Transportation is changing at a rapid rate – from ride sharing services to autonomy and every facet of transportation in between – forcing dealers to analyze their business from every angle. This means digital marketing, traditional marketing, social media, research into their local market regarding demographics and buying preferences, and more. What makes this retail transformation even more relevant is the generational shift taking place across all retail, including automotive. With Millennials supplanting Baby Boomers as the primary market force, and the emergence of Generation Z as car buyers, dealership managers face a new reality of customers who use technology as a fundamental part of their daily experience.
With less than 1% of customers satisfied with the current car buying process, the time for the automotive industry to get smarter and faster about vehicle buyer habits is now. With the help of big data, achieving the high priority of increasing lead volume and conversions is possible. For these buyers, leveraging data-driven technology solutions to make a retail experience efficient and personal is key. In fact, according to PwC’s recently released “The Future of CX,” the payoffs for a valued, personal experience are tangible: up to a 16% price premium on products and services, plus increased loyalty. In return, among U.S. consumers, there’s a sharp increase in willingness to share personal data: 63% say they’d provide more information to a company offering a greater experience. Do you have data best practices and predictive analytics in place currently?
You should.
Why data matters
Dealerships that subscribe to a data source need to analyze the data they have on hand prior to contacting a prospect. The most common pieces of consumer data include basic contact details, vehicle interest and purchase/service history. Data allows sales staff to be more prepared when a prospect or current customer walks into the showroom.
Having data allows your sales team to know a lot about customers: preferences regarding make, model and features to prices, deals, and leasing versus buying and more. When a salesperson is well informed about a customer, they feel heard and acknowledged. This means you can continue to learn about your customers and know when they are in need of a car and what they are looking for. This is invaluable as consumers prefer personalized, time-saving, transparent and gratifying vehicle buying journeys.
When customers are satisfied it fosters loyalty not only for the brand, but for your dealership. This allows for a systemic shift in the industry. Step one, gather data. Step two, predictive analytics…
How predictive analytics works
Predictive analytics works much like your Amazon or Netflix account, by compiling data and streamlining the information for your sales staff. Think about it to the likes of Amazon and Netflix and how those services identify products or shows that you’re most like to buy or watch, at a specific time, because it’s always learning more about your consumer habits. This technology can be applied to the automotive industry, thanks to the mass amount of data dealerships generate about their customers.
By implementing predictive analytics at your dealership, information about customers is seamlessly packaged in a way that is easy to understand and ultimately helpful from the first point of contact with the customer. How? Because the salesperson already knows the customer’s backstory, preferences, etc. Predictive analytics allow dealers to drive sales with the right customers at the right time. That way your sales team is never reaching out or marketing to customers that aren’t ready to start the vehicle purchase journey. Predictive analytics is a way to easily understand the data that you already have at-hand so that you can work smarter not harder.
By having all the information necessary at the first point of outreach (be it a call, email, meeting or any other form of marketing) the sales team can deliver an impeccable and relevant customer experience that will build trust. This also means sales people can offer a relevant product, deal and price.
The bottom line
Dealerships can save time and effort by targeting the most promising customers from the get-go. Analytics can help salespeople to be more knowledgeable and transparent, which lead consumers to be more responsive and ultimately allows the dealership to increase sales.
What are your next steps? Review your data and get to know your current customers. Implement a predictive analytics tool so you can use this data to be more informed about prospective customers and reach out to the right customers at the right time with the right deal. And lastly, measure your success so that you know how your predictive analytics tool is tracking and driving sales.
About the Author
Johannes Gnauck is Co-CEO and founder of automotiveMastermind (automotivemastermind.com), the leading provider of behavior prediction technology and marketing automation technology. automotiveMastermind is a part of IHS Markit.
