In the quest to stay compliant, competitive, and profitable, dealerships are investing heavily in technology to increase efficiency. But technology alone won’t build a more efficient business. Your managers, frontline employees, sales staff, and back office rely on workflows, data, and training to make their day-to-day work faster and easier. Consumer buying habits continue to impact how technology aids every touchpoint along the way. Building an efficient dealership takes the right technology, tools, and people processes to thrive. Not to worry, though. Taking a multi-faceted approach doesn’t mean your tactics need a major readjustment. As you continue to grow, you can leverage the following dealership best practices to drive efficiency.
Harness Rapid Connectivity with Integrations
There’s nothing less efficient than the frustrating pause, stop, start of technology that doesn’t connect. When your data flows seamlessly between your CRM and your DMS—and then into the Reg & Title or F&I process—you not only save time and become a more efficient auto dealership, but you also keep your staff from jumping ship. The efficiency that comes from being able to push critical, secure information from one (previously siloed) step of the buying process also has an additional perk: a happier customer. This is important because the 2022 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study revealed buyers are more frustrated with the amount of time required to complete this process than in the previous year!
Digitize Your Back Office to Make Cash Flow More Efficient
Improvements to your back-office processes optimize dealership efficiency but also address slow cash flow, staffing shortages, and untapped trade-in opportunities fueled by digital retailing. Consider a trade-in titling solution to build ease and efficiency into the bedrock of your business. A digital titling solution can shorten the time for vehicle payoff and title or lien release. That means faster inventory turn and faster cash for you.
Use Technology to Cut Out Manual Processes and Workflows
You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s worth repeating that manual data entry is a time-suck. It’s not just inefficient, though. Faster deals lead to happy customers, while fewer paper forms reduce errors. So where should you start? Integrations between your DMS and Registration and Titling software help dealers save time by reducing the amount of information their staff needs to key in, ensuring their credit applications and contracts are accurate, and speeding up the contracting stage. (Dealertrack DMS integrated with Dealertrack F&I ensures up to 75% of data fields are pre-filled in credit applications.) These steps save you and your customers time at the point of sale, but there are other ways to reduce pesky manual tasks that chip away at efficiency.
Leverage Partners to Roll Out New Technology
Last, but definitely not least, when introducing technology to your team, you should do everything you can to reduce the overall loss of productivity caused by stress, anxiety, and frustration your staff endures. But you should never take this on alone. Having a trusted partner in your corner who advocates for change, ensures all team members are secure in their knowledge of the technology, and builds dealership operational processes that help you succeed is worth its weight in gold.
The automotive industry is complex—but building dealership best practices like the above into your technology investment strategy doesn’t need to be. You should look for vendor partners who can step up to the challenge with a proven track record for success. After all, your people, processes, and customers depend on it.
