Resistance is Futile, You will be Assimilated!

by: Mark R. Dubis

For those of you who are StarTrek fans you will recognize this slogan as that of the Borg, an advanced race of semi-human robots that take over and consume all new worlds they conquer. I thought this saying also applied to those in the dealership world who were still telling themselves that the Internet might still go away or that it’s just a fad.

Hello! The web is not going away and smart dealers are leveraging their resources to build an integrated sales department that works with the traditional sales team in order to provide superior service to all online prospects and existing customers.

While most dealerships have staff handling Internet leads, the management at the dealership is often skeptical of their efforts and sometimes inadvertently works to sabotage those efforts.

Here’s an incident I just heard about. A friend of mine in New York did her car shopping on the web and found a Subaru dealership in her area with a nice inventory of pre-owned Outback's. When she inquired first online and then via phone the Internet manager said the car she wanted was sold, but they had another one coming in within a week and if she wanted that one, she could have it. She committed for the vehicle and was told that it was hers.

Later that week the Internet manager called and said that another salesperson on the floor also took an order for that vehicle and the owner was selling it to that other customer. My friend was dumbfounded. She thought she had a deal. The Internet contact told her that the other customer came in with a deposit so they had to give him the car.

My friend was upset the manager didn’t request a deposit from her, as she would have brought in a $500 deposit to secure the vehicle. We all know the reality of the business and how it works, but what about consumers who don’t know how the system works? Don’t we have an obligation to explain to our customers and prospects how the purchase process works?

Could this situation have been avoided? Yes. If all the sales team members in the dealership used a customer tracking tool (also known as CRM) the Internet manager could have locked up the deal and no other salesperson could have “skated” the transaction. Now my friend is letting everyone in her vast network of friends, family and business associates know about the horrors of Internet automotive shopping or at least how that dealership ensured it will never get her business again. I urge you to re-evaluate your in-store sales process and see how you can strengthen the relationship between all your sales departments.

This article originally appeared in Digital Dealer magazine.