Digital Dealer
By John Holt
Last issue, we discussed the importance of hiring an Internet manager to handle your dealership's Web site traffic in order to maximize both online profits and customer service. Clearly, more and more dealers are concluding that they can't do without this crucial component of their dealership team. But while hiring the right person for the position is definitely a good place to start, making sure they have the tools they need to do the job is absolutely essential to any Internet manager's success and to the success of your online business as a whole. The key strategy: good training. Once you have your Internet manager(s), you've got to make sure they get the training they need.
What's at stake here? Cold, hard cash, plain and simple. Anyone who's paying attention knows that the Internet is a potential gold mine of leads for dealerships. But having an Internet manager with the training and know-how to organize, prioritize, assign and follow through on those leads makes all the difference in the world. Thanks to J.D. Power, we now know exactly how much of a difference this training makes. According to a 1999 J.D. Power & Associates study, new vehicle sales from online leads doubled when a dealership's Internet staff had eight or more hours of training under their belts. Yes, doubled. That's a statistic that any modern online dealer cannot afford to ignore.
When it comes to his dealership's Internet business, Joe Thurmond, Director of Operations at Frontier Chrysler/Dodge/VW in Burlington, Washington, counts himself among the converts to the train-'em-and-profit gospel. "If you're spending money building an e-business, do yourself a favor and make sure that at least one person from your team attends Internet training," says Thurmond. "If you're serious about the future of your e-commerce business, this is a must." Thurmond's not just talking; he puts his money where his mouth is. In addition to getting his Internet staff the training they needed, he himself recently attended e-dealership training. As he sees it, it's just good business and a sensible investment in his dealership's future, "We expect to increase our e-business 50% to 100% over the next 12 months, using the valuable information learned in training," says Thurmond. Is he being overly optimistic? Not according to J.D. Power & Associates.
The key thing to keep in mind is that this technology is here to serve your dealership, not the other way around. Learning how to use the Internet to your best advantage is not about submerging your dealership's hard-won identity into some faceless technology, it's about using that technology to build your business and give your brand even more of a public face. Training should never be about pounding square pegs into round holes. Make sure you get the program that's right for you and your dealership, because you do have options. Training personnel can come to you, or you can send your staff to off-site e-dealer training. Programs exist exclusively for Internet managers, or there are programs for your entire Internet staff. Never settle for a "one size fits all" approach. Training can and should be customized to fit your dealership's needs. You don't have to settle for less.
The Internet is a lot like an automobile. It's a technological marvel and an incredibly useful tool that can make life much easier, but you have to know how to drive it. No sensible person would hand the keys to the family car over to their 16-year-old son or daughter without first making sure that the kid had gotten some proper driver's education. The same principle applies to running your e-business. Having fun surfing the Net at home is one thing-any amateur can do that-but your online dealership is serious business with enormous revenues at stake. Make sure the people at the wheel get the training they need so that they don't drive you into a ditch. Believe me, you have everything to gain.
John Holt is Co-CEO of The Cobalt Group Inc., the largest provider of Internet solutions and business-to-business services to the automotive industry. Cobalt operates the automotive industry portal MotorPlace.com and the PartsVoice.com parts locator. Cobalt's Dealer Advisory Services and e-Dealer Academy are the leading sources in e-commerce training for dealership personnel. jholt@dealeronline.com
