Whether a dealership is selling cars and trucks, RVs, motorcycles and ATVs, or any other type of transportation, effective communications can make or break the high-dollar transactions that come with the industry. Prospective customers typically have a lot of stores to choose from, so dealerships’ sales and service departments must be responsive to inquiries and quickly follow up on potential problems. Communications must be fast and effective.
With varied departmental needs, activities, and customer touchpoints, streamlining and managing the flow of information can save time and drive new revenue opportunities. From the sales and financing teams to service and parts, each group communicates both internally and with the outside world, so dealerships can benefit greatly from a cloud-based platform that brings it all together. Unified Communications as a Services (UCaaS) provided and supported by an MSP can be the glue that helps create a more productive, profitable, and customer-centric environment.
Let’s take a look at five key benefits UCaaS platforms bring to the table, and why MSPs should encourage dealerships to adopt UCaaS as part of their business communications strategy.
- Provides Communication Flexibility
Locating sales and management personnel can be a major challenge with dealerships. In addition to multiple buildings and departments, these facilities often consist of a tremendous amount of real estate (the largest, the Penske Motor Group in Los Angeles, sits on approximately 60 acres). Communicating in such an expansive environment can be tricky without the right systems in place. UCaaS is a game-changer as it provides the ability for personnel to communicate on their deskphones, desktops and mobile devices via apps.
- Improves Calling Experiences
UCaaS offers a vast array of features not available in legacy communications systems. For example, incoming calls can be instantly routed to the preferred office line, mobile phone, or mobile app, minimizing the workload on receptionists, and reducing hold time for prospective customers and suppliers. In dealerships with multiple departments, streamlining communications improves the calling experience, where time spent on hold is reduced, thus preventing hang ups and lost sales. For example, with ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli, if a line is busy, the call center feature can reroute callers to alternate extensions based on their specific needs.
- Enhances the overall Customer Experience
Sales teams are constantly busy and typically away from their desks greeting prospects, clearing snow in cold weather, testing cars with potential customers, or moving vehicles around the dealership. With a UCaaS solution, calls can be routed to mobile phones and voicemails can be transcrived into text messages. Outgoing calls from personal devices can mimic office numbers, so sales team members can follow up with prospects without giving out their personal contact information. Employees can also leverage voicemail to email to review messages when they are away from their desk. With these features, team members never miss a beat and offer an “always-on” presence, which help provide an enhanced customer experience.
- Integrates with Internal Workflows and Systems
Dealerships are all about repeat business. In addition to manufacturer-supplied sales and inventory tools, larger dealerships often employ a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track the activities of sales prospects and previous buyers. UCaaS can be integrated with these types of solutions to automatically retrieve account information for incoming callers to expedite the conversation and reduce closing times. Sales, service, finance, and other departments all benefit from instant data accessibility. These formidable communications platforms can strengthen sales and supplier relationships and streamline the transactions process, boosting dealership productivity and driving new revenue opportunities.
- Cost Savings
The reduced expenses associated to communicating with a cloud-based solution is perhaps one of the greatest benefits of a UCaaS platform as it eliminates the need for on-premise servers and equipment. Breaking free of this legacy hardware represents a considerable amount of cost savings on maintenance and replacements. No more costly capital investments – dealerships will benefit from a more affordable monthly payment, as well as easily scale their solution up or down depending on changing requirements.
As for MSPs, moving a client’s communications to the cloud means they will no longer have to worry about system repairs and updates, nor selling expensive support contracts. This can lead to substantial savings for providers and the businesses they support.
Developing a Dealership Specialization
Targeting specific markets like dealerships allows MSPs to boost their value and hone certain skills. UCaaS is a great tool, no matter which vertical an MSP chooses. From flexible applications that boost communications and information sharing capabilities to financial savings, the business benefits for clients and providers are tremendous.
Best of all, these platforms are a great door opener, allowing MSPs to sell a long list of complementary solutions and services. UCaaS is the perfect point of entry into new verticals, or a great addition for existing clients.
Whether prospecting car dealerships or regional restaurant chains, ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli provides the types of communications platforms and channel programs MSPs will value. Learn more by calling our team at 800.743.1208 or by visiting our Partner Page.
