Auto Dealer Monthly, June 2017

June 2017 adt magazine com 19 pie charts available with todays software We want the latest and greatest It gives us a feeling of power and control over our destiny just like the television remote Who wouldnt want to grow their business and make more money with a few clicks of their mouse Unfortunately too many dealers invest thousands of dollars in the latest technology only to continue to do business the same old way expecting different results Technology is neither the problem nor the solution It is merely a tool It can be either a terrific tool or the perfect excuse but technology can only facilitate a solution It doesnt fix the underlying problem You dont need more bells and whistles on your showroom floor in your F I office or on your website to be successful Whether the customer is online or on their showroom floor you need to make shopping at your dealership an exciting fun informative and enjoyable experience so that people want to buy from them not the competition That requires skilled professionals with product knowledge who are trained to help customers answer their questions and concerns and add genuine value to their purchase experience Sales and F I professionals arent born that way Theyre not discovered by a talent agent who overhears them selling in a bar Theyre trained carefully constantly and repeatedly trained day after day month after month year after year The reality is you cant learn to ride a bike by watching a YouTube video and you cant sell products by handing people an iPad and expecting them to watch infomercials The belief that technology is the solution to selling more cars and making more money is no less naïve than believing that technology and the internet is the reason its becoming harder for us to sell products and make a profit Certainly the internet and the information age have changed the car business forever We have a more informed continuously connected consumer with heightened expectations about their personal car buying experience Unfortunately far too many dealers are still using their same old playbook from 20 years ago Rather than focusing on upgrading your processes training and technology to help the customer buy cars and F I products the way they want to buy the entire focus is using these tools to help them maintain control Human beings have always sought out and embraced the latest technology to make their lives easier whether it was some stone age tools to kill tonights meal or the aqueducts that brought water into Rome The difference today is that technology has increasingly become the supreme ruler of our lives and our businesses From the clerk who cant make change unless the cash register tells him the amount to a dealer who cant sell a car if the internet goes down technology rules The Illusion of Control Technology is all about control and the more we worship at the altar of technology the more we crave control Our society and dealerships are increasingly run and dominated by amazingly complex programs software and technologies that most of us can neither understand nor control Any technology that controls us more than we control it makes us feel even more powerless The more powerless we feel the more we crave power It is true that knowledge is power But knowledge is not the storage of information Knowledge is not retaining a bunch of facts pointing out information on a computer screen or reading from a brochure Knowledge is information and data that has been acquired analyzed processed sorted and packaged into a creditable and personal presentation by one human being and then delivered to another human being This specially trained individual or knowledge coordinator matches their knowledge of their product or service with someone elses needs to help that person make an informed decision about how that product will benefit them specifically Its what a professional salesperson and F I professional does every day Henry David Thoreau was an American essayist practical philosopher and critic of those who worshiped the limited technology of his day He lamented Men have become the tools of their tools resulting in what he described as improved means to unimproved ends Unfortunately many dealers today are working with vastly improved and very expensive means and seeing unimproved results Rather than grasping for straws or seeking the latest magic elixir the best sales tool available is still the men and women in your showroom BDC internet department and F I office Continuing to invest in them will produce far greater results and happier customers than the latest and greatest technology Ive never once heard a customer say they would never buy from a particular dealership because they didnt have the latest technology Technology is not the answer Your people are Invest in them Ronald J Reahard ranks among the industrys leading trainers authors consultants and speakers He is president of Reahard Associates Inc winner of a 2016 Dealers Choice Award for F I Training Contact him at ron reahard@ bobit com