How are you using Tablets at the Dealership?

[Rick Buffkin]

You know you could put some power point presentations on there about service or diff service procedures (brake and battery inspections, tire inspections etc...). Quick video talking about the importance of a particular service so the customer can get a little better understanding of service they're being recommended. Take pics with it to show the customer what the broken issue is. Put Adobe Acrobat Pro on it, load your Vehicle Inspection Sheet template into Acrobat Pro and insert the pics of bad tires or wipers or any other issue. Use the Pen to sign and then save and print to a color printer so the cust can have their copy with pics.

 

[BillH]

Good ideas...

We have Walk Around Videos here, it's worked out great as a product and support. I cannot get buy in from service, but I'm making headway with the sales end. I agree, but I like tech and if you don't, I suppose it's seen as a nuisance. Too bad, the credibility gain is big.

 

[JessicaRuth]

This is extremely impressive @BillH @Rick Buffkin

 

[Rick Buffkin]

Check this out @BillH



Works up to 300 foot away using Bluetooth.

 

[BillH]

Check this out @BillH



Works up to 300 foot away using Bluetooth.

Interesting device, I wonder if there is a way to give service drive cars a weather resistant bar code so they can be scanned quickly at the next visit to expedite the check in.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

You would scan the Vin barcode thats posted inside the driver side door panel. All you have to do is place the mouse cursor in the Vin field on the DMS screen and once you scan the vin barcode it will autofill the number in that particular field. So, entering a vehicle into the DMS is pretty simple. Looking in the windows store, there are barcode apps you can download but you have to rely on the camera on the Surface and may run into issues scanning the barcodes. If there's not enough light or some other small issue. Just something to think about to speed up your service process.

 

[craigh]

Interesting device, I wonder if there is a way to give service drive cars a weather resistant bar code so they can be scanned quickly at the next visit to expedite the check in.

I think that's what Reynolds does with their software, except they use some form of NFC style tag on the back of the rear view mirror - when you pull in it scans the badge and welcomes you, opens a new RO and gives the advisor all the information on his screen while giving you your appointment information on the drive thru screen. Their computers are also portable tablets so you can do a walkaround and record any damage or noticeable issues on the car as they're pulling in.

 

[craigh]

You would scan the Vin barcode thats posted inside the driver side door panel. All you have to do is place the mouse cursor in the Vin field on the DMS screen and once you scan the vin barcode it will autofill the number in that particular field. So, entering a vehicle into the DMS is pretty simple. Looking in the windows store, there are barcode apps you can download but you have to rely on the camera on the Surface and may run into issues scanning the barcodes. If there's not enough light or some other small issue. Just something to think about to speed up your service process.

USB or bluetooth barcode readers are reasonably priced - wouldn't be hard to add one to the mix.

 

[ed.brooks]

Great story from Automotive News - "Dealership group, staff split costs of tablets"

 

[BillH]

We just bought 4 iPads to use in the showroom with our ELeads CRM. The goal is to expedite any logjams with ability to do credit apps, online OEM forms, etc. at the table. I bought soft cases for them from Amazon, ironically, made for school kids, to prevent in store damage. We'll see how this goes, but we are trying to eliminate all excuses for a slow process.