Is there someone in your family who hardly ever answers the phone, but will almost always respond to a text? Don’t take it personally. This same person probably prefers to make dinner and travel reservations online, and only answers the phone if they feel it’s imperative to do so–like if it’s their boss calling them for the second time or their mother calling them for the eighth time.
Increasingly, a growing percentage of the population, especially younger people, prefers to interact with family, friends and businesses electronically.
Dealers, this means you too.
Granted, the majority of customers still prefer to contact your dealership via the phone. Some of them are even patient and will wait for a call back, but most won’t. If a prospect can’t find an immediate answer to their question, or they get sent to voice mail, chances are they’ll grow impatient. They may even start Googling to find another dealership or service center while they’re still on hold.
At this point, whoever connects with the customer first, wins.
For this reason, many dealers are now offering electronic communications options. Online chat, online service scheduling systems and texting applications are all examples of technology being used now to connect with customers and improve customer satisfaction.
Even more technologies are coming down the pipeline. On the sales side dealerships have barely scratched the surface when it comes to videos, offering cars for sale online and location-based technologies. On the service side, the next few years will bring tremendous increases in usage of over-the-air software updates, mobile tablets and wireless shop tools.
You may not realize it yet, but many of your customers are really eager for you to get all these technologies in place so they don’t have to talk to you. It’s strange but true; among a certain segment of your customers, the less they talk to you, the more satisfied they will be.
When you consider new applications and tools for your dealership, remember to always ask, “How much bandwidth will this take?” Bandwidth is important because no matter how incredibly well designed a new application or technology is, customers won’t be happy if it’s slow and unreliable. To provide a positive customer experience, speed and reliability are critical.
So as you strive to improve your customer experience, remember to conduct periodic assessments to see if your information technology (IT) infrastructure is up to the task. For most dealerships, the two main areas to be addressed are Internet and wireless connections.
INTERNET
Today’s dealership requires an enterprise level Internet connection provided by fiber optics, which delivers data at speeds ten to 100 times faster than small business Internet service.
Many dealers believe fiber optics is too expensive, but thanks to recent deregulation and increased competition, the cost of fiber optics has dropped dramatically. In many areas a carrier can bring fiber optics right into your server room for under $1,000 per month.
Resiliency is also important. Dealers should consider having two fiber optics connections from two separate service providers; or at the minimum a fiber optics connection from one provider and a dedicated Internet circuit from another provider.
WIRELESS (WiFi)
In order to understand how much wireless coverage your dealership needs, it’s important to understand how much you have now. These definitions will help you determine where you are and how much you need to upgrade.
Level 1: Shop and Guest
I estimate that 25 percent of dealerships are still at this level. Typically this means there are anywhere from one to six wireless nodes in the store. This level is not adequate if your dealership is using mobile tablet applications or cloud-based DMS and other third-party applications.
Level 2: Data Throughout
Currently about 70 percent of dealerships are at this level. At this level wireless access is available throughout the entire dealership. This level of coverage typically doesn’t extend to the lot, although there may be some access close to the building. Depending on the size of the dealership, this type of coverage requires from six to 20 wireless access nodes.
Level 3: Voice
This level is basically Level 2 with the addition of roaming voice capability for wireless phones. However, most people now use mobile phones, so there is less demand for this level of coverage. Only three percent of dealerships are at this level.
Level 4: Location Based
Not many dealerships are at this level yet, but this is where the industry is headed. This level provides “Big Brother” capability, or extreme high-density wireless coverage. If you’re considering any type of location-based software that tracks customer and/or employee movements out on the lot and through your store, this is the level of wireless you’ll need.
Level 4 provides coverage over the entire lot, all the way to the perimeter. This type of wireless requires a minimum of 25 access nodes per store. At about $800 per access node, it doesn’t come cheap. The good news is, the wireless access nodes you purchase today should last from three to five years.
Last but not least, you probably want to upgrade your network switches. Most technologies require switches that deliver 1,000 Mbps, or about one Gigabyte, of throughput. Many dealerships are still using 100 Mbps switches, which are woefully inadequate for a typical dealership’s needs.
If your customers don’t want to talk to you, don’t take it personally. Offer them the communications options they’re comfortable with. Just don’t forget about the bandwi
