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Applying pre-internet era sales and back office functions to web-based platforms is a waste of time, according to Rockar managing director Martin Sewell.
He was addressing the Motor Trader Summit which took place at Edgbaston.
“A really key point is about re-inventing the template. Digitalisation of 100-year-old dealer processes just won’t work,” said Sewell. “I urge you if you have e-commerce plans that they allow you to be able to do anything you can do in your own armchair.”
Sewell said that motor trade and manufacturer customer enquiry response times were a good example of this.
“Can you imagine a world where shopping on Amazon meant once you pressed the ‘Buy Now’ button the platform sent an email to the shop for them to contact you later?” said Sewell.
“According to a study by Arthur D. Little, dealers average response time is 9.2 hours and OEMs average time is around 24 hours,” he said.
Sewell said that that dealers needed to integrate robust, proven, end to end e-commerce platforms, with functionality that enabled customers to do everything they could do in a dealership remotely. And dealers should integrate their e-commerce platforms into showroom consumer journeys, ensure that customer unique experiences had been extensively user tested and were not digitalised versions of dated systems. Dealers should also focus more on the customer experience and less on the time spent with transactions.
The Motor Trader Summit was themed around Profitable Digital Marketing in 2019 with sessions covering how dealers can optimise their digital spend, the effective use of CRM data, customer engagement and digital retailing and profitability.
The IMI accredited event included two keynote speaker sessions with Martin Sewell of the digital Rockar business and Ian Godbold of Cambria Automobiles giving presentations on key issues impacting dealers.
The event, attracting an audience of 150 included Q&A session offering delegates the chance to put their questions to the speaker line-up.