With the growing demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs), dealerships are faced with unique challenges. Getting individual sites and sprawling networks, across multiple territories and countries, ‘EV ready’ is hard and time consuming. Giving the right support, to the right site, at the right time is tricky.
Adding to that, how do you ensure sites have the right charging infrastructure and the right level of IMI (Institute of the Motor Industry) training? Do they have EV demo and showroom cars? And, if you are aiming to be Electric Vehicle Approved, are you on course? Are your sites equipped to handle EV charging stations or battery swaps?
There is a lot to prepare. Loop can help.
How Loop helps you meet EV readiness demands across your network
Loop’s Business Performance Management software is designed to help you monitor and optimise every area of a dealer network. Here’s how Loop can help dealer groups get EV ready.
Facilities – Charging
- Identify sites that have adequate charging facilities for workshops, customers, and demonstrator usage, and those that do not.
- Future proof your network by finding out where site power capacity is enough, and can be scaled in future, and where investment is needed.
People – Training and Headcount Demand
- Uncover where EV training for brand experts and EV technicians is needed most urgently.
- Discover where technicians have Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) level 3 training, or equivalent.
- Put a headcount strategy in place to keep up with EV demand and needs.
Aftersales Operations
- Devise a workshop capacity plan to cope with increasing EV demand.
- Ensure dealers have storage capacity for increased parts and accessories.
- Make sure all EV service repair times, operating procedures, and the process for handling batteries (damaged, repairs, warranties) are fully understood.
- Ensure High Voltage (HV) work bays are the right size and have the necessary safety equipment (phone, first aid kit, defibrillator).
- Allocate a designated space for the storage and handling of HV batteries and have suitable equipment to move them.
Sales Operations
- Which sites have access to EV demo/showroom cars already? Are they on order?
- Are the sales teams aware of EV lead times, ranges, service, maintenance, and repair (SMR) costs and charge times?
- Do site sales reps understand insurance categories, battery lease and the exchange process/costs?
Loop’s software solution helps you manage dealer network performance
How do you adapt to the new technology and changing consumer behaviour and meet the market’s EV standards?
Loop has all the features and modules to help you prepare for this influx of electric vehicles. Our secure cloud-based platform helps you manage your dealer network performance across multiple locations or franchises. This allows you to share data across your network, making sure that every location always has access to current information about customer demand and operational efficiency.
Loop consists of a comprehensive set of modules and features that help you manage your network in the following ways:
- Our Survey Module makes it easy to audit your network across all departments – sales, aftersales and technicians. It helps you establish each dealer’s readiness for EV sales, support and aftersales. It also helps identify areas for improvement.
- Based on survey results, set relevant Action Plans for each site, whether they need to focus on EV aftersales, training, or facilities.
- Our Scorecards and Dashboards Modules show how each site is performing against their action plan, other local sites, or the entire network. You can identify gaps in EV training, equipment, and sales, so you can arrange site visits based on who needs the most support.
- The Visit Management Module helps you arrange and track visits to the sites that need the most guidance, enabling you to ensure they are getting it from regional managers, on the topics they need, when they need it, now and in to the future.
- Regular surveys and constant, real-time updates to dashboards and scorecards promotes a culture of continuous improvement, to help your entire network with EV readiness.
Conclusion
Car dealerships and Manufacturers that aim to gain market share over the next 15 to 20 years need to adapt their operations to new EV technology and changing consumer behaviour.
By having access to information and resources that will help your network understand how ready you are to sell, service and repair EVs, you can position yourself for change and embrace EV readiness. Whatever your electric vehicle readiness plans and goals, Loop’s dealer network performance management software will help you achieve them.
Find out more about how Loop can help your dealership network speed up and smooth the process to meet EV readiness requirements.