 56% SAID they would buy more often if the process were easier, but until you can measure that, to say they would buy just isn't accurate." You are absolutely correct. Just because they SAID they would buy does not mean they would. The point I am trying to make though is that everyone, Millennials and other age groups want an improved buying process and that could result in more sales, not 56% more across the industry, but certainly an increase. Side note: Autotrader conducted a similar study and produced nearly identical results saying that 53% of consumers would buy more, interesting: http://press.autotrader.com/2015-03-31-New-Autotrader-Study-Consumers-Want-Big-Changes-to-the-Car-Buying-Process You make excellent points about price. It is apparent that driving to the lowest prices doesn't make customers happier. What they do want is to trust the they get a fair deal or as you put it "What piques customers is the thought that someone might have gotten a better deal than they did". Great point that: "Our mission is to win them over one by one, not try to mollify them as a cohort. If we are successful one out of three times, we're doing well." This is a slow process that will be won one person at a time, but it can be won. We've seen how Social Media amplifies negative experiences, it does the same for positive as well.

RE: "Millennials and other age groups want an improved buying process and that could result in more sales, not 56% more across the industry, but certainly an increase."All age groups will answer this question the same way. This is nothing new. 40 years ago the answer would have been the same. But consumers don't have the same idea of what an "improved process" is. Further, this leaves the impression that there is such a thing as an "old process" and a "new and improved process." I don't get that. Demanding personal info to run a credit bureau BEFORE a demo drive was substandard process 30 years ago. Auto retail has always been a slow process to be won one buyer at a time. And dealers are winning to the tune of a 17.3 SAAR. The idea that we'd be selling at a 20 million SAAR rate if we alleviated friction in the sales process isn't valid. You can't "prove" that based on what consumers say in an answer to a survey question. You can "claim" it. You can say I can't prove you wrong. And I can claim my grandmother is in orbit around Mars, and you can't disprove it. I asked both Maryann Keller and Tom Webb about this, and they both laughed at the premise. First, there is no new and improved sales process that satisfies all consumers. While it is true that if you sold all new cars for triple net cost, we would sell more cars, that's not hardly an "improved sales process." Part of the "friction" is the dealer's profit. We are already selling at about break even after expenses. We could reduce "friction" if only the FTC would allow us to charge everyone the same margin. All you have to do is get the FTC to go along with that. More friction is sales tax. Get rid of that and we'd sell a few more cars. But we live and operate in the real world. RE: "This is a slow process that will be won one person at a time, but it can be won."Yes, and dealers are winning to the tune of a 17.3 million SAAR. Regarding "old process" and "new and improved." To reiterate, this is a false comparison. People like Mark Rykess paint some really bad processes and policies as typical "old method." That's just BS. I started my auto business career in what was essentially a One Price store. The year was 1970. It wasn't called One Price then. In 1970 a sales person could make real income. While sales staff turned over, it was nothing like it is now. There was much more of a relationship built between customer and sales person. It wasn't perfect. There is no "perfect." It was better than today. A consumer needed less information because things were much less complex. Consumers knew MORE then than today, not less.

Great Article!!