With competition in the automotive world rife and the sales model migrating towards an omnichannel approach, OEMs will be more eager than ever to have a full sales pipeline and healthy conversion rate. The only way to effectively track and monitor this across a multi-site organisation is by digitising the process. Enabling transparency across the network means performance can be tracked, and sites can be benchmarked against one another. As Deloitte suggests:
“An ecosystem that includes the manufacturer, retailer, importer, financier, and service garage all sharing data is very powerful. Used correctly, the data generated across the entire ecosystem can build a 360-degree view of the consumers’ needs, wants, preferences and behaviour, increasing the ability of all parties to increase consumer satisfaction, loyalty and even overall profitability.”*
If you still need to digitise your automotive sales funnel management for all your stakeholders, we’ve summarised ten factors you should consider when choosing an auto sales funnel management software.
An intuitive experience will be boosted by having the ability to tailor your auto sales funnel software to your unique sales processes. Getting a demo will help get a full understanding of which features can be customised. You’ll also want to ensure that different people can view the same sales data in many different ways, depending on their role. Finding a partner that’s willing to share data display ideas with you, whether it’s zoomed in or zoomed out, limited or limitless, ranged or free-range, will minimise stress during the onboarding process and ensure you get user buy-in from the offset.
As data can often be an assortment of different formats you need to choose a software provider that is capable of marrying these all together. Typically, the data will be a combination of spreadsheets, client data feeds, and cloud-based apps, an example of which is shown below. Ensure the software provider can support you through this process and ideally opt for one application rather than multiple tools to manage your sales funnel.
Ultimately, moving forward data feeds should be automated to eliminate human error and save precious time. Automation within the tool itself will further streamline processes, such as setting reminders, template-based communications, assignment of tasks, workflows and scheduling meetings. Consistency will be much improved, and the sales team can focus their attention on building relationships to help the leads convert.
Many Area Sales Managers carry a tablet, a great on-the-go tool for showcasing data dashboards to the field teams. Therefore, check that the software has been built responsively. Often, data displays are too detailed to be accurately viewed by the field team on a smartphone, so having an app is not paramount.
The auto market is forever changing, and therefore the auto sales funnel tool must have the ability to adapt to your evolving sales funnel strategy. Ask about the infrastructure of the software and how usage demand could impact on this, as well as querying if data storage is future-proofed. Find out if features have been built as plug-and-play modules. Therefore, only relevant modules are loaded to each customer's version of the platform. Ultimately, you need to have confidence that the product can accommodate your growth in users and data, without compromising the user experience.
Choose a provider that insists on carrying out an information assurance plan, demonstrating their proactive attitude to data protection. Look for best practices in security measures, such as:
Find out upfront whether the software provider has a customer support team and clarify what level of support you will receive. You would expect more comprehensive service during the onboarding stage, but what does business-as-usual support look like? Before signing up, delve into reviews and ask to speak to one of their existing customers for an up-to-date assessment of the tool and service provided. Also, check to see if there is a bank of FAQs and resources available to help you self-serve.
Assess the following key factors when considering the price and return on investment of an auto sales funnel tool, and when comparing them against one another:
Preparing a comparison checklist, taking into account the above ten factors, will help you select the right automotive sales funnel management software. The next step would be to organise a demo with your preferred option to understand how the tool and the team behind it will benefit your network. Better still, choose a supplier that understands and has experience in your industry. They will be aware of your current challenges and have proven solutions up their sleeves!
Source: *deloitte-uk-digital-changing-car-sales.pdf