Are you using Technology to your advantage or is it just making you lazy?

With Digital Dealer in full swing I thought I would start the controversy here.

Full Disclosure... I started in this industry before computers, fax machines, emails, social media and cell phones... No I am not a dinosaur but just someone that entered into this great business very young, actually before I could legally drive. Thus I have seen a lot.

This week I saw a post by Brian Kramer on how to calculate a lease manually, for us in the beginning this was a fundamental skill like know how much tax was

charged. It was amazing the response that was shown on this post like it was the discovery of the holy grail. No disrespect to Brian but come on... What has technology done to us, I understand it has made the transaction faster but has it made us lazy?

In my article "Is Your Team Firing On All Cylinders" I raised the question of automation and its potential to make our teams lazy as their work is being done for them. This was ever present in a study we did of multiple OEMs and dealers; in communicating through various digital channels we found our information was not shared, inputted, nor followed up on with any clarity or professionalism. In one case scenario we received a follow-up from the dealer principal before even been contacted by the sales team. Another, we got a missed appointment text after our vehicle was serviced.

These are perfect examples of laziness where individuals were behind in contacting or entering information that caused the poor inaccurate responses. This is a direct reflection on the perceived professionalism of the dealership and is detrimental to their reputation. Depending on the exact circumstance it could even lead to loss revenue as one might move on to other opportunities.

When I started we were eventually responsible for our own accountability this hasn't changed with the advent of technology today. We need to understand and address this. As Doug Reeves of A2Z Sync states NOW is the time to refine your process and develop a better Dealership Experience. Tech should enable this for your team and not take their place or make them lazy. We need to embrace what it can do for us to make us better not what it can do so we don't have to.

In the coming months we are going to be entering into an environment where interest rates are continuing to climb, inventory is becoming more prevalent, and with prices falling turnover is going to rise. Thus identifying opportunities will become paramount, this is where technology is going to shine but it won't lead to conversions without effort.

Tim Hayden has led Brain+Trust with this in mind. Data and the cleansing of it is critical to leading the charge. More so the inter-rooftop sharing of this information like the omni-channel operation demanded by our customers will define those who are focused on the Customer Experience over single operation retention. This little effort will allow progressive dealers to market their entire customer base with a focus on their needs and not that of their individual rooftops. If we drill down on this further it will only enhance the ownership experience as once a connection is made the teams will engage to retain for fear of potential loss within the group. Regardless of how it's looked upon its a win for the customer and that for the dealer group.

There is so much opportunity with technology that we can capitalize on with effort and focus. We can make the process frictionless, we can define retention policies both for sold and UNSOLD customers, we can increase service efficiencies and labor sales. With effective marketing we can expand out reach and scope of potential new clients. Done properly with effort and consistency we can eliminate costs from the statement as we don't need to be in competition with ourselves as attribution is impossible to measure, right Jim Ziegler,.

Regardless of how we look at tech, good or bad it's here to stay; as such we need to embrace it, using it for the good. With it we can better serve our customers, retain them for longer, creating true long term value and this is what we all seek. As I have always said its people, process, tech... We need our people to put in the effort, follow the process, and use the tech properly to an advantage.

The time is now to engage like never before and review how we define processes using technology and holding those responsible accountable for their actions.