By Steven Banks, President, LoopMeIn

Prior to March 2020, no one would have imagined we would be facing closed showrooms, managing sparse inventory, and coping with sanitization guidelines, but that is our new reality. With the automotive arena trying to cope with the current economic and health climate, local and state policies and regulations can make it difficult to adjust to the “new normal”.

One of those enforcements is the required sanitization being done to every vehicle that a consumer or employee handles; a necessity which also means added responsibility and processes. If done incorrectly, dealerships face liability, particularly after customers test positive for COVID-19 after leaving the lot from a service pickup or test drive.

A recent story by KENS5 News in San Antonio, TX places dealerships in the top three industries responsible for spreading the illness, stating, “As San Antonio reckons with a major surge in novel coronavirus cases and residents who have been hospitalized with the virus, local leaders say bars, gyms, and car dealerships have anecdotally shown to be major contributors to the virus’s local impact…”.¹  This publicity is both frightening to consumers, employees, and dealer operators; and leaves us in a balancing act between being socially responsible and providing a needed service and jobs.

An up-and-coming automotive reconditioning, vendor management, and digital vehicle document software company called LoopMeIn has seen a significant demand caused by COVID-19 and quickly jumped in to develop a solution. The company has rolled into its product line a robust vehicle sanitization tracker and documentation system. This technology is available on both desktop and mobile and and allows dealerships to quickly and efficiently track every time a vehicle is sanitized and what specifically is being done to it.

LoopMeIn’s President, Steven Banks, said “Dealerships have been thrown into the fire by having to somehow create impromptu processes around creating a clean atmosphere for their customers. We want to help make it as easy for them as possible so they can focus on operating their business. Our program allows dealerships to not only track and document vehicle sanitization, but also promotes other healthy processes around reconditioning, vendor management, invoicing, and sales.”.

Bill Feinstein, President of Planet Honda in Union, New Jersey commented on the software, “LoopMeIn’s sanitization process allows us to ensure that every vehicle is properly sanitized before every test drive and delivery and stores an electronic record of it.  This gives our staff and our customers a lot of reassurance and helps protect the dealership from potential liability. LoopMeIn has become an essential tool in our daily operations. LoopMeIn isn’t just a used vehicle reconditioning program – it is an inventory lifecycle management tool.  With a quick scan of the vehicle’s VIN I can see all the important details of any vehicle on my lot, such as days since acquired or reconditioning status, or report any issues with the vehicle.“

The vehicle sanitization feature was released in June 2020 and is currently available to dealerships. “Our hope is this pandemic doesn’t last long, but while it’s here LoopMeIn is a fantastic way for dealerships to cope.” Banks says.