NADA was a great show. I'm a sucker for automotive SaaS so these conferences are often times an easy opportunity to see new tech in action and also talk to the true builders.
As a disclaimer: The vendors/tech I mention in this post have no idea I will be mentioning them. I sought out after them at NADA. I don't get paid to mention them. My company doesn't get paid for mentioning them. I don't even know if they want me mentioning them. I'm just a geek for auto tech solutions and services and like giving props to vendors who are doing their thang. Lastly, God did not tell me to mention them either. (that last one is disturbingly becoming more common #passiveaggressiveshotsfired)
Service/Connected Car Tech:
Tekion https://www.tekion.com/
-A former Tesla CIO got told by his Telsa service techs that he had unknowingly created a pretty rad service experience tool. Turns out they were right. The Telsa executive left to launch the dSE platform, a platform that is connects consumers with a dealerships service operations from scheduling to payment. The Telsa executive is now backed by some serious VC and officially launched at NADA2019. In summary, (from Tekion's marketing manager) Consumers are experiencing more advanced services and transactions outside the auto industry. Through dSE, consumers can look forward to Amazon-like machine learning capabilities, incredibly fast check-ins, real-time updates, a personalized interface, and easy online payment options. Concurrently, dealers will benefit with greater efficiency and profitability using the Tekion platform. dSE’s mobile interface reduces customer wait times and through machine learning, suggests up-sells on parts and services that are most relevant and make sense to their customers.
Phone Tech:
JIVE, Purple Cloud, LogmeIN
- One of the most out of date tech I generally deal with in dealerships is their existing phone systems. Jive is a cloud based tech, so you can ditch your old phone box. In addition to saving money on hardware, the lines and minutes are often times more affordable, they have great integrations with your existing CRM provider, and you get to literally see everything. Every phone call. No more guessing how many sales/service/directions/whatever kinda calls came to your dealership. Ya, i know your existing provider does this but their set up is pretty cool often times saving a user clicks, dials, and ultimately time.
Attribution, Predictive, Automation:
DealerX, Experian DPS and PureCars new "signal" tool
-The only word used more than "disruption" at NADA was "attribution" or maybe "AI". Rant: AI on shitty data = shitty AI. If you bought a AI tool at NADA and your existing database looks like it could be featured on A&E's next episode of Hoarders then you're just... you get the point. rant over.
The DealerX tool is insane. If you are into scary movies then this is right up your alley. Here's the plotline: Your customers go through a choose your own subconscious adventure. DealerX tells the story of that adventure and then takes action with automated real-time market messaging via the media type, platform, and creative that will increase the consumers conversion to the next page. Spoiler alert/recommendation: don't watch this movie alone because no one will believe what you just saw and you wont be able to explain it. Jeff and his team do great work.
The PureCars signal tool was really cool tool. Its more visual and shows a great representation of what inventory is getting the most engagement based on your marketing efforts. It's not the scary movie that DealerX provides but the inventory and shopper engagement scoring features are worth further examination.
The Experian DPS would be a combination of the DealerX tool and the PureCars signal tool. The tool makes a strong case for being an unbiased marketing effectiveness tool and seems easy to use. The DPS also allows you to conquest in-market shoppers via purchasing a list
Lead Follow Up and Communications tools:
Four Eyes 20/20
-Think abandon shopping cart attack attitude. If you customer abandons a VDP four eyes alerts you or communicates on your behalf to reengage the customer with relevant offers, price drops, custom messages, etc. Their CRM integrations go beyond push/pull. I need another demo of the tool, but liked what I saw in the short time.
DealerEFX
-nothing sexy here, it just works. Its 2019 and I'm so sick of talking about proper lead handling but the reality is there aren't that many dealers who are doing it correctly. I have a love hate relationship with lead handling because it will keep me forever gainfully employed, but it's just nuts, NUTS i tell ya. James and his team do a great job at matching Tier 1-3 messaging via compliant and relevant email templates. Simple and effective.
Strolid
-I didnt meet with Strolid at NADA but in addition to providing creative the Strolid team simply does the work for you. They respond to every lead via chat, text, email, and phone with a consistent testable process. In a world where process is not proprietary but execution and people are they get it done.
AOV (Autos on Video via UnityWorks)
-Very cool video lead response app. Unity works provides a lot of brand and model specific content if you can't create your own. Easy way to send videos, track them, all at a very low price.
Again - totally my unpersuaded opinions of products at NADA. One last thing... I follow automotive tech like it's my job. Oh wait, it is my job. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of solutions presented at NADA and that exist in our marketplace today. Point being... I don't know how dealers can stay up to date and make informed technology purchasing decisions with all the options in the space today. It seems like there is a big opportunity to create a better RFP and procurment process when selecting vendors at the dealer level. There are sooo many providers, you could literally go broke selling cars.
