Automotive dealerships have taken a hit with the COVID-19 restrictions on businesses. In-person test drives and customer visits to the dealership were commonplace, but now things are more complicated. The good news is that you can boost your car dealership during COVID-19.

In an ever-changing world, any successful business must be able to roll with the punches and adapt to keep the business strong. With more, if not all, customers contacting you online and on the phone,  this is a better time than any to improve your dealership’s communications system.

There’s a lot of management to be done remotely, so an all-in-one solution is perfect for keeping everything running smoothly, even in such turbulent times. Here are 5 reasons why a cloud phone system is perfect for your car dealership.

1. Offer an Improved Customer Experience

Customer satisfaction is absolutely key to the success of any car dealership. High customer satisfaction means high customer loyalty, which means those customers will keep coming back for their next cars. 

If you offer parts, repair, tires, and other maintenance, they’ll stick with you for all their vehicle needs.  

With the majority of car sales coming from repeat customers, building a reputation and generating customer loyalty should be near the top of your priorities list. 

According to NADA research, 76% of customers purchase their next vehicle from the dealer that services their vehicle. It’s clear that offering services beyond just selling cars can be extremely rewarding.

SelectCom’s cloud phone solution offers multiple features to help you connect with your customers in a better and more personalized way than ever before.

Automated Call Management

Receiving countless calls, repeating the same message to each, and directing them to the department they need is not only mind-numbing, but a waste of company resources. Automating that repetitive task is the best way to go!

Auto-Attendant is a virtual assistant that frees up your staff to focus on in-person sales. You can program it with a custom message that you can change at any time, and it’ll direct callers to the desired department or extension.  

Easy Call Recording

When answering many calls a day, it can be easy to forget details that a customer mentions. But remembering even the little things is what will set you apart from the competition. The human memory is imperfect, so employing the use of technology can really help.

With our cloud phone solution, you can record calls with the click of a button. Play it back any time and go over whatever may have been missed. These recordings are also invaluable resources for training your sales reps and customer service staff.

Voicemail Transcription

Have you ever listened to a lengthy voicemail that a customer left, and realized they could have told you the same info in a much shorter time? It’s common, but that time doesn’t have to be wasted anymore with our voicemail transcription feature.

Voicemail transcription makes a text copy of voicemail messages and sends them in an email to your inbox. From there you can quickly scan it and get all the info you need in a fraction of the time. 

Not only does this let you get through more messages in a shorter time, it also lets you get back to the customers sooner – and sell more cars! 

Also, just in case the transcription isn’t 100% accurate, the email contains the audio file for the message so you can clear up any confusion.

Quick response is a surefire way to boost your company’s reputation and increase customer satisfaction. A fast response with attention to detail is the perfect combo.

CRM Integration

Our cloud phone system integrates with your CRM, so you can assist customers as efficiently as possible.

When an existing customer calls, their info from your CRM will come up on your computer screen, so you don’t have to spend time looking for the info yourself! The system will automatically log calls with each contact so you have an accurate record of your relationship with each customer.

2. Versatility For Any Situation

Versatility is vital to success, especially with things shifting around so much right now. You want to be at the top of your game, and ready to deal with any challenge that may arise.

Usable Anywhere

With work-from-home policies becoming more prevalent, you want to have access to all your office capabilities from the comfort of your home. Salespeople don’t have to put their sales on hold even if they’re required to self-isolate for a couple of weeks.

SelectCom’s cloud phone system offers integration with personal smartphones, so you can have all the usability of your office phone no matter where you go. Your mobile phone becomes your “office away from the office”.

Call Control 

During busy times, it’s hard to keep up with the high volume of incoming calls. You only have so many people manning the phones, so some customers are sent to voicemail or put on hold. Answering Rules make things much easier to manage. 

Set Rules to determine how calls are handled during specific time periods or in certain situations. For example, if your star salesperson doesn’t work on Tuesdays, create a rule that redirects all calls to their extension to your Assistant Manager. You can change Answering Rules at any time according to your current needs.

Simultaneous Ring causes all the phones to ring when a call comes in, so the first available person can pick up. Set ring priority so that incoming calls ring each phone in a sequence you choose.

These customizations give you greater control over how calls come in so you can manage them as effectively as possible.

Freely Customize Features at Any Time

A cloud-based system gives you freedom to change things as you see fit, and at any time. You can access the system using any device, from anywhere with an internet connection, and the changes are applied instantly.

Changing things with a traditional phone system usually means a specialist has to come in, costing you money. Optimization is easier and more cost-effective with our cloud phone solution.

3. Increase Team Unity

Team unity is key to having your dealership run like a well-oiled machine. 

When your team works together effectively, tasks are completed faster, and more customers can be served! Why not recruit technology to help with that? 

Connect Multiple Locations

If your dealership has multiple locations, you’ll still only need one cloud phone system. There’s no limit on how many devices can be connected, and since it’s cloud-based, you’re not restricted by geographical location. Everyone can keep in contact no matter where they are! 

Advantages of this feature are: 

• the ability to use a centralized system with consistent messaging and service across each location; 
• the ability to manage the entire system from anywhere, including adding or editing users, add customized greetings, or answering rules; and
• easy and affordable cross-location collaboration with a shared system. 

See Who’s Available at a Glance

Call Presence is a great feature that lets you see every team member’s current availability status. Whether they’re on duty, off duty, already on a call, or otherwise occupied, you can see it all at a glance. 

This makes it easier to direct customers to a salesperson who’s actually available, rather than sending them through a series of busy people who won’t have time for them.

4. Keep Your System Disaster-Proof

A cloud-based system is amazing for a number of reasons, but a huge one is the fact that it’s not tethered to your own physical building. In the event of flooding, storms, power failure, or any other disaster, no matter what may happen to your building or your inventory, your system will still be intact and fully functional. Your customers won’t even know the difference!

You can still make calls with your phones, and manage everything else on your computer. With cloud phone, your system is totally disaster-proof.

5. Reduce Costs

With all the extra features and convenience that a cloud phone system offers, you’d think it’d be more expensive than a traditional phone system. Surprisingly enough, a cloud phone system actually costs noticeably less! 

Think about it: the overhead costs of a traditional system are pretty high. You need to: 

• pay for setup, 
• pay for the extra phones, 
• pay for maintenance, 
• pay for repairs, and 
• if you need to upgrade, you’ll need to pay for that, too.

With cloud phone, those costs are non-existent. All you need to buy in terms of hardware is a compatible office phone. That’s it.

The servers for the cloud system are in SelectCom’s facilities, so maintenance won’t be an issue and neither will repairs. As we update our features, you’ll get them right away without having to pay extra for them.

Your Ultimate Dealership Management Solution

It’s clear to see why cloud phone is vastly superior to a traditional phone system. You’ll save money, boost efficiency, empower your sales team, improve customer service, and much more. 

Boost your car dealership during COVID-19. Ready to make the switch? Contact a SelectCom expert for more details.