Providers have observed a greater need for modernized and integrated dealer systems, but what does this mean for auto retailers dealing with a global pandemic?
There is no doubt that automotive technology and systems’ providers are seeing an accelerated need among dealers to do more online.
That need has provided dealers with an opportunity to modernize their DMS and CRM systems and benefit from a greater integration of tools and systems, according to Martin Jalbert, Director of Operations at SERTI.
Text over tablet
In an interview with Canadian auto dealer, Jalbert said tools like text messaging are pretty much a requirement now. “The numbers prove it. Communication by text message is much more effective than by email, and obviously by phone too.”
He said consumers are busy and are always on the go, and the method of communication that they respond to the fastest is by text message.
SERTI is one example of a provider that is ahead of the game in this regard; the company invested in several big changes years before the pandemic, and the payoff was evident when COVID-19 reached the Canadian auto sector as SERTI already offered tools like text messaging and the electronic payment of invoices.
Jalbert said these tools allow the consumer to receive an invoice for a repair order by email or text, and then pay directly from their mobile device or computer via a secure payment. Best of all, it is all integrated in SERTI’s solution.
More importantly perhaps is that the company also made some modifications to give preference to text messaging over tablet signatures.
“We made a small change to have the work approved by text messaging, because the tablets for the opening of repair orders are integrated into our DMS and we have a feature that allows the customer to sign on the tablet.”
That is a problem for two reasons: the advisor is holding the tablet with their hands and must provide the customer with a pen to sign on the tablet, which could make it difficult to maintain physical distancing requirements — and the pen would need to be disinfected every time someone touches it.
It is doable, but less efficient than simply having the invoice sent to the customer by text message or email, and allowing the customer in turn to approve the work through the same method of communication.
“Obviously, COVID changes things and generates an acceleration in habits and changes,” said Jalbert, adding that he thinks the majority of the changes forced upon dealers and consumers during this period (due to the novel coronavirus) will remain in place, post-crisis.
In with digital, out with paper
The rapid shift that providers are seeing from dealers towards the online sphere is also connected to digital retailing and digital retailing-only solutions.
Maury Marks, President of Quorum, a DMS provider which is headquartered in Calgary, Alta., said he had observed this evolution in the automotive space prior to the pandemic, in both the sales and service department. But once COVID-19 hit, he said everything was suddenly accelerated and digital retailing became top-of-mind for dealers.
“Many already had digital retailing solutions and were layering more on top of what they already had, integrated or not,” said Marks. Which brings us back to an earlier point: the opportunity for dealers to benefit from a greater integration of tools and systems amid the crisis.
“We already have CRM sales tools for a dealership that includes full desking and menuing tools, and what we are doing is we are now extending those tools out so that the dealership can use them not only in their store, but for their customers from a digital retailing point of view,” said Marks. “We believe that’s the best strategy to take because it keeps everything all integrated and all working together for stores.”
Quorum is also in the midst of evolving its sales digital retail tool, with phase two in the works.
On the DMS side, Marks said the company is trying to remove paper documents that are typically handled by the dealership and/or requested by the customer. They are doing this by offering dealers more e-contracting tools, the ability to have everything stored digitally, being able to EFT (Electronic Funds Transfers) vendors, and being able to email out-statements to customers.
Everything the company is building revolves around cloud-based technology that can be evolved quickly if need be, said Marks.
On the service side, the company plans to roll out video capability this summer to add to its tablet-based inspections and walkarounds.
Seeking the right partnerships
The conversation around better tool/system integration is one that all CRM/DMS providers we spoke to have touched on. It is a meaningful part of the conversation for auto retailers because it is so closely connected with digital retailing.
“As you’ve probably seen and reported on, digital retailing has ushered in this period of vendor consolidation,” said Darren Harris, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Retail Solutions at DealerSocket, which is headquartered in Texas. “I think COVID-19 has intensified those discussions. See, dealers want that data flowing across a single digital ecosystem vs. disparate systems. What they want is a one-stop shop.”
DealerSocket, like several providers in its space, offers dealers that concept of a “one-stop shop.” And ensuring its CRM seamlessly integrates with other tools on the DealerSocket product suite (which includes things like DMS and digital retail) is a key focus for the company — in addition to ensuring the user experience is the same across the entire platform.
Delivering on that need also means seeking out the right partnerships, said Harris. For example, DealerSocket worked with Facebook as a partner company to better connect its websites, CRM, and inventory tools to Facebook’s social media marketing channel. This was done to help dealers increase leads and vehicle sales.
“The first of those integrations was announced in May. It allows our CRM users to target high-value opportunities on Facebook, such as customers reaching the end of their lease or who are in an equity position with their current vehicle,” said Harris. “That translates into effective and targeted advertising spend that targets what dealers often refer to as low-hanging fruit.”
Separately, the company also added a number of new email templates to its CRM to support dealers in communicating their business updates to their customers. This was done shortly after the pandemic began. New reports were added to its CRM to show users how their quickly changing performance metrics compared to the rest of the industry, “so they knew where to pivot,” said Harris.
More proactive, less reactive
Other providers like Reynolds and Reynolds, which has a corporate office in Mississauga, Ont., and a sales office in Montreal, Que., is focusing on trying to make the dealership sales staff more proactive through its new CRM platform.
That new platform, known as FOCUS, will likely launch around the July-August timeframe in Canada and is currently being piloted in U.S. stores, according to Ed Pontis, Director of Product Planning at Reynolds and Reynolds. He said they have so far received positive feedback and are making adjustments based on the feedback.
“We took a different approach to CRM. Our existing CRM contact management is just like every other automotive CRM out there. It’s very focused on: someone walks into the store, how do I keep in contact with them, I get an Internet lead, how do I respond with another email?” said Pontis.
The new platform moves away from the “very follow-up oriented” process and steers more towards the idea of being paperless and having more information flowing through the process.
“What we have really done is try to make the sales person and the sales manager in the dealership much more proactive — less reactive — in giving them the tools at their fingertips to hopefully make a sale at the first visit,” said Pontis. “What we’ve done has taken a great focus to say, what do I need at my fingertips to sell that vehicle?”
That could mean additional information for the sales person, who may be new to the job. Getting that information may involve following a “very prescriptive path” to the sale, with tips and tricks built into the tool so the sales person is aware of what questions to ask, what process to follow, and whether they want to do it on their mobile phone or on a desktop computer in the dealership.
Pontis said it is about walking the sales person through the process and then giving the sales manager the tools to see what is going on in real-time with their staff. If the salesperson is with a customer, who are they talking to? What vehicle are they looking at? And knowing what step the sales person is at in the process so the sales manager can help, if needed.
“As you’ve probably seen and reported on, digital retailing has ushered in this period of vendor consolidation.”
Darren Harris, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Retail Solutions at DealerSocket.
“They can be proactive and provide help and they don’t have to ask questions about who they are talking to, what they are talking about, what the trade might look like, and things like that,” said Pontis. “That is really kind of the focus, it’s really about managing the now. It’s giving the user the capability to do what they need to do to close the sale.”
The legal side of the equation
As online becomes a key focus for dealers, there is also a lot of discussion around how the industry can continue to create that virtual experience consumers appear to crave, according to Brent Bailey, PBS Director of Product Adoption. It may seem easy enough, but there is also a legal side that must be considered.
“When you physically buy something, let alone a part or a service but an actual entire vehicle, there is obviously a set of signatures and legal documents that are required, and so we are seeing a lot of push to try to handle that, in similar ways,” said Bailey. “Right now, with the different manufacturers and different jurisdictions, on some levels that’s not even physically possible right now.”
This is because some manufacturers still require “wet signatures” versus a virtual one. But Bailey sees this evolving. He said the issue will need to be dealt with because, for a long period of time, there will be a segment of the population that will want to purchase a vehicle without stepping into a business environment and while avoiding coming into close contact (or perhaps any form of contact) with anyone.
“The more you can facilitate that in every aspect of the DMS — parts, service, sales — I think is where we are being pushed, and rightfully so,” said Bailey. “And I think you’re going to see even more focus on CRM activities: you’re going to have to talk to your customers in different ways.”
He said one of the ways a DMS (and a CRM that is specifically built into a DMS) can help in this area is by having a throttle on that communication.
It’s no secret that consumers have experienced, at least at some point in their life, excessive communication from a business that has completely turned them off. But Bailey said we also experience under-communication that also turns us off, because we do the opposite — we do not think about the business. “We have to find that balance,” said Bailey.
“I think working with dealers, working with their customers to get the right message out at the right level will be an interesting challenge as we move forward,” said Bailey.
Figuring out that balance will be an interesting take for the industry as well as for the industry’s partners, which are the companies that provide the software and run it.
