Maxximum Effort.
CarMax wanted higher customer satisfaction without losing its people-first feel. We went looking for the friction — and found it in the waiting.
We split CarMax customers by NPS and compared their experiences across five operational variables. Waiting — in store and on the phone — was the strongest driver of dissatisfaction, and inventory helped most at medium levels. That became three staffing and inventory recommendations tied directly to measured drivers.
The problem
Satisfaction was slipping across both physical and digital touchpoints. In-store waits ran long. Calls went unanswered until customers gave up. And inventory decisions forced a trade-off between selection and efficiency.
The question we set out to answer: which of these frictions actually drives dissatisfaction — and which are just noise?
min average in-store wait for detractors
min for promoters — the loyalty gap is a wait time
The deck, restored
10 SLIDES · MORPH PRESERVEDHow we worked
Segment by sentiment
Used NPS to split customers into detractors (0–6), neutrals (7–8), and promoters (9–10) — so we could compare the unhappy against the loyal, behavior for behavior.
Test five frictions
In-store wait, inventory level, average hold, maximum hold, and time-to-abandonment — measured across all three segments to see which gaps actually tracked with sentiment.
Translate to operations
Turned the segment gaps into three concrete recommendations — staffing, inventory policy, and remote responsiveness — each tied to a measured satisfaction driver.
What the data said
SOURCE — CARMAX OPERATIONAL DATA- a.
Waiting is the strongest driver of dissatisfaction. Detractors waited 61.5 minutes in-store against 38.4 for promoters — the same pattern held on the phone.
- b.
Inventory should be optimized, not maximized. Low levels limited choice; high levels bred inefficiency. Medium-to-high levels produced the best satisfaction outcomes.
- c.
Remote service is the quiet failure point. Customers were willing to engage — they abandoned calls after 1.6 minutes because timely help never came.
Where it landed
Three recommendations, each tied to a measured driver rather than a hunch:
- —Reduce in-store wait — allocate more service reps and streamline the customer journey.
- —Hold medium inventory — balance selection against operational drag, location by location.
- —Expedite remote response — staff calls and online channels so willing customers stop abandoning them.
The result was an operational roadmap where every line item traces back to a satisfaction driver in the data.