Sales process evolves with changing omnichannel strategies

As auto retailers continue developing omnichannel strategies, it's increasingly crucial that salespeople on the ground understand how their roles will evolve.

"We have some candid conversations with our sales teams about this," said Daryl Kenningham, Group 1 Automotive Inc.'s president of U.S. operations.

"The world is going digital, and customers have proven that they want to do business in a digital way, and we have to be able to adapt. And we have to be able to equip our people to adapt to that as well."

Many of Group 1's sales reps are receptive to what Kenningham calls a continual dialogue. After all, he pointed out, salespeople are often digital shoppers themselves, buying everything from pizza to plane tickets online.

One of the key aspects of a successful omnichannel retail operation is the seamless transition of a customer's online shopping journey when they show up at a brick-and-mortar store. That moment of arrival typically will involve salespeople.

Aaron Hoernke, marketing director at Eric von Schledorn Auto Group in Saukville, Wis., said that as the dealership group focuses more on omnichannel retail, it's considered dedicating one or two in-store salespeople solely to digital shoppers. The effort could include a separate and branded area for online shoppers to go when they arrive at the store.

"You come in, you meet this person, they know where you are in the process and they can kind of [expedite] the experience in the dealership differently than if you were a normal car buyer," Hoernke said.

Digital shoppers could have already landed on a vehicle, figured out financing and be minutes away from closing on a sale.

"They're much further in the sales process than somebody who just saw a car online and wants to come in test drive it," Hoernke said. "So we definitely have to differentiate how we use those touchpoints and how we interact with the customers when they come in."

One retailer that has been at the forefront of away-from-the-dealership shopping is Penske Motor Group, which sells vehicles throughout the Los Angeles basin from its five stores representing the Toyota, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz brands.

In the Los Angeles area, about 20 percent of its Toyota transactions and almost 60 percent of its Lexus sales are delivered off-site, Penske Motor Group COO Brendan Harrington said.

The group has seen customers' expectations evolve with the increase of information on the Internet, Harrington said, and it's had to make continual efforts to keep up.
"Consumers are much more knowledgeable, and that means we have to be more knowledgeable as well because we have to meet their expectation level," he said.

Penske Motor Group does basic training with staffers to ensure that shoppers' commonly asked questions can be immediately answered when they come in through various channels.

The group also enlisted digital retailing platform Roadster to help it accelerate the buying process and keep tabs on the more detailed aspects of customers' shopping journeys.

Roadster CEO Andy Moss said the rise of omnichannel retailing could present a hiring opportunity for auto retailers, who typically are challenged by the industry's high turnover rate. That's because the software can do much of the heavy lifting involved in the sales process, so store staff can be geared more toward customer service. That means more job candidates from nonautomotive backgrounds would have skills that could transfer.

"Millennials are not necessarily lining up to go work in car dealerships," Moss said. "This kind of changes the landscape there."

At Group 1, the best salespeople are those who have embraced digital retail, including the use of the dealership group's Acceleride digital platform, said Pete DeLongchamps, Group 1 senior vice president of manufacturer relations, financial services and public affairs.

DeLongchamps relayed a recent chat he had with a Group 1 sales rep: "He said, 'It was amazing. The customer came in. I delivered the car in 15 minutes.' "