HOW TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE IN THE EVER-CHANGING AUTO RETAIL INDUSTRY
Happy New Year! 2015 was another eventful and prosperous year for the automotive industry.
As we shift gears and head into 2016, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the changes this industry has seen over the last quarter century and how they have driven us forward.
As much as the vehicles we sell have evolved, so has the rest of this business. The massive shift to digital has impacted every aspect of our industry. Sometimes, it’s only when you look back that you can see how far you’ve come and can determine where you’re heading.
THE EARLY DAYS
If you rewind to the last century, every aspect of our business was on paper. The path to purchase was a straight line: a customer came in, a salesperson nailed down the vehicle of interest, lease/financing was arranged on paper, and then the customer drove away happy in a new vehicle. Customers may have received a follow up phone call from a sales representative, some might have even received a letter in the mail, but too often they received no follow up at all.
Then, life evolved. For those of us old enough to remember the distinct sound of the dial-up Internet connection at the dealership, you can appreciate how far we’ve come. The early days of 28K (28,000 bits per second!) transfer speeds seemed like lightning, and we were off and running with the Internet.
We quickly doubled to 56K, and by the late 1990s, most dealerships began to recognize that the Internet was here to stay. Companies like Yahoo! were becoming household names. Customers started to embrace the Internet as an ideal way to get information and research which vehicles fit their needs without leaving the house.
Then came Google. It was an exciting time for people who were comfortable embracing change, and a frightening time for many others. You can still see the fear of technology in many of today’s dealerships, which always strikes me as ironic because the whole focus and appeal of the automotive industry is the ever-evolving technological marvels of the automobile.
Engage your entire team by making it easy and rewarding for them to learn and grow as well. It will only help your organization to have a team on the leading edge
Fast forward to today and almost every customer is online researching prior to visiting the dealership. Even our smartphones have more computing power and transfer speeds than our desktop computers did just a decade ago. Now, being “connected” is how we live our lives and it has an enormous impact on how our customers shop, and therefore, how we should run our business.
The great shift to digital has happened. It certainly didn’t happen overnight, but in today’s fast paced world, it happened far more quickly than we had anticipated. The path to purchase has evolved and is much more complex, with each customer taking his or her own unique journey. With much of the research and selection taking place online, a customer who arrives in your showroom is now more likely to buy from you when treated professionally and engaged properly.
I heard a statistic at a conference last month that dealers who understand how to engage the new online-influenced showroom visitor are closing well above 65 per cent.
It’s all about the customer experience and understanding that a smooth, transparent, transaction becomes a big part of the customer need.
STAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE
In a recent interview I was asked: “If you could offer a Dealer Principal your best advice what would that be?” My response was twofold: “Ask a lot of questions and get yourself a mentor who is half your age.” I thought this was the best advice I could offer given what I have been witnessing first hand in the industry.
As you may have read in a recent Canadian auto dealer article, I recently went back to school, enrolling in the Automotive Business School of Canada’s Automotive Dealership Management Program. The knowledge I have gained from that program has allowed me to ask a lot of good questions and, while I still don’t have all the answers, I can now hold people accountable.
While I don’t have “one particular mentor,” I make it a point to work closely with several young associates who provide me with a unique outlook on things. You see, the millennials are a generation who have an unfiltered perspective on making purchases, whether it be in automotive or elsewhere, while being hyper-connected 24/7. 
It is all they have ever known and, because of that, they have an expectation of an exceptional customer experience that generations before didn’t have. Simply put, if they don’t get what they want, they just go back to Google and find your competitor who is providing an easier and better experience just down the road.
Staying ahead of the curve is especially critical in the automotive industry, as the outlook it is based on innovation. If we’re not evolving then we’re sunk. No matter how busy we are, there is always an opportunity to learn.
It doesn’t have to be formal education — you can easily follow an industry relevant blog or podcast, or have lunch with a favourite digital guru. And don’t stop there — engage your entire team by making it easy and rewarding for them to learn and grow as well. It will only help your organization to have a team on the leading edge.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME
I don’t want to panic you into thinking that if you’re not completely up to speed with the way digital is revolutionizing our industry, you’ve missed the boat.
Yes, it’s true that you need to adapt your game, but — if you’ll allow me this hockey analogy — the fundamentals of the game are still the same. Yes, the game is faster, the sticks are stronger, the conditioning is more intense and the ice surface is bigger.
But at the core of it all, the same skills still apply. You still need to know how to engage a customer in order to close a deal — doing it online versus your showroom floor is just geography.
Vehicle merchandising is still a critical part of your business. Knowing why and how is a fundamental skill — it’s just a matter of switching out the back of the Sunday paper with an online vehicle inventory page or ensuring the video on your website looks as good as the vehicle that sits on your lot.
Even though the arena may have changed, the fundamentals of the game are still the same.
The great shift to digital has happened. It certainly didn’t happen overnight, but in today’s fast paced world, it happened far more quickly than we had anticipated
REMEMBERING HOW YOU GOT HERE
Even my story has evolved in a way I never anticipated. Full circle in fact.
In the late 90s I was focused on my career in automotive leasing. I soon moved over into the automotive technology space when I founded Curomax, and years later, landed here at SCI, diving deep into lead management and digital marketing.
Now, with the recent launch of SCI Lease Corp., my career has officially come full circle. Our team has now taken to market technology that has encompassed my entire 27 years of business experience. I guess I’ve proved my favourite saying is true: “It’s always better to be lucky than good.”
This entire process has solidified something I always knew to be true. Every single interaction, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, has the potential to lead to great things if approached with integrity.
This is a very small world and the six degrees of separation idea is alive and well in the Canadian auto industry. I have been employed by individuals who were my previous clients, and I have previous clients that now work with me.
Foster these important relationships — you never know where they may lead.
WHERE WE’RE HEADING
2016 promises to be a great year for our industry. I am very excited about where this year, and the next 25 years will take us.
Who would have imagined back when we were pushing paper that customers would buy a vehicle on a computer, or have self-driving cars! One thing is for sure though — it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.
