Dealers measure almost everything: leads, appointments, close rate, gross, PVR, CSI and salesperson productivity.

Maybe we need another number on the dashboard: customer minutes.

CDK's September buyer study found the Ease of Purchase score fell below 80% for the first time since December. More concerning, 39% of buyers said their transaction took longer than expected.

Customers specifically complained about negotiation, paperwork and waiting to move from one step of the deal to another.

And CDK says Net Promoter Score drops significantly once the transaction reaches two hours.

Dealers have invested heavily in CRMs, digital retailing, desking, electronic contracting and AI. Yet a customer can still spend hours completing a transaction after deciding to buy.

Maybe transaction time shouldn't be viewed as a CSI issue.

It may be an operating-efficiency issue.

Should every dealership measure total time-to-delivery—and hold managers accountable for it just like gross and closing rate?