AUTOMATED TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES ARE WONDERFUL. BUT WE ARE IN THE PEOPLE BUSINESS
There have been some interesting articles recently about aircraft crashes caused because pilots are relying so heavily on technology to keep the plane in the air.
When a system fails, they appear to lack both the basic training and skills to take over manually and fly it themselves.
When a maintenance guy washing the aircraft accidentally leaves some tape over the plane’s air speed sensors and it results in the crew losing control, causing a major disaster, maybe it should be sending someone a signal. “Let’s get back to basics.”
Now before you start to think that this white haired old guy has not kept up with the times, I own the latest BlackBerry, have two laptops, one desktop computer and an apple iPad. All I need now is a 10 year-old to show me how to use them!
ADDICTED TO TECHNOLOGY
Technology has moved into our every day personal and business lives at an alarming rate. If my BlackBerry ever fails I am not sure if I could still function.
In our own industry there appears to be a flood of companies trying to sell their latest and greatest technology based systems to efficiently run the business and make your staff look like super stars.
We were recently intrigued by a mobile app allowing you to browse vehicle inventory, get trade and payoff values and even schedule customer service appointments — all on your smartphone.
We acknowledge that these new systems are mostly superb tools and many years ago working in the retail business I would have loved the instant information they can provide. The point is they are only a working tool and were not designed as an automatic pilot to run your business for you!
STILL LOSING CUSTOMERS
I know one dealership that survived a manufacturer’s mass franchise termination just a few years ago. Two other dealerships with the same franchise located very close by were not so lucky and were terminated.
This remaining dealership has a very expensive in house computer system, plus another hugely expensive system for maintaining customer loyalty and increasing sales. With other local dealerships closing, this particular store’s customer base increased dramatically for a short time, only to see it rapidly decline again!
So despite all the money invested on the very latest high-tech equipment, customers still migrated away from the store. This also appears to have happened in several other stores that were in the same situation. It is not the technical support systems that are at fault.
Many dealers are already paying thousands of dollars per month for their in house computer system that was supposed to do everything they had ever dreamed of, enabling them to “increase business, reduce staff numbers and eliminate paper.”
MORE AND MORE TOOLS
Now dealers are looking at an additional system for e-leads, CRM, e-lead desking, virtual BDC, service follow up — everything but an auto pilot app!
Here’s some food for thought before you buy your next app or computer program: the last quality digest report we looked at showed that 74 per cent of customers returned to the dealership based on their last experience. Think about that and how you can invest in improving that experience.
Sometimes we forget that we are in the people business; it just happens that we sell and repair vehicles. Inventory can be managed, but people require a lot more than computer technology and a fancy app if you want customers to keep coming back.
USE THE TOOLS YOU HAVE
In defence of the dealership support industry, we have seen dealerships continually have systems installed in the store and then throw them out again a short time later for not getting results. The problem is if you only use 10 per cent of a management tool’s capability, you should only expect 10 per cent in results!
At the end of the day, there is not a system on the market to fix the damage caused when a dealer spends less than an hour per month in a constructive meeting with the service manager.
Neither is there a computer that can replace a good service manager who walks his shop every morning, talks to the staff and promotes a strong team spirit. True you can program a system to thank the customer for spending money with you, but it is a poor substitute for walking a customer to their vehicle, shaking their hand, making eye contact and thanking them for their business.
Ask yourself this question: With all the choices your customers have when getting their vehicle serviced why should they choose you? What makes your service department any better or different than the guys down the road? We can remember when the lead times for a service appointment was over 10 days and satisfying customers was not high on our list of concerns.
We are in the problem solving business and the more efficiently you can solve a customer’s problem the more successful you will be. There is no doubt there are some remarkable management apps you can use to pinpoint both weaknesses and strengths in your operation at the push of a button.
But you still require trained, motivated staff to run the business and produce results. There is no silver bullet.
