Are you a Finger Pointer?

[Alex Snyder]

The world is full of finger pointers and we certainly don't need more.  I'm so sick of people not taking responsibility for things.  If you've been in management, or have had to keep multiple vendors connected, then you have probably felt my same frustration.  Before this turns into a rant I want to say I have been enlightened.  Yes, there are certainly some childish finger pointers out there (that's right, I called you childish) but most of it comes from a lack of understanding.

Let's use the pre-owned inventory display conundrum that plagues most dealerships as an example.  This is definitely one of the biggest time wasters and absolutely is hell.

My experience with getting a physical car to show on all the retail sites started with the entry of the vehicle either by a finalized deal (trade) or the wholesale department (auction) entering basic vehicle information into the DMS.  From there it was typical for some digital dead time as we waited for service to check the car out and update their end of things in the DMS.  Then it could be onto some extra reconditioning.  During this time stock photos and "Call for Pricing" are the digital attire for customers to browse - exciting!

While this car is "digitally naked" (feel free to snag that term) the inventory merchandising tool (a HomeNet-type of tool) is showing your photo/comment/pricing to total inventory ratio as being a single car off.  This gets the boss' blood pressure up as you're tasked with cracking the whip on your photo takers and window sticker pasters.  Of course, they're screaming back that they can't find the car or it is in reconditioning.  Then your representative from vAuto or AAX is telling you the dealership is doing a terrible job on its turn rate.....such is this never-ending fun.

When we've finally got the car "digitally dressed" we come across a new problem:  why it isn't showing on Cars.com.

1. We've checked the DMS:  status code - check, GL Balance above $xxx - check, all necessary fields filled - check.
   
2. We've checked the inventory tool:  photos - check, comments - check, price - check, necessary fields filled - check, last feed push within 12 hours - check.
   
3. We've checked the pricing tool:  updated price in last 5 days - check, that price matches the inventory tool - check.

Why isn't this car on Cars.com?

1. Call the inventory tool support folks - they have no idea....all looks good.
   
2. Call the used car manager to see if he manually deleted it - nope....he wants it online ASAP and now he knows there is a problem, so he's getting the GM involved - fantaaaastic!
   
3. Call the Cars.com rep to be reminded that you requested the feed be switched from your inventory tool provider to your website provider because they can now push videos to Cars.com.
   
4. Call your website provider to have them point the finger back at your inventory tool provider.......fuuuuuuuuu....

If you read through all that, I apologize.  I know it was painful, but so is the world of complicated systems mixed with a world of too many needed steps to get a simple chore done.  This is the world we live in and it is a world wrought with little accountability....or should I say little understanding.  The simple answer is "hey vendors - build something" but the truth is the vendors build stuff all the time.

Much of the problem is that people love shiny objects, and in dealer groups, there isn't always a single voice of authority on which products a group uses.

So, we come back to a need for understanding instead of finger pointing.  Take the time to understand your systems, take the time to understand your process, and create a documented path of accountability so people can understand where to go when a step in the system breaks down.

How many people in your dealership truly understand your technological process?

Here is a simple diagram you can model your process flow off of (example being the inventory feed flow):

 

[@ridederty]

Alex,
Nice work in putting together this flow chart, the rant is great as well (have you been talking to Uncle Joe?) The "real time" promises made from some vendors tend to be unrealistic and the reality of technology (at least for me) is not everything fits together seamlessly.

This statement in your post sums it all up for me "This is the world we live in and it is a world wrought with little accountability….or should I say little understanding." Everybody wants to talk about accountability, understanding is the real answer in most cases.

Craig Belowski AKA @ridederty

 

[@thedealergeek]

Alex,

Flow chart was amazing. I just helped a dealer get through a serious finger pointing session. IN the end we had to co-ordiante a conference call between the dealer, DMS, web company. After everyone put there head together and swallowed their egos it was smooth sailing.

 

[ericgidney]

Alex...THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! As an Inventory Management provider for nearly 90 dealerships throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey this is ALWAYS one of the greatest challenges we face in working with our clients. Well done Alex...well said...and it needed to be said. The only thing I would like to add is the latency that can even be experienced from one website to another. Inventory updates that are made either through DMS polling or administrative backend access from Inventory Providers such as AutoUpLinkUSA have varying times as to when they are published by each 3rd party website. While a price change might show within 4 hours on Cars.com, it could take longer on other sites just due to their processing and publishing turn-around times.

Thanks again for bringing up the topic.

 

[Christine (blog)]

Ain't it the truth. Well written and basically what I deal with on a daily basis. It can be nerve-wracking talking to well-intentioned support reps at three different companies all trying to solve the same problem and then .. inevitably... the problem comes back next month and we start the game over again. (If I have to listen to the obnoxious greeting on one of my vendors support lines just one more time I may throw my phone out the window.)

 

[ryan.leslie]

Great post Alex. As a guy that has spent time working for both a data collection/distribution vendor and a classified site I really enjoyed hearing your frustration. That doesn't sound right, but hear me out.

In both of those roles the Vendor has a huge challenge too and always has less than the full picture. It's kind of like putting together a puzzle with the printed side facing the table.

From the vendor side of the desk I used to tell my people to do the legwork, make the calls and figure out the problem, take the extra step to call the dealer back with the solution, even if you can't "fix it."

I especially liked the part about feeds. Can't tell you how many times I had to politely answer "I pay YOU to get my inventory to X! Fix it" with "X tells me YOU switched the primary feed to your website. Got time for a conference call?" Sure wish I had your diagram back then, might still have some hair in the back.

 

[ggarvin (blog)]

Alex - What a great conversation to have... such a frustration for dealers, vendors, classified sites and, ultimately consumers too... You can add another annoyance -- businesses that scrape listings off dealer websites and then don't update them!

Ryan - You've got a unique perspective and represent that dealer frustration well.

 

[ggarvin (blog)]

All in all, don't we... meaning providers of services or products for dealerships... bear the responsibility of integration to the point of making sure this stuff works? Aren’t we here to provide solutions for our dealer customers? Too often, vendors won't integrate solutions because of old policies, old technologies or, most troubling, fear.

One of the vendors listed in this post won't send Dealer Specialties a data feed because they are fearful of our intent, despite the dealer's request to do so. This type of thinking was once the norm at Dealer Specialties as well; however, today it’s different. If a dealer chooses not to use our services, we will help them transition, which includes sending the new vendor our data and photos as necessary.

Another website company represented here won't accept real-time feeds from Dealer Specialties because they believe they compete with one of our sister products. Again, they do this despite our mutual customers’ needs.

 

[ggarvin (blog)]

The answer is simplistic. Vendors who supply products or services to dealers need to remember to keep their customers’ interests first and avoid finger pointing. The dealer doesn’t want or need to be troubled… just fix it. What vendors are interested in joining Dealer Specialties in this endeavor? We certainly aren’t perfect but we are trying… with the dealer’s best interest at heart.

 

[@dealerrefresh]

Alex, do you remember the last time you were in town and where sitting in my office as I was building out an inventory feed chart?

Allow me to make a suggestion as you are building out this cart. Add the exact time that each feed gets processed and low long on average it takes to post.

Too many times I have a manager calling me saying "we made a price change in ADP but it's not reflecting in Homenet - how comes?" Of course then have a series of questions:

1. I need an example stock number
2. What are the prices being reflected in ADP and Homenet?
3. When did you update ADP? 24 or 48 hours ago?
4. What time did you last check Homenet for a change?

All this before making a call to support.

Funny that you posted this article today - it just so happens, what I wrote above was a circumstance that happened today.

Once you have your flow chart, train your managers on it. Several times - it's rare they will comprehend it the first time around.