The automotive sales and services industry is about to experience a big change. Maryland based Diamond Digital are prepared for waiting buyers, has announced significant upgrades to its disruptive information management platform will debut at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas March 11-13, offering both car dealers and their vendors major improvements in transparency, efficiency, and control.
While a number of web based auto dealers have entered the market in recent years, the vast majority of vehicle sales still take place at physical dealership locations nationwide. According to a recent survey, 81% of buyers said they plan to purchase their next vehicle in person. Despite the continued dominance of dealerships in the 21st Century, there remains a very 20th Century workflow between those dealers and third party service vendors, who most often do the work of preparing vehicles for new owners before they ever leave the lot.
Work orders for service and detailing are typically written on slips of paper, making processing a scattered and confusing process. Tracking of vehicle progress through the system is done manually, requiring substantial legwork from sales staff. Meanwhile, customers are often left waiting in sales offices, sometimes for hours, as their car or truck is readied for them. For both auto dealers and vendors, the status quo is a major problem.
That’s where Diamond Digital comes in. The platform represents a potential game changer for auto dealers and their sometimes tortured relationship with vendors. With one connected system, all work orders and authorizations are digitized, vehicle status is tracked and timed to reveal bottlenecks, and vehicles themselves are monitored on an eye opening array of cameras stationed in service bays, so dealers can actually see the work’s getting done, which isn’t always a given the way things are currently done.
Ironically, what should be the best days for an auto dealer, days when sales volume is robust, can be the most stressful, as a glut of vehicles enter the system, leading to unexpected worker shortages resulting in backlogs, work being done that hasn’t been authorized, even the worst case scenario: missing vehicles.
“You’d be surprised how chaotic things can get behind the scenes,” said Ken Chodnicki, chief commercial officer at Diamond Dealer Services, the nation’s fastest growing auto detailing company and the innovators behind the Diamond Digital platform. “There can be a lot of questions and finger pointing. It’s a mess. I’ve joked that dealerships lack even the technology available to pizza parlors. I can track a $10 pizza from the moment it goes into the oven, but dealerships and vendors struggle to figure out where a $90,000 car is in the recon/detail process. Diamond Digital changes all that.”
The best part of the platform for dealers, Chodnicki said, is the Command & Control Center, where Diamond Digital experts monitor dealership operations in real time, ensuring things run smoothly, right down to recommending workforce adjustments to match available service personnel with demand.
“As a dealer, you want your sales team selling and your customers happy. That’s our mission.”
Those attending the NADA Show can get a demo of the new Diamond Digital platform at Booth #7141N in the Las Vegas Convention Center March 11-13. To learn more or schedule a demo, visit info.GoDiamondDigital.com/NADA
