The COVID-19 pandemic, as we all know, is one of the most catastrophic events in human history. It claimed lives, devastated the global economy and redefined daily life. Mobility was halted almost overnight. Several industries were adversely affected by the pandemic, including the automobile industry. 

Although Coronavirus still lurks, we have all accepted the new normal and are once again going about our daily activities. But, such testing times call for stronger measures. To speak more specifically of the automobile industry, how do automobile dealers maintain their sales team’s productivity in such times?

Read on to know how!

Future-proof Your Automobile Dealership

As technology advances at a staggering rate and customer demands and business landscapes continuously change, it is imperative that we remain equipped with new-age solutions to remain productive and gain that competitive edge. However, if you’ve been debating it, now’s the time!

Invest in the right tools

Start by exploring, learning and leveraging software to connect and collaborate with your telecalling team. NeoDove is an example of an easy-to-use and comprehensive telecalling platform that you can use to streamline your sales and customer engagement processes. 

Here’s a gist of what NeoDove has to offer:

• Real-time team and lead monitoring for in-depth performance analysis
• Progressive and automated dialing process to increase productivity
• Integrated lead management system to stay on top of things 
• Integrations with company website, HubSpot, Facebook and Google Ads, Google Sheets, etc.

We spend a lot of time thinking about our product strategy but tend to forget about one crucial area: what software will be used by our sales team. In order to stay ahead of the competition, companies need real-time data and reports on how their sales team is performing. 

They also need an easy way to measure success and identify improvement opportunities. By investing in a customized solution that meets these needs, a company can improve customer retention and find new ways to provide value for their clients.

Conduct market research

Around 90% of the car purchasing process in India has been digitally driven, according to a Google Kantar TNS study. And that with the shift in consumer behaviour, buyer’s visits to brick-and-mortar dealerships have dropped.

Moreover, the study tracked the car research and purchase journey for consumers and found that video searches and dealership websites played a crucial role in influencing consumer decisions. For you to understand the buying behaviour and motives, you need to understand what you are offering in comparison with what your competitors are offering.

The truth is, your sales team is are already conducting qualitative research all the time when reaching out to prospects so adding up one more task to their list to extract more data can help the team achieve a strong sales strategy that is in sync with the goals of your dealership.

Re-engage with your customers

Engaging and reengaging your existing customers can help you to evaluate the overall success of your dealership (in terms of customer satisfaction). The question to be addressed in such a situation is not how to increase sales, but how to help customers. If you help customers, the numbers will follow. 

The following are some of the steps that you can take:

• Make it easy for your customers to get in touch with you. Consider a live chat service or a dedicated hotline
• Take your customer service to the next level & use video conferencing and virtual calls to ensure familiarity
• Recreate a tailored payment plan for different customers
• Engage in proactive customer communication and customer support through outbound calls

Also read: How to maintain follow up

Final Thoughts

While ups and downs are constant, there is always something you can do for the future. Stocking up on new leads requires extra time and effort and ensure that your sales team puts in that effort and uses their time effectively. Encourage them to:

• Find new sales prospects and nurture existing clients
• Understand prospects and customers better
• Do a focus targeting and fill the sales funnel with quality leads 

COVID-19 has affected businesses across multiple industries and its eradication is not certain. What businesses need to do is find smarter ways to recover and adapt to all the restrictions and seize the opportunities that come their way.