Creating a Sweet Spot for You and Your Customers

Part 1

Improving transaction times still tops most dealers’ lists of challenges. Some dealerships have found hitting a “sweet spot”—where a better, faster buying experience meets higher closing ratios and gross profits—easier to achieve than first thought. Autosoft talked to several progressive dealers who adjusted their sales processes and set time-to-complete goals to better match evolving expectations.

Today’s savvy buyers gather the majority of product and pricing knowledge prior to their visit. They astutely detect and avoid lengthy “old school” dealership techniques. This heightened buyer control greatly changes how, and how fast, the traditional salesperson can successfully lead the deal. Dealers who adopt a process and timeline that matches buyers’ preferences have found a common route to not only happier customers, but more of them, and a bigger bottom line. Here’s how they hit the sweet spot.

Sales Process Re-Mix

First, they reviewed customer satisfaction scores in detail. Then, they observed and documented the length of time existing processes were taking. Dealers found the biggest disconnects came to light after comparing these two aspects of the experience. Check out this chart of the most common transaction time killers for help reviewing your own processes.

Once they’d clearly defined all inefficiencies and gaps, these dealers addressed the roots of the delays, redundancies, and errors. They nailed down procedural revisions and identified new or under-utilized tools. All focus was on what would make their upgraded approach as buyer-centric, personalized, and helpful as possible. Most stores chose to start from scratch, beginning with new steps like prospecting, instead of just combining or eliminating parts of their existing road to the sale.

The Roll-Out

Entire stores, not just front-ends, were included in these dealers’ newly-crafted sales processes and transaction time roll outs. Sales teams were instructed to communicate next steps and time estimates to customers. Letting buyers know the dealership’s commitment to minimize the wait times for appraisals, number presentations, F&I turnovers, and vehicle get-ready went a long way when backed up with sincere effort.

Some fine-tuning had to be done, but when the results were tracked, the numbers demonstrated these dealers had found their sweet spot.

Stay tuned for part two of three in our series about creating the sweet spot in your dealership. Part two will highlight how integrated technology is the backbone for most time-savers.

In the meantime, if your DMS is slowing down your sales process and hurting profitability, take a closer look at Autosoft’s innovative DMS solution. Autosoft is ready for this new wave of retail automotive selling with an affordable, flexible, and fully integrated DMS. We can help your dealership get to the sweet spot too.

To request a demo or just start a conversation, call 844.888.8200 or visit us online.