Various emerging technologies are impacting the way in which consumers now purchase new vehicles. It’s important to understand which of those technologies are worth investing in to give your customers a better experience. It goes without saying that the best of experiences are the ones tailored to meet your customer needs. Plus, today’s customers expect and demand custom-designed interactions and touch points when it comes to making a purchase.
Automobile enterprises are tackling such requirements by integrating a number of digital technologies into their sales process. A number of US based automobile dealers and manufacturers are investing in a range of consumer-centric digital technologies that span tablet and phone product guides right up to VR augmented applications. The purpose of all this new technology is to enhance sales and keep customers engaged. The real question is – which technology will bring you the best results?
Choosing a Digital Technology to Transform Your Sales
This question gets all the more complicated when looking at it from a manufacturing vs dealer perspective. Manufacturers are most often looking for a bigger digital investment to leverage a change in the way consumers interact with their brand. Dealers on the other hand are looking for solutions that give them quick and visible results. Whatever the implementation may be, their aim is to drive operational efficiencies, reduce overhead, empower sales staff and increase transparency while limiting bottlenecks in the purchase pipeline.
Another key difference is that manufacturers are also looking to optimize the omnichannel customer experience, while dealers focus on strategic solutions that combine disparate systems to create a more streamlined approach to securing deals. Differences in approach often lead to disagreements between dealers and manufacturers with regards to the most profitable digital investment. Despite this there is a common ground that can be found between the two of them which focuses on the mid to upper range of the funnel comprising consumers who are yet to make a purchase and still doing their research online.
A recent study by Deloitte shows:
- 36% of buyers are influenced the most by dealers.
- 36% of buyers are influenced by family, friends and co-workers.
- 34% of buyers are influenced by safety-related websites.
Creating a Unique Online Experience for Your Customers
Providing an online experience that keeps your customers hooked is easier said than done. Most dealers complain that manufacturers are too controlling when it comes to their site layout – consistently opting for standardized templates. At the same time manufacturers are frustrated with the many Dealer Management System (DMS) applications that lay waste to any streamlining efforts.
However, the prospect for creating a world-class digital experience for your customers is all the more promising to set yourself apart. By bridging the gaps you can help your customers move seamlessly from online research to a physical shopping experience. For instance, when a customer mentions certain vehicle preferences online you can make sure that these are conveyed to the dealer during their visit. Additionally, by maintaining consistent pricing information on the website and rates quoted by the dealership, you can significantly impact customer purchase intentions and establish integrity.
Another important factor to consider is that a number of people may not be accustomed to using digital sales aids while making a purchase. Studies show that a majority of people across all generations prefer low-tech tools while in a dealer showroom, with millennials and younger buyers being more open to digital experiences. This is due to the fact that most consumers are yet to understand or fully appreciate enhanced user experiences created by digital advancements.
Best Practices to Follow
Alongside the latest digital technology, manufacturers and dealers can also follow certain best practices to improve customer experience and increase sales rates for car shopping.
- Interact with potential buyers at the online research stage itself with custom messaging. Save any data gathered during this interaction in order to create a more seamless dealership experience.
- Utilize online capabilities like financing pre-approvals and finance protection product explanations to speed up purchase processes and create transparency.
- Increase potential customer data by initiating tactical collaborations with mobile device providers, social media, app developers, location-based service providers and network services that are interested in acting as integration points for clients.
- Create pricing strategies to engage your customers. By offering prices that match you can encourage brand loyalty from your target audience.
- Don’t be limited by brick and mortar dealerships. Customers are everywhere and being flexible enough to entertain all of them can be integral to a distinguished customer shopping experience.
When functioning in a highly competitive industry such as automobile sales it is imperative to take new digital innovations into account. There are several technological drivers necessary in order to facilitate a flexible maneuver such as this and SalesCatcher’s Intelligent Offering (iO) can help. Our AI orchestration platform – iOFlow, working in tandem with our intelligent RPA tool – iOBot can create a much more customized experience for each of your consumers. If you’d like to find out more our AI team at SalesCatcher would be happy to help.
