If you were cruising through different menus and ordering dinner for pickup, you wouldn’t expect to redo the entire order when you get to the restaurant—that's a surefire way to lose a customer. So why do we subject car shoppers to the same frustrating experience? Whether it’s shopping for a new lawn mower, booking a vacation, or looking for a new car, building the deal online has become the norm. So why is it that other industries have a seamless process from online to in-store? Being stuck in the past can be a hard habit to break, but when you look at the old way vs the new way, there’s no question – seamlessly connected digital retailing and desking solutions are the answer.
The Old Way: Inefficient and Fragmented
Dealerships have long suffered with a disjointed sales process that frustrates customers and staff. Customers start their car-buying journey online, only to find themselves repeating the entire process once they get to the dealership. Sales teams have no visibility into these initial online interactions, leading to duplicated efforts and wasted time. Closing a deal in this fragmented system often takes hours, with extensive paperwork, multiple approvals, and constant back-and-forth negotiations slowing down the process. This inefficiency hampers sales and diminishes the overall customer experience. Accessing customer information is another cumbersome task, as sales staff must dig through CRM systems to piece together past interactions, which slows down the sales process even more and risks errors. Traditional negotiations also lack transparency. This leaves customers unsure if they are getting a fair deal. This lack of clarity can erode trust and make the sales process combative. Integrating trade-in values and financing options into a deal becomes a multi-step process that can confuse customers and cause further delays. Crafting deals manually while balancing competitive offers with healthy profit margins is a constant challenge that is typically riddled with mistakes. The traditional sales processes often fail to meet modern customers' preferences for a self-led, digital-first experience.
The New Way: Seamless and Efficient with Digital Retailing and Desking Solutions
Digital retailing, paired with a robust desking solution, has transformed the car sales process, addressing these challenges head-on. These solutions make sure all digital interactions are accessible when customers visit the dealership. Sales teams can pick up where the online journey left off, eliminating the need for customers to repeat themselves and creating a smoother, more cohesive experience. By carrying over information from online interactions, desking tools speed up deal creation in-store, significantly reducing transaction times and enhancing both productivity and the customer experience. Integration with CRM systems means sales staff have instant access to comprehensive customer data which allows them to create a personalized and efficient sales process that builds on previous interactions. Digital retailing allows for collaborative quote creation between customers and sales staff, fostering transparency and trust, and allowing easy modifications to deals. With trade-in valuations and financing options seamlessly integrated into the deal creation process, customers see all their options in one place, making it easier to make informed decisions. Desking tools give dealerships control over profit margins by allowing them to set parameters and create deals that align with business goals while remaining competitive. This control helps maintain healthy profit margins without sacrificing customer satisfaction. Digital retailing caters to modern customers' preferences for a digital-first approach, accommodating both self-led and salesperson-assisted deal creation and providing flexibility that meets diverse customer needs.
The Future is Now
Autovance MyDeal and Autovance Desk offer solutions that bridge the gap between online and in-store experiences. By addressing common dealership challenges these tools ensure both customers and dealerships benefit from a smoother, more satisfying car-buying journey.
Don’t let outdated processes hold you back. Embrace the future of car sales and watch your dealership thrive.
