Digital Dealer - August 2019 - 12

D E A L E R OP S & M ANAGEM ENT: Data & Analyt ics Continued from pg. 10

IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THIS: HOW YOU GATHER
AND USE DATA DETERMINES YOUR SUCCESS OR
FAILURE."
vision have to draw conclusions and then act upon it.
I see two problems here;
first, factual does not mean,
"I think we handled around
20 incoming telephone
inquiries yesterday and sold
a couple that came in on an
appointment."
What factual should consistently represent or imply
is: "We handled 23 incoming
telephone inquiries yesterday and converted 14 of
those into appointments of
which eight showed and four
of those were turned into
deliveries. We're following
up on the six no-shows (in
an attempt to reschedule an
appointment) and with the
four who did not purchase.
We have a solid follow up
strategy for four of the 23
inquiries that held potential
for a future appointment."
The first example statement above has no act or
action process associated
with it. However, the second
is a rock-solid business initiative which provides clear
and precise information and
how it is being acted upon.
We could camp out here for
a couple of days discussing
methodologies of what constitutes good follow-up and
phone skills. And yes, phone
skills require a different selling skill set and fundamental
processes.
Here is the formula for
data success: AD + T+ A =
C (Accurate Data + Thought
+ Action = CASH).
12

AUGUST 2019

Accuracy and action are
the key components for
success. You can look at
data all day long and have
nothing to show for it unless
you develop a proactive
action plan towards using it.
The question then is, how
do you implement an action
plan to put things in motion?
With all this confusing data,

cars? Data works very well
with specific questions such
as what type of consumers
are purchasing trucks or
specifically F-150s in the
3 zip codes around my
dealership? This is a good
data-driven question as is;
does my CSI rating vary
depending upon the day of
the week or month? Like

BUT THE BEST
QUESTION AND ONE
THAT DOES NOT GET
ASKED ENOUGH IS,
WHAT ACTIONS WILL
YOU COMMIT TO
UNDERTAKING ONCE YOU
FIND THE ANSWERS?"
where do you start?" As any
good rocket scientist would
tell you, you start at the end.
What do you want to know
and about what? A good
follow-up question would be;
why do you want to know
this, and how will you use it?
But the best question and
one that does not get asked
enough; what actions will
you commit to undertaking
once you find the answers?
If you cannot specifically define what you want to know
and why, and then commit
to taking action; don't waste
time dabbling with your data.
YOU MUST HAVE A
PLANNED INITIATIVE.

Data does not work well
with big broad questions
such as how can I sell more

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

the proverbial 10-day month
crunch where everyone is
out of their skin to get deals
booked. Or, what were the
top 10-selling used vehicles
by make, model, year, and
sold price we booked over
the past 90 days?
Good data can help you
make sound buying decisions when you consider
taking in a particular trade
or going to the auction. Of
course, one can argue that
we have now succumbed to
assumption, making decisions based on what will sell
in the future, but when you
focus on factual information
for the primary inclinations
of what a good course of
action is, it is ok and frankly,
the crystal ball is still not

working. Your basic premise
is based on "factual" data
and certainly helps in moving
away from total guesswork.
SITUATIONAL
AWARENESS

What if you had a tool that
used your existing dealership's Wi-Fi to pick up all cell
phone beacon signals from
anyone on your dealership's
property to then provide you
with accurate real-time data
24/7/365 - with a zero margin
of error because it eliminates
human input? And what about
if that information would then
get organized in a dashboard
on your computer or smart
device and interface/reconcile
your CRM component?
There's a company that
actually has been doing this in
various vertical markets for a
few years now, and I feel it is
something the auto space can
really benefit from as well. It
is referred to as Situational
Awareness. (See chart 1).
This is a pretty impressive
big data information-gathering solution to manage any
business. But hear this; this is
exactly what Big Data looks
like, and it is happening right
now in many vertical markets
like hotels, conventions, agriculture, and retail establishments. And we all need to
get ready because this is the
future for the automotive field
too.
If you shoot me an email
requesting "Big Data" I would
be happy to send you my
investigative research so you
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Digital Dealer - August 2019

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