Dealers have poured millions into digital retailing tools, streamlining F&I processes, and improving appointment-setting systems, all designed to cut transaction times as much as possible. But AutoGenius founder Ben Hadley thinks this obsession with speed misses the point entirely.
Driving the news: "The 'aha moment' for me... I don't know if it was 2016, 2017, or somewhere in there, Cox Auto had a study. It was customers hate spending three and a half hours in a dealership," Hadley told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D'Arc and Uli de' Martino. "But here's how I would test your brain to see if you're a little too data drunk... what did your brain immediately go and try to optimize in that sentence? A number."
"We actually have gotten so short-term thinking in automotive that what we immediately beam into is, well, I'll take that three and a half hours and make it 45 minutes. Our minds skip over the word hate. Which is crazy because we might just make a 45-minute process people hate," Hadley explained.
So, time aside... Why are these customers so frustrated with the car buying process?
The breakdown: Hadley has determined that it comes do to a ratio of how necessary the purchase is versus how long it takes to receive gratification, effectively mapping out four distinct quadrants:
Obligatory + slow (necessary purchase, delayed gratification) Ex. Routine dental work
Obligatory + instant (necessary purchase, immediate reward) Ex. Emergency plumbing repair
Optional + slow (discretionary purchase, delayed gratification) Ex. Rolex waitlist
Optional + instant (discretionary purchase, immediate reward) Ex. Streaming service subscription
Courtesy of Ben Hadley
The problem: Car buying lands squarely in the "obligatory + slow" quadrant, right alongside roof repair, which is likely the source of negative customer sentiment.
The solution: Hadley draws from the classic Blue Ocean Strategy framework developed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.
Red oceans are crowded, commoditized markets where competitors fight on price, features, and availability (exactly where most dealers operate today).
Blue oceans are "uncontested" spaces where businesses create new demand by delivering unique value instead of competing on traditional metrics.
To capitalize on these uncontested spaces, car dealers are transcending quadrants through specific marketing channels.
Path 1: Obligated + instant
This strategy focuses on removing friction from the purchasing process (think one-click online checkouts).
Marketing channels often include TikTok ads, Instagram Reels, lightning-fast website load times, and streamlined inventory search.
Path 2: Optional + slow
Transform delayed gratification into exclusivity through invitation-only events, waitlists, and high-touch concierge experiences.
"There's no such thing as a fast cruise ship," Hadley explained. "A cruise ship is slow as hell, and that's actually part of the experience."
Marketing shifts to thoughtful and intentional direct mail campaigns, dealership events, and prestige branding.
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Path 3: Optional + fast
Create impulse-driven buying moments through limited-time offers, flash sales, and experiential marketing that delivers quick emotional payoffs.
Marketing leverages high-energy promotions designed for spontaneous decisions.
The goal is to create a fun, fast, (slightly more) emotionally charged experience.
The key insight: dealers can't pretend they're optional while acting obligatory. They must pick a quadrant and commit to the marketing strategy that matches.
First, plot your dealership on the quadrant (obligation vs. optional, slow vs. instant). And then decide whether to lean experiential, instant, or even back into undervalued traditional channels. Align the appropriate marketing medium to the correct quadrant, and the experience completely changes for customers.
Why it matters: Using this framework allows dealers the option to compete on unique value rather than price or availability. And by using the right marketing channels for the chosen quadrant instead of blanket digital saturation, the ROI on ad spend can (and is usually) much higher.
Looking ahead: Historically, digital marketing has been about saturation (i.e. get in front of as many eyeballs as possible, as cheaply as possible).
But now, Hadley said with AI in the mix, saturation will get even easier: AI will curate and deliver answers instantly. Inventory, price, and feature comparisons will be surfaced in milliseconds.
Basically, the “table stakes” of speed and visibility will no longer differentiate a dealer… they’ll be commoditized.
So, Hadley warns that in this AI-driven future, the only thing that cuts through is meaning. Customers will gravitate to signals that feel human, intentional, and valuable.
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