Digital Dealer - July 2019 - 46

S A L E S & VA RIA B LE O PS : D igi tal R etai li ng Continued from pg. 45

their trade-in, find a budget-friendly price, and apply
for financing. Consumers
that are more tech-savvy
say they value online financing for its convenience
and speed. Tools like online
credit applications, eContracting, and enhanced
remote features, like document delivery and eSigning,
empower the consumer to
control most of the transaction on their own, in their
environment.
Count on digital retail
tools to speed up the purchase process dramatically
for shoppers who come
into your store to apply
for financing and handle
other F&I requirements.
In-store mobile point of sale
functionality could allow
you to present contracts
and capture signatures, or
you can hand a customer
a tablet where they can fill
out a credit application with
your guidance, and you
can quickly and securely
populate their data directly
into an eContract.
Whatever your digital
retail configuration, you
should always aim to create
a streamlined process that
is faster than the F&I process of the past, whether
your customer comes in
with financing already in
hand, or they want to take
advantage of your in-person
expertise.

YOU'RE STILL THE
EXPERT

When you want a good
bagel or pastry, you head to
your favorite bakery. When
you need a leaky sink fixed,
you (sometimes grudgingly) call the plumber. When
46

J U LY 2 0 1 9

you want something done
the right way, you go to the
expert in the field. That's
why consumers visit dealerships, to take advantage
of a store's expertise. They
still want to take a test drive
and consider their options
with an expert in the field.
It's just that the lanes are
shifting. Now you can order
your bagel online, pay for
it, and swing by the bakery
to pick it up. The concept
is similar with the vehicle
purchase process. Some
consumers might want to
order their vehicle and handle financing online, but still
want to come to your store
to kick the tires and finalize

tools they need.

SMOOTH TRANSITION
FROM HOME TO STORE

Look for transparent tools
and solutions that offer a
streamlined end-to-end
transaction from their house
to your store.
For example, when a
customer fills out an online
credit application, data
could be shared with your
DMS or credit application
platform and then delivered
to an eContract. A seamless
transaction could mitigate
the irritation that could result if you or your customer
had to enter the same
information once again at
the dealership. A modern

IN THE LONG RUN,
ALL CONSUMERS CRAVE
SPEED, CONVENIENCE,
AND TRANSPARENCY."
delivery for this important
purchase.
In the long run, all
consumers crave speed,
convenience, and transparency. Nobody likes a
lengthy paperwork process.
Everyone wants to look for
and finance their next vehicle using the process that
makes them most comfortable. Some people prefer
to complete most of the
transaction online at home,
while others still prefer to
come into your dealership
and handle all the details
there. A digital retail process
is flexible to the needs of all
consumers. You can go a
long way towards building
trust with customers when
you respect their wishes
and provide them with the

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

process could help create a
vehicle purchasing path designed to not only optimize
the customer experience
but also save you and your
dealership time and money.
CHOOSE YOUR
PARTNERS CAREFULLY

If you go to industry
shows or browse through
trade magazines, you know
that there are a plethora of
digital retail solutions available for dealerships and
their F&I departments. The
choices can be overwhelming and it's hard to know
where to start.
Just as you go to your
favorite bakery or trust your
plumber, creating quality
digital F&I solutions is a
task for the experts. You
want to align with providers

that are attuned to the auto
retail industry's response to
the electronic age and are
creating solutions that adapt
to consumer expectations
for sales processes that fit
their needs and schedules.
Just as you are good at
vehicle sales and financing,
you need to count on a provider that is connected and
adept at creating winning
digital retail solutions.
It would also be convenient to simply plug in
your existing solutions
to updated technologies.
A provider with an open
integration platform makes
a personalized experience
possible. Every dealership
has its own business needs,
and you should be able to
choose the processes that
work best for your unique
business strategies.
Look for a provider that
offers services that can
be personalized to your
individual business needs
and requirements. Ideally,
your digital retail solution
could be configured to
facilitate leads that originate
from a variety of locations,
and support a process that
consumers desire, all while
allowing you have control
under-the-hood based on
your dealership's requirements.
AMANDA GEORGE, senior
vice president at RouteOne is
responsible for leading Product
Development, Customer
Solutions, Integrations, and
Marketing teams. Prior to this
role, George held leadership
positions in Dealer and
Finance Source Business
Development, Operations,
Project Management, and IT
Development.
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - July 2019
