I’m Tired of Hearing That Car Dealers are ‘So Behind the Rest of the World!’

[Racer X]

Got a sore neck from nodding my head while reading this.

The old sales model of having to go to a dealer for a new car certainly hasn't helped either. Anyone happen to see the 'Adam Ruins Everything' segment on car dealers?

 

[Brian Tucker]

I find it ironic that every one points out the pricing, rebates and discounts that Dealers use to sell cars but not one mention about retail in the clothing business?! I recently went to a clothing store and couldn't find anyone to help me. They were too busy updating pricing discounts for their display items. I bought a pair of pants and socks. Guess how much money I supposedly saved? The receipt that I was handed, proudly stated $46.00! I mentioned the fact that they could probably save time and money by pricing the pants to market and not spending so much time and effort on making customers feel like they got a great deal. The clerk simply stated "How did that work for JcPenny?". I thought about his remark as I drove home. He is right. JcPenny tried to become a one price store and sales fell like a rock. Seems consumers say one thing but support another with their dollar.

 

[Brendan Dolan]

The retail environment is funny. Customers say they don't want games, and don't want a back and forth. As an experiment, in my store, when prompted, I tried giving out my best and final price with no hassle. Closing ratio tanked. People hate the dance, but they need the dance. It's really odd. American consumerism is all about bargain hunting and perception of savings, not hard facts and logic. It's one of the many reasons why I decided to move on from the retail environment.

 

[Adam Schaefer]

Sales is about building trust. Trust is about establishing a relationship. Establishing a relationship takes time. If you cut right to the chase, there is no time to establish a relationship. The dance analogy fits right in line with this. A good dance partner isn't necessarily someone who is good at the technical aspects of dancing, it's someone who makes you feel comfortable and lets you enjoy the dance process. Same thing with sales.

 

[Steve Stauning]

I think we're getting off track on this discussion.

The post was about whether dealers are really behind other industries when it comes to technology, digital marketing and the customer experience. And, if they are, does it matter?

I argue that dealers are not behind when it comes to technology or digital marketing; and that the customer experience doesn't matter enough for dealers to want to make the wholesale changes necessary to drive a great experience every time.

 

[Alexander Lau]

I think we're getting off track on this discussion.

The post was about whether dealers are really behind other industries when it comes to technology, digital marketing and the customer experience. And, if they are, does it matter?

I argue that dealers are not behind when it comes to technology or digital marketing; and that the customer experience doesn't matter enough for dealers to want to make the wholesale changes necessary to drive a great experience every time.

Definitely off course, this thread has been derailed. You bring up a good point about it truly mattering. That can be greatly argued and I feel as if there is a gradient of end user expectations, not just a single type (low-end user), but those with higher expectations. That could potentially be proven with demographic definitions within attribution.

 

[Marc Lavoie]

It's easy to make it look like dealers are so behind. Truth is, it's a slow moving business first. Just like a larger ship.

A dealership is a collection of multiple businesses tapped together and by the time you're done, you have a collection of 80 outside solutions surrounding the dealer core like little satellites.

Its really easy to pick some of them and make it look outdated.

Take a step out of the auto industry and work with other types of retail businesses and you'll realize the grass is not always greener. I'm looking at you healthcare, real estate!

 

[Alexander Lau]

Why Won't Car Dealers Respond to Emails?
https://jalopnik.com/why-wont-car-dealers-respond-to-emails-1831668748/amp

 

[Alex Snyder]

Why Won't Car Dealers Respond to Emails?
https://jalopnik.com/why-wont-car-dealers-respond-to-emails-1831668748/amp

I have not read the article but know of one major culprit... the damn-dirty CRM system. Too many dealers on the same pipes getting shut down by email providers all the time.

 

[Marc Lavoie]

Yes that happens when you're doing mass mailing only as your email server blocks outgoing mail. There are a few CRM using stronger email clients like Sengrid, Mailgun, AWS and others.