The Future of Auto Retail: Adapting to Survive and Thrive

As a nearly 40-year veteran of auto retailing and agency management, I often ponder the future of our business. My first thought is: will it even exist 10, 15, or 20 years from now? Will our franchise system of selling remain intact, or will it disappear like so many brick-and-mortar businesses in the digital age? Swallowed up by websites and buying services offering a quicker, hassle-free buying experience, consumers are demanding more information, more transparency, and less hassle than ever before. So, do auto retailers give up and close their doors? Or do we respond positively and adapt to our customers’ demands for a better way to buy?

The choice is simple: adapt and prosper or dig your heels in and become a relic of the past like all the other dinosaurs in retailing.

Here is the evolutionary roadmap to success:

1. Hire the Right People
2. Develop New Positions
3. Set Clear Expectations
4. Invest in Comprehensive Training
5. Monitor and Adapt for Results

While these steps seem straightforward, they require a deeper commitment to change.

When I first started selling automobiles, the method of selling was known as “liner/closer”. I was a liner, a young, inexperienced kid taught everything from roof to road about the products we represented. My job consisted of getting the customer to fall in love with their auto of choice, getting them to commit to owning it, and then my closer would come in and seal the deal. There was normally a lot of shouting and grinding out of a deal that consumers would not sit through today, but it did sell cars.

We have evolved away from those practices, and I believe we can evolve even further—if we have the fortitude. Unfortunately, the auto retailing industry has been slow to move away from the status quo while the consumer seems to be adapting at the speed of light. Resistance to change is not locked into our chromosomes. We just need to be open to adaptation, so we don’t go extinct.

Let’s Review The Evolutionary Roadmap to Success

1. Hire the Right People

Every employee in our dealership should be a talent recruiter! It’s amazing how many people in the auto business simply go back and forth from work to home daily without pausing to notice the talent around them. The convenience store clerk who is college-educated but hasn’t found the right fit for their degree, or the outgoing, bright, waiter or waitress who served you dinner last night and is longing for an opportunity to show a great company what they can contribute. We are surrounded by like-minded car people all day long, limiting our pool of fresh, new talent. Get out into your communities and recruit that talent before your competition does!

2. Develop New Positions

• Salespeople = Product Specialists: These individuals are trained to deliver extensive information about all the products you represent in a useful feature-advantage-benefit format, creating excitement and value that entices consumers to buy.
• Internet Manager = Business Development Specialist: This person handles incoming and outgoing contacts via the web. Highly trained in communication skills, both written and oral, these folks are at the front line of getting the consumer in the door. Contact-to-appointment-to-close stats must be monitored.
• Web Page Designer/Maintainer = Information Specialist: This person manages your advertising billboard on the information superhighway. Attractive, current, and accurate information must be supplied continually to engage consumers with your dealership.
• Human Resource Manager = Recruitment Specialist: This person manages the talent pool, attracting and maintaining high-quality individuals that the dealership can hire to replace a position or expand roles, ensuring growth opportunities are not stifled.
• F&I Manager = Delivery Specialist: This is the Ownership Enhancement Specialist in the dealership, assisting consumers with legal paperwork, finance needs, and ancillary products that enhance the customer’s enjoyment of owning or leasing the vehicle. These individuals truly believe in the value proposition these products provide.

3. Set Clear Expectations

It’s nearly impossible for employees to guess exactly what their employers want. We need to set clear expectations for all departments. For example, Product Specialists should be graded on sales volume and CSI scores. Business Development Specialists should be graded on contact conversion to appointments set. Information Specialists are graded on the speed and accuracy of web page content. Recruitment Specialists are judged on the presentation of qualified candidates, employee productivity, and tenure with the dealership. Delivery Specialists are monitored on ancillary product sales and CSI scores.

4. Invest in Comprehensive Training

Training is key to employee performance and longevity. We can no longer simply tell employees what to do; we must train them on how and why we want it done this way. Training is essential to developing our customer experience process within the store. It must be regular, engaging, specific to tasks, and repeated consistently to ensure implementation.

5. Monitor and Adapt for Results

Since we can’t manage what we can’t measure, constant monitoring of our results is required. Daily check-ins with key individuals to highlight areas where we are exceeding goals or falling short must take place. If something needs to be examined or changed to enhance the customer experience and overall profitability, we must be willing to change it.

By following this evolutionary roadmap, we can ensure that our industry not only survives but thrives in the face of ever-changing consumer demands. Adaptation is the key to our future success.

Do you have more questions about adapting to the latest automotive trends at your dealership? Get in touch with Rob Miller today at rmiller@sautomotive.com or on his LinkedIn page!