Picture this – one of your customers is driving along and the music he’s listening to (which he selected using voice control) is interrupted by a voice text message telling him he’s approaching a florist, just in case he wanted to buy flowers for his wife on their wedding anniversary.

Your dealership sent the message.

Pretty good CRM compared to what you might be doing today. Reading this, you may have started wondering how far into the future we are talking about? The short answer is that it’s all possible today. BMW has already announced that they will launch location marketing in Germany via their ConnectedDrive system.

As a technology-aware Dealer, is there anything you can do to advance or broaden the impending benefits of new technologies? Again, the short answer is yes, especially if your particular franchisors are slow to react to technological advancements.

Breaking down the various components of the opening scenario:

• Your customer’s anniversary date (or other relevant data) is already able to be extracted from your DMS or other customer database
• There are smartphone apps already available with ‘futuristic’ tech like gesture control, voice control, text to voice etc
• Plug-in GPS tracking devices can monitor vehicle location, and match it with the location of retail outlets etc. Plus, by monitoring data such as odometer readings, they can also trigger electronic service reminders, including services based on driving behaviour

At this point, you’re probably picturing how this applies to new vehicles – well, what about the $60,000 pre-owned car in your yard with technology that is far surpassed by the $12,990 small hatch in the showroom?

Judicious installation of available aftermarket technology may well make for a quicker sale or higher gross on cars such as these, as well as making it easier for you to stay in touch with the buyer.

There is a huge amount of technology available to Dealers designed to win customers, keep them and increase profitability. The timing of launching your Dealership into this new technology is a point of consideration.

Many Dealers considering new technology often ask ‘Are any other Dealers doing it already?’ The answer which provides comfort to most dealers is ‘Yes’, while the answer which provides the greatest opportunity for progressive Dealers is ‘No.’
Sak Ryopponen
Director, Business Development – Go Technologies