Aaron Krane predicts that online car buying will reach a tipping point in 2019 — not necessarily as measured by the number of transactions or customer interest but in industry exploration of online services. Krane offers dealerships two pieces of advice: Strategically, he says: “Keep it simple. Online buying is a new opportunity for dealerships, and there are a lot of different solutions out there — different ways dealers can invest and focus their time and business. My advice is to avoid things that … require a complex setup or a complex operational change or a complex new piece of hardware in the store.”

KRANE’S TACTICAL ADVICE:

• Invest in what you already have; don’t compete against it

• Choose products that leverage your website, not just sit alongside it

• Embrace solutions that make your sales team more interactive with customers

Chris Sutton recommends that as dealers add digital retailing options, they should make sure online buying doesn’t look to customers like the same old lead-generation tools. “I have heard dealers say they’re not getting as much as they thought from digital retailing,” Sutton says. “But if a customer goes online and the first thing a dealership asks for is his contact information — before the dealership has given him anything as a customer — that shopper may just say, ‘I’m out,’ ” Sutton says. In addition, he says that despite interest in online buying, customers tell J.D. Power’s New Autoshopper Study that they hesitate to submit financial information online — both because of the size of the transaction but also because of fears that it might trigger a credit report and might affect their credit score.

SUTTON’S TACTICAL ADVICE:

•  Allow customers to get information, pick a vehicle and explore options before asking for

their information

•  Make it clear to customers that their personal information is secure

Adam Tobias says that despite all the digital tools and metrics available, a dealership should not lose sight of what’s important to customers and the business. “I look at data from thousands of dealerships every day,” Tobias says, “and there’s a common trend: It doesn’t matter whether it’s a franchised dealer or independent, doesn’t matter what region they’re based in. Successful dealerships know what they’re good at. The highest-volume dealers of any brand are those who sell a lot of core product. Dealers fixate on the market days supply number, the price and the metrics. And in reality, it’s about what they can sell — what their staff is good at selling and what their audience expects from them.”

TOBIAS ON 2019 PLANNING:

“As the used-car market gets more competitive in 2019, with prices rising, it’s more important than ever to stay focused. It doesn’t matter if you use complicated technology or not. If you focus on what you’re good at and what your team knows, it will work for you.”