Dealing with dealerships
As the industry evolves, dealerships must adapt to the shift toward digital engagement but without losing sight of the advantages an in-person high-touch CX brings to the car ownership experience.
(Time to read: 4 mins)
When the first car dealership opened at the turn of the 20th century, it was a truly revolutionary idea. Consumers no longer had to travel to a manufacturer or coach builder to inquire about the possibility of buying a vehicle. Instead, here was a space nearby people’s homes with a selection of cars to choose from. And critically, there were experts on hand to provide insights and assistance to help individuals understand a genuine piece of cutting-edge technology.
Yet today, interactive displays, free Wi-Fi or VR headsets notwithstanding, the typical dealership can feel like a monument to the past. While showroom visits are still part of the car-buying process, a much larger portion of the customer journey now takes place online. This shift presents a challenge for dealerships: when a customer walks through the door, how can staff understand their needs or expectations without any context from the digital interactions that preceded their visit? Furthermore, what are the odds that the dealership has the exact vehicle the customer desires in stock?
Despite these hurdles, dealerships can play a critical CX role. As online vehicle marketplaces and automotive brands pursuing a D2C approach will attest, it’s not intuitive digital portals, virtual configuration tools or targeted advertising, but a physical showroom with the right mix of inventory and well-trained staff that have the greatest impact on conversion rates.
Therefore, as part of a wider customer experience reset, OEMs, dealerships and other stakeholders need to work in concert to highlight and capitalize on these strengths while addressing the historical weaknesses.
To improve CX as quickly as possible, dealerships need to think digitally, but only insomuch as to identify, simplify or streamline manual or in-person processes that are detracting from the customer experience.
Through investment in tools and technology, the ultimate goal should be real-time access and oversight of inventory levels, potential leads, outbound sales performance, existing customer histories plus insights relating to the OEM and its pipeline and campaigns. But the biggest immediate measurable improvements are most likely to come from an accurate website, automating the appointment process for test drives or maintenance, providing digital tools or online forms for vehicle appraisals, financing options and potentially even initial price negotiations. These comparatively simple changes will remove friction from the car-buying process, can be evaluated via clear metrics and are the most likely to deliver a quick return on investment.
Case study
Keeping dealership CX on track
Challenge
The client, a leading European OEM, wanted to establish a consistent, nationwide approach to customer experience across its network of 19 dealerships. As well as a hub for vehicle sales and vehicle financing, each dealership offered servicing and maintenance, accident repairs and short-term rentals. However, while the client had a small contact center operation for handling customer enquiries, it relied on a bespoke yet severely limited ticketing system that was focused on case management rather than developing customer histories and collecting insights.
Solution
Foundever developed a solution built around its innso CX platform. Simple to use and integrate with a CRM and existing telephony systems, it is a fast and cost-efficient means of turning a contact center into a central hub for managing all aspects of automotive CX, from lead generation and sales negotiation to after-sales care.
It works by keeping track of the customer, rather than the query, and in doing so continually building up a history for each customer irrespective of how the individual chooses to contact the client — via phone, chat or email.
As well as omnichannel support for customers, the solution enables seamless two-way communication between agents and individual employees across the dealership network for the effective management of workflows and schedules — whether for maintenance and servicing or arranging test drives — and for offering proactive support. For instance, a customer reaching out to the contact center can be connected automatically with the right sales representative at the right dealership at the right time, to continue a previous discussion or ask further questions, ensuring continuity of care and, in the case of a potential sale, increasing the likelihood of closure.
Whether a call is connected to a dealership or handled by the contact center, to ensure all customers receive the correct information, the solution has an integrated resource center that serves as an up-to-date repository of critical documents and files including price lists, specification sheets or the details of regional or national promotions or campaigns.
This ability to see the full picture in terms of requests and open cases enables the client to provide automated status updates to customers regarding maintenance and repairs or to adjust marketing campaigns and identify opportunities to upsell or cross-sell.
And because the system automatically measures contact center performance, continuous adjustments can be made against metrics relating to customer satisfaction, first contact resolution or average handle time.
Result
The platform has provided the client with a simple and effective means of qualifying leads, managing workflows, gathering customer insights, boosting sales, improving customer experience and turning 19 individual dealerships into a true nationwide network. Within 12 months of going live, the client achieved a 30% reduction in customer contacts about repairs and servicing status, a 50% improvement in first contact resolution (FCR) and a 15% increase in revenue per transaction.
drop in calls about repairs and servicing status
increase in revenue per transaction
improvement in FCR
Channels
chat, voice, email, back office
Users
100 agents and 100 dealership staff members across 19 sites
Driving change: The best practice guide to CX in the automotive industry
