How to ‘Staff’ Your Digital Showroom

How to ‘Staff’ Your Digital Showroom

Now that visits to our showrooms are mostly done in the digital arena, a dealership's website must provide accurate information to keep customers on their site.

By Ken Tomaro, founder and CEO of OptionSoft Technologies 

Not so long ago, dealerships had to have a full showroom staff, as well as staff in the F&I, BDC and service departments. Now that visits to our showrooms are mostly done in the digital arena, personnel has been limited and artificial intelligence such as chat bots have allowed dealership websites to provide content and allow consumers to go through the research and car-buying process without the need for human interaction — or as little as possible.

We can now accomplish many of our same goals by automating the process and allowing the customer to flow through the purchase process in a digital retailing environment on their own without guidance.

Yes, there will be times when our staff must interact with customers who have a question or problem, but if more dealers staff their internet departments with personnel who are responsible for making sure that the content on their website is accurate and available, more dealers will succeed with their digital showrooms.

We see many dealership sites that are missing information, and dealers don’t know, and the customers don’t tell them. It just goes unnoticed, giving a customer a less-than-stellar experience.

Dealers should be incorporating higher use of technology, and staffing should be concentrated to an IT department with humans who are making sure that the technology is working properly.

Much of the customer’s digital experience revolves around the research process. Keeping customers comfortable by providing pricing information without requiring too much information, is essential to keep customers on your site and not jumping off to a third-party site.

I advise dealers with digital retail capability to go online and try to buy a car on their own system. Hit the Buy Now button and see what happens. How easy and comfortable was that experience? Would you buy a vehicle on your website? Would you buy a vehicle based on the experience that you just had?

We often take technology for granted and assume it’s working as it was intended. We all assume that it works as it was demoed to us and, in reality, sometimes that’s not the case. As the times change, we need to make sure that our technology changes with it.

So, staffing the IT department with knowledgeable personnel who make sure the site provides accurate vehicle information and who complete regular website checks is essential.  

You May Also Like

Why Dealers Switch From DOWCs to ARCs

By now, most dealers are familiar with the “dealer-owned warranty company” or “DOWC” concept and, more likely than not, have reviewed a presentation touting the benefits of this structure. Providers promoting this structure often highlight certain benefits that are very enticing and alluring to dealers that are currently in reinsurance. However, providers regularly fail to

By now, most dealers are familiar with the “dealer-owned warranty company” or “DOWC” concept and, more likely than not, have reviewed a presentation touting the benefits of this structure.

Providers promoting this structure often highlight certain benefits that are very enticing and alluring to dealers that are currently in reinsurance. However, providers regularly fail to provide a comprehensive view of the structure, leading many dealers who elect to proceed with a DOWC to second-guess their decision shortly after making the move.

EV Trends from Black Book

Most OEMs have plans for EVs in the pipeline. It is vital to get your service, parts and sales staff trained and prepare your facilities to accommodate this inventory-type change.

Dry Ice Blasting – Save Time & Boost Car Values

Reconditioning cars to prepare them for the used car market is no easy task. The labor hours, harsh chemicals, awkward angles, and use of sharp blades, wire brushes, and rags really add up. What if there was a way to recondition a car – inside and out – in a fraction of the time without

Tracking a Weekly $10K Gain

Keeping track of your high-value, moving assets can be tedious, haphazard — and high risk to your efficiency and competitiveness. It need not be that way.

Safety Recalls: Boost Revenue, Now!

Learn how recall verification and monitoring data science from AutoAp integrated with reconditioning identifies and catches all open recalls and often reports them before OEMs notify their dealers

Other Posts

Breaking Down Cybercrime in Automotive

Your dealership is a treasure trove of data. Think about it… names, phone numbers, addresses, work details, salary, and social security numbers for hundreds, if not thousands, of consumers. Financial details about their vehicle purchases. Credit card information from service. The list goes on and on. All of this data makes dealerships a prime target

Understanding Automotive Connected Consumers

Discover how auto advertisers can build effective marketing strategies for reaching connected consumers.

Marketing Tips for Electric Cars and Alternative-Fuel Auto Advertisers

From microchips to lithium batteries, technology is revolutionizing the future of ground transportation. Electric vehicles (EVs) have now become top of mind for many US households. About 40% of new vehicle shoppers are considering purchasing an EV within the next 12 months.1 With the rise of pioneers and challenger automakers, incumbent automakers are off to the

The Seasons Are Changing (and so are Your Customers)

As summer comes to a close, you may have noticed more changes than just the cooling weather. Odds are, if you think back to your most recent customer interactions, you notice the demographics, wants, and needs of your customers changed slightly from what they were even a few months ago. While collective habits of your