Digital Dealer - June 2019 - 24

C O V E R S TORY: Continued from pg. 23

WE ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO COMMUNICATE TO
THE EMPLOYEES THAT THEY ARE THE REASON WE
ARE AN AWARD-WINNING DEALERSHIP."
to Big Brothers-Big Sisters and Boys
and Girls Club. My husband and I
enjoy staying active in the charitable
community here, and we feel very
fortunate that we are able to contribute.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Millennials
are emerging as a major consumer
demographic. What are you doing
to attract more millennials as either
employees or customers?
KELLY: I think customers today
want information quickly and
transparently. A dealership's online
presence is so important in the digital
age. I think the more
of a visual you can give
customers online of your
store, the better. Video is
huge right now. I notice that
we get the most engagement
with video posts. It gives
people a way to see a
little bit more about your
products and your store.
Once posted, the video can
be viewed and shared by
thousands of people. Video
seems to be the quickest
way to communicate with the people
out there, especially millennials. It's
easy to take an iPhone and film a walkaround. The walk-arounds can be fun
and light-hearted and engaging. People
click on that more than on, say, a static
post.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Does a
third-party provider handle your social
media presence or is it done in-house?
KELLY: We do both. We have a
provider who posts for us on Instagram
and Facebook. We also try to keep our
focus local, because some social media
activity was getting too generic. We
don't currently do a lot of texting. But
as far as giving a flavor of who we are at
Capitol City Honda, we prefer to cover

things that are happening locally. We
might promote an upcoming ownerworkshop. Or, if we have a special
vehicle for, say, Earth Day, we will do a
local post. We don't want our messages
to feel as if they're coming from
corporate. We like people to know the
messages are coming from our store.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Which vendor
do you use for your CRM?
KELLY: We have recently switched
to VinSolutions. I have it on my mobile
phone. I can access it and drill down to
see what's going on. For instance, I can

A LOT OF THEM
SAY OUR EMPLOYEES
WERE KIND, HUMBLE,
HELPFUL. AND I THINK
THAT ALL STARTS WITH
OUR EMPLOYEES BEING
HAPPY WITHIN THEIR
WORK ENVIRONMENT."

24

JUNE 2019

see all the messages going to our BDC
on my phone. I love having that access.
The apps give you so much more
transparency; you don't actually have
to be sitting in the dealership to know
what's happening between your sales
person and the customer. You can see it
on your phone, which is pretty cool.
DEALER MAGAZINE: What single
piece of technology makes the greatest
difference to your store's success?
KELLY: I would say the mobile
phone. The iPhone, for example. That
is what everyone's using to shop for
vehicles, to do their research, and to
communicate with us. They use it to
see pictures of our vehicles on social
media. I think it's all right there.

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

DEALER MAGAZINE: What do you
see as the biggest opportunities and the
biggest challenges on the horizon for
dealerships?
KELLY: The greatest opportunities
will be in the digital world.
Communicating with people online
is definitely a plus. Also, making
everything transparent. The better you
are in your digital landscape, the better
your store will be.
As far as challenges, for me
personally, I think staffing will remain
a huge challenge. Finding people who
want to sell cars. The changeover
from the old guard to this new age
where people want things quickly.
I think the timeline for getting
things done is much tighter. The
I-want-it-now mentality is a bit of
a challenge.
DEALER MAGAZINE: How
about the rise of EVs?
KELLY: I know it's coming. In
fact, I just installed an electric
vehicle station this week. Honda is
telling us that by 2030 two-thirds
of global sales will be hybrid and
other electrified vehicles. We're already
building our infrastructure for that.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Dealers are
entrepreneurs. In your experience,
what does it take to be a successful
entrepreneur or leader?
KELLY: The best leaders I've
worked with have the ability to be
open-minded to growth opportunities.
They are willing to lead as an example
and put the work in. A desire to keep
learning and stay flexible in a changing
environment is also important.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Last
question: What one word best defines
your approach to running a dealership
or to business in general?
KELLY: Synergy. ■
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