Dealership Lost Sale Survey Template

Twelve questions for the shoppers who walked, who should ask them, and how the answers become changes at the desk, in follow-up and in your lead sources.

Every store keeps a count of the deals it lost. Few know why they lost them, because the reason usually comes from the salesperson who worked the deal, at the end of a long day, with every reason to pick the kindest explanation. "Customer went quiet" and "shopping price" cover a lot of ground.

A dealership lost sale survey asks the person who actually knows: the customer. A manager calls or texts a shopper who did not buy, asks a few short questions, and writes down the answers word for word. Over a month, those answers show whether the store is losing on price, on payment structure, on trade value, on inventory, on credit, on the way the shopper was treated, or simply on timing.

It works at any kind of store. A franchise rooftop learns whether it is losing to a same brand dealer across town. An independent or used car store learns whether its trade offers are the problem. A buy here pay here store learns where its down payment conversation breaks. An RV or boat dealership, where a shopper can take a season to decide, learns which lost shoppers are really just early.

Download the printable dealership lost sale survey (PDF), with the phone script, the twelve questions, a short text version and a monthly tally sheet.

• Who. Shoppers who visited or had a real conversation and did not buy: a test drive with no deal, a deal worked at the desk that never closed, a credit application that went nowhere, an appointment that was set and confirmed. Leave out leads who never answered at all; they belong in follow-up, not in a survey.
• When. Two to seven days after the deal went cold. Sooner feels like more selling. Later, the customer has forgotten the details, or bought somewhere else and stopped caring.
• Who asks. A manager, the BDC manager or a trained BDC agent, never the salesperson who worked the deal. Customers are kinder than they are accurate with the person they dealt with.
• How. A phone call gets the richest answers. A text with three questions gets the most answers. Many stores text first and call the shoppers who reply.

Open with the reason for the call and a promise to keep it short: "I manage the sales team. I saw you visited on Saturday and we did not find the right fit, and I would like two minutes to learn what we could have done better." Then ask, listen and write it down. Keep selling out of the survey call. If the customer asks about a car, hand them back to a salesperson the same day.

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Ask the first three on every call. Use the rest as follow-ups when the answer points that way: a customer who says "payment" gets questions 5 and 8, and one who mentions the salesperson gets questions 10 and 11. The short text version uses questions 1, 2 and 12, with room for a free answer.

It is 9:40 on a Saturday. A couple drives in for an appointment on a used crossover, takes a test drive and sits at the desk for forty minutes. The numbers never land, and they leave saying they will think about it. On Tuesday the salesperson texts and gets a reply: they bought a similar model from a store across town.

The salesperson opens the lead and sets the status to Lost. The Mark Lead As Lost popup opens, he picks Bought Same Brand Elsewhere from the Reason list, types "bought across town, mentioned payment" into the Custom comment line, and clicks Save & Mark Lost. The reason is now on the lead.

On Thursday the sales manager works through the week's lost deals. She calls the couple from the CRM softphone, explains the call in one sentence and asks the three core questions. The answer is not price. The other store showed them a longer term with a lower payment, and nobody at her desk asked what payment they needed. Because the call is recorded and transcribed, the conversation sits on the lead's communications timeline, and she adds a one line note with the survey result.

At Saturday's sales meeting she needs nobody's memory. Six lost deals that week, three with the same payment story. The desk agrees to ask for the payment target before the first pencil, and the store's EZ Desking worksheets already show cash, finance and lease side by side, so the term conversation happens at the table.

A survey is worth the time only if the answers change something. Tally the main reason for each completed survey every month, and match the top reasons to an owner and a fix.

The last row matters more than it looks. Shoppers who say "not ready" are real people who asked to be contacted, and lost lead reactivation covers how stores bring them back months later.

A survey on a clipboard gets read once. Answers recorded on the customer record get read every time someone opens the lead, and they roll up into reporting.

• Lost reasons. The lost reason tracking popup makes every Lost status carry a reason from your store's reason list. Ask our team to add reasons that match your survey, such as payment or trade value, so the survey and the CRM speak the same language.
• Notes and the timeline. The survey answers go into a note on the lead, beside every text, email and recorded call with the customer.
• Tags. Tag each surveyed lead so the month's surveys are easy to find again.
• Follow Up Processes. A shopper who says "not ready" goes onto a longer drip instead of staying Lost. A Follow Up Process can also carry a Lost Reason that is stamped on the lead when the drip ends without a sale.
• Reports. The Reports button on the dock brings the month's lost reasons together, so the pattern is on screen instead of in someone's memory.

The guide to marking a lead lost with a reason shows the clicks, and the call recording and transcription page covers the survey call itself. Lost reasons, notes, tags and recorded calls are all part of LeadLocate CRM.

A text version reaches more people. Write the three question text once, then send it from the lead's composer or schedule it for a later date and time, so it goes out at a reasonable hour instead of the moment a manager remembers. Every reply lands in the SMS inbox and on the lead's timeline.

Keep the text personal and short: the manager's name, one line on why, and the questions. Send it only to shoppers who have already texted with your store, and honor every request to stop. A customer who asks never to be contacted again goes on the DNC Blacklist, which hides them from every CRM view. A lost reason is for a deal that died; the blacklist is for a person who opted out. The dealership texting compliance guide covers consent in more depth.

When a customer answers, thank them, whatever they say. A shopper who took two minutes to tell you your trade offer felt insulting has done your store a favor, and the best surveys end with the customer feeling heard, not sold.

Make it a routine with an owner, a weekly target and a meeting slot.

1. Every Monday, pull last week's Lost leads that had a real visit or conversation.
2. Assign them to one manager or BDC agent. Ten completed surveys a week is plenty for most stores.
3. Ask the three core questions and the follow-ups that fit, and write the answers on the lead.
4. Tally the main reasons on the monthly sheet in the PDF.
5. Bring the top three reasons to the monthly sales meeting, with one owner and one fix each.
6. Check the next month whether those reasons shrank.

The survey itself costs nothing but time. The CRM side, with lost reasons, recorded calls, scheduled texts and reports, comes with the LeadLocate subscription. Each plan includes a login to start, more users are an add-on, and usage credits cover bulk texting and phone and email validation. Plans are on the pricing page.

How many questions should a lost sale survey have?

Three on every call: did you buy, what was the main reason you did not buy from us, and was there a second reason. Add follow-up questions only where the answer points, so the call stays under five minutes. The text version also uses three questions.

Should the salesperson who worked the deal make the call?

No. A manager, the BDC manager or a trained BDC agent gets more accurate answers, because customers soften the truth for the person they dealt with. The salesperson still marks the lead Lost with a reason first.

When is the best time to survey a lost customer?

Two to seven days after the deal goes cold. Earlier feels like more selling, and later the customer has forgotten the details or stopped caring.

Is it better to call or text the survey?

A call gets richer answers and a text gets more answers. Many stores text the short version first and call the customers who reply. Text only customers who have already texted with your store, and stop the moment they ask.

What if the customer has not bought yet?

Then the call is a chance to help. Answer their question, hand them to a salesperson the same day, and put them on a longer follow-up process instead of leaving the lead Lost.

How do we keep the answers consistent across managers?

Use the same script and questions, write the customer's words into a note on the lead, and match the lost reason list in the CRM to your survey categories, so every answer lands in the same bucket.

Does the survey work for RV and boat dealerships?

Yes. Buying cycles are longer, so expect more "not ready yet" answers. Treat those as follow-up rather than lost, and survey again only if the customer buys elsewhere.

Watch the demo of a lead marked Lost with a reason, a recorded follow-up call on its timeline and the month's reasons in reporting, then compare plans on the pricing page.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.