Why infrastructure sells more cars

It’s about the files, not the tiles

I would ask if someone was there.

We buy differently nowadays. Online sales are growing rapidly every year – 10% year on year according to the ONS. Something we can’t ignore. I’m not even a ‘millennial’ (born 80’s-00’s) and I’ve started doing it more and more.

But what does this trend mean for the retail motor trade?

We’ve known for years that the consumer is better informed today than ever; internet searches, reviews, on-line video test drives and so on. All this information is readily available for prospects to do their homework before they buy. And they do.

In fact, buyers are already 60% through the sales process before they actually engage a sales person¹. The amount of ‘tyre-kicking’ has reduced from an average of 5 visits to just 1.5 visits when buying a car.

I tried to buy a car last year. I went to the dealer, got ignored for half an hour, went home and ordered one over the phone from a competitor.

This year I tried calling the first dealer to book it in for a service, but got cut off by their phone system several times. I even tweeted them (8 months later I still haven’t had a reply). In the end, I managed to get into one of their other branches further away and I decided to work from there for the day. But their WiFi was not working when I pitched up.

Since then, I’ve been trying to come to terms with the situation.

• Why wasn’t my details taken right at the beginning?

• Was I logged as a visitor at all?

• Why couldn’t I get through on the phone?

• Why didn’t they ‘see’ the missed call and get back to me?

• Why doesn’t their social media work?

• Why couldn’t I work from the dealership?

Sadly, this is only one of many examples I have come across this year. That first dealer will never know that I visited or called. Blissfully unaware.

With potential customers now wanting to pretty much transact their choice of car, it’s imperative that dealers make it easy for them to do so.

In an ideal world, prospects would have gone online and filled in their details whilst configuring their car. These details would then be sent to the dealer network. They eventually pitch up at the dealer who takes their name and enters it into their CRM. Their systems recognise who they are, what car they want and the sales team upsells and closes the deal. The paperwork is mostly electronic and the prospect walks away within an hour. They are now a customer.

Too much to ask for? Not really. A few dealers are nearly there already. They are taking advantage of every opportunity by measuring, training and investing in the right IT infrastructure.

For it to be the panacea it does, however, need a few key ingredients:

• Data that is shared. From the manufacturer and websites to the dealers.

• Training. Staff that understand what a prospect is and can easily transact the deal.

• Reliable systems. The tech must work: CRM, system integrations, WiFi, telephone systems, tablets, PCs, social media, DMS. It doesn’t need to be expensive. It just needs to work.

In my opinion manufacturers are too keen on dealers spending their hard-earned money on physical ‘corporate identity’. They now need to shift the focus to systems, training and infrastructure that is reliable and efficient. After all, dealers may only get a small window of opportunity to transact a sale.

In the not-too-distant future motor retailing will be more about the files and less about the tiles.

¹Source: Gartner Group