How dealership mystery shopping works.

What is a dealership mystery shop?

A dealership mystery shop is a test contact made by someone posing as a real car buyer. The shopper calls your sales line or sends an internet lead, then records how your team handles it: how fast they respond, what they ask, whether they know the vehicle, whether they offer an alternative, and whether they ask for the appointment.

Your team doesn't know which contacts are shops. That's the point. You see how your people handle buyers on an ordinary Tuesday: the calls worth celebrating and the ones worth a quick coaching moment.

The five steps

1. You tell us what to test

We start with your dealership, your lead sources and what you want to know. Maybe your website leads go quiet after one email. Maybe your AutoTrader.ca spend is climbing and you want to know if the leads are being worked. Maybe you just want a baseline.

2. We pick real vehicles from your inventory

Every shop asks about a specific vehicle on your lot, so the contact looks like any other buyer. When we want to test how your team handles a sold or missing unit, we ask about one that's gone.

3. We contact your store as a buyer

For a phone mystery shop we call your sales line from a local number with a realistic buyer story. For an internet lead mystery shop we submit a lead through your website or a third-party source like AutoTrader.ca or CarGurus.

4. We track every response

Calls are recorded. Lead replies are timestamped from the second we submit, and we keep tracking emails, texts and call-backs for as long as your team keeps following up.

5. You get the results

Each shop comes back with a scorecard covering 20+ criteria, the call recording and a written breakdown of what happened. Bring it to Monday's sales meeting or a one-on-one, however you run your team.

What we score

• Phone handling: rings to answer, greeting, hold time, qualifying questions and asking for the appointment.
• Response speed: time to first reply on every internet lead.
• Follow-up persistence: one email and done, or a real cadence across email, text and phone.
• Vehicle knowledge and value: whether the salesperson builds value in the vehicle or just answers the question.
• Alternatives: when the unit is sold, do they check incoming stock or the dealer network, or let the buyer walk?
• Appointment setting: do they offer a specific time, or leave it open?

Services