There have been many studies about millennial car buying behavior over the years. In fact, one such study states that millennials come into the car buying experience with a much more positive attitude than their older counterparts. However, their Amazon like expectations kick in quickly and they become frustrated by the lack of transparency and the time it takes to buy. 1
So, with this car buying experience in mind, would millennials want to work at a car dealership? We recently asked 1,000+ millennials this question and got a resounding NO.
In fact…
Car dealerships ranked as one of the top 3 employers that millennials want to avoid at all costs (right next to politicians and tax collectors). 2
Millennials represent the largest population in the US at just over 75 million. This is 75 million people who don’t know a world before the iPhone. To them, technology is part of everyday life at home, school, and work. If it doesn’t exist on their smartphone, it doesn’t exist at all. In the world of technology, efficiency is king; so it is no wonder that this group brings their perception of lengthy car deals into consideration when they think about working for a car dealership.
Could introducing modern technology and making the process of selling cars more efficient increase their likelihood to work at a dealership? ABSOLUTELY.
70% of millennials would consider working for a car dealership if they had access to modern technology.
Technology plays an important role for millennials when choosing their ideal job, so much so that 9 out of 10 deem it a critical factor in their decision making process.
The good news is that dealerships today are deploying more and more technology to improve the car buying process for their customers, and in turn are driving efficiency for their employees. Employees can now leverage commerce solutions on iPads, kiosks and other mobile devices to walk a customer through pricing, payment options, trade-in estimates, service plans, etc. They can systematically learn the process of “selling” by letting the technology they use in their everyday lives drive these efforts.
Not only does this make for a quicker on-boarding process, but it also helps address some other reasons why millennials might not want to work at a car dealership: high pressured sales tactics & lack of transparency. With today’s commerce solutions, sales agents can act more like consultants, walking customers through their options and allowing technology to steer the pricing conversation on their behalf.
If car dealerships were more like Apple stores, 7 out of 10 millennials would gladly apply.
Bringing technology into the industry with digital commerce is one way dealers are evolving to meet the demands of today’s consumer. The other way to evolve is to bring younger, tech-savvy employees onto the showroom floor to use this technology.
The marriage of technology in dealership and the millennial employee seems like a no brainer; there are many dealerships that are having much success with this strategy. A great example is one of our favorite dealer partners Honda/Toyota of Seattle who has been successfully using technology to attract the younger generation for years.
This may be the case of what comes first, the chicken or the egg. The more technology that dealerships bring to the showroom, the more likely they are to attract the millennial generation of employees who can manage that technology. The key is finding the right balance for your particular store.
Want to learn more? Email us to request a full copy of the Millennial Job Satisfaction Survey.
1 2015 MTV Study: Millennials Have Drive
2 2017 Roadster Millennial Job Study
