Sonic to use iPads for sales from start to finish

Sales reps at Sonic Automotive Inc. dealerships will begin using iPads next year to handle the vehicle sale from beginning to end.

The move, scheduled for the second half of 2014 and long in the making, marks a major shift in sales strategy for one the nation's largest dealership groups. Sonic executives expect the change to bring shorter transaction times, better customer satisfaction, lower employee turnover and higher sales.

"The sales associate will complete the entire transaction," Jeff Dyke, Sonic executive vice president of operations, told Automotive News. "They'll do all the F&I; they'll do all the desking; they'll do everything. It's something we're very excited about."

Sonic, the nation's third-largest retailer, started rolling out iPads to dealerships in 2011, starting with service department pilot projects. In 2012 it launched a plan to distribute iPads and iPhones to all customer-facing employees, including sales reps.

Executives wouldn't talk about their ultimate vision for transforming the sales process at that time. But Sonic is now ready to share some details after completing the rollout of devices to all stores earlier this spring and informing employees. All stores -- 103 now, with two to come in a pending acquisition -- will adopt the process by the end of 2014.

Sonic forecasts spending $40 million to $50 million on the initiative this year, Dyke said. That includes $18 million for software development and equipment such as iPads. That compares to overall spending of $57 million, including software development and equipment costs of $24 million, in 2012.

Transactions will be paperless and significantly shorter -- as quick as 30 to 45 minutes once a customer decides on a car, Dyke said. Customers will dictate the pace.

"We have to speed it up. It should not take two hours or three hours to buy a car," he said. "If I walk into any other retailer in this world other than [those] selling cars, I can walk in and buy a pair of shoes and leave."

And while buying shoes is far less complicated than buying a car, dealers need to change because tomorrow's customer won't tolerate the delays and will already be comfortable with the technology, Dyke said.

Sonic plans no reduction in head count. Although sales reps will handle the finance and insurance portion of the transaction, finance managers will stay on and work with sales managers to coach and supervise the sales reps.

While some employees are frightened about the change, Dyke doesn't expect many departures.

Sonic has increased sales associate pay to attract more qualified employees and reduce turnover. Compensation has more than doubled in the past four years, Dyke said. Finance managers also have gotten a pay boost.

In the past seven years, sales rep turnover has improved from 130 percent a year to less than 40 percent today, he said. Sonic aims to trim that to less than 20 percent.

Much of the next year will be spent training employees on the new approach.

While other big dealership groups are experimenting with or putting together their own tablet strategies, Sonic has been a leader. Dyke predicts Sonic's sales process will set a new standard for the industry.

"We're going to make these moves, and the rest of the groups will follow," he said. "If they're not already working on it, they're going to."