The data your dealership collects can be one of its most valuable assets. It can tell you things like:
- What someone is interested in buying,
- How much they’re willing to spend,
- Which F&I aftermarket products make sense for them,
- How much equity they have left in their vehicle, and
- When they’re due for service.
But to use that data to close a profitable deal, encourage a trade-in, or get a customer into the service bay, it needs to be accurate, complete and accessible.
Here are some ways data inconsistency can torpedo your sales and marketing efforts:
Duplicate Records
Let’s say you have a partial customer record for John Harris and another for John J. Harris, but they’re really the same person. If you’re unable to sync records, there’s a chance that he’s receiving double the sales and marketing outreach he should. Depending on what types of contact information you have in each record, he may be getting one type of message via text and a conflicting or irrelevant message via email. In either case, there’s a chance that you’re undermining the customer experience, wasting resources, and potentially costing your dealership revenue.
Inaccurate or Outdated Data
If you can’t count on your data due to errors or because it isn’t updated often enough, your dealership may fall into similar traps. For example, Jennifer Jones started her buyer journey looking at compact cars but has since switched to shopping for an SUV. If a data lag means that you keep showing her the small hatchbacks you have in stock, her likelihood of trusting your dealership enough to buy from you diminishes with every contact point.
And if you’re sending maintenance reminders for a vehicle a customer used to own and for the one they have now, you’re diminishing your return on investment before the emails or postcards even arrive.
Data Inaccessibility
When the data you’ve collected from a customer isn’t available to other dealership systems, there are several potential issues, including:
- Increasing wait times for customers
- Irritating customers by making them repeat information they have already provided
- Introducing the potential for error as information is re-keyed, which can be a particular problem during the contracting process
All of these can negatively affect the customer experience and data re-entry is a leading cause of errors that can lead to re-contracting.
Your Data Consistency Solution
Dealertrack makes data consistency a priority by creating a single customer record across your entire dealership. For instance, data that starts out in the CRM automatically updates across accounting, F&I, and your service department so you can be confident that each customer record is accurate, in sync, and up to date.
Read our latest eBook, Cash In On Your Dealership’s Data, to learn more about the power of data at your dealership.
