As the general manager of Baldwin Ford, Bruce Hutson has been in the business for a long time and he has seen trends come and go, but nothing as revolutionary as recent technological changes.
“Improved technology has been an absolute game-changer, without a doubt,” Hutson said. “It has 100% changed the way we do things.”
Hutson explained how technology has so drastically changed the dealership’s approach to marketing and advertising.
“In some ways, about 80% of our marketing is digital now,” he explained. “Say, for example, we have a Mustang in a certain color that no one else has. People from all over the world can see that online and we literally have situations where people fly here from all over the place just to get one of our vehicles because they can’t find it anywhere else. That limited availability brings business to us.”
Hutson went on to explain how technology continues to quickly evolve.
“Website marketing has been our biggest change in both new and used cars,” he explained. “Seeing more customers that we’ve never seen before. You have to be prepared to change right along with the technology, because if you don’t you’re only hurting yourself.”
Hutson went on to explain the necessity of insuring his staff is all trained accordingly to go along with the changing technology.
Richard Crosno has been a sales consultant for approximately eight years and he said he can see the direct impact from changing technology.
“Being able to locate inventory at other dealerships in order to get a vehicle for a customer is something that really helps us,” Crosno remarked. “But the other changes in technology being offered in the new cars is also a big selling point.”
Crosno noted that many customers have decided they only want vehicles with a backup camera or a panoramic (bird’s eye view) camera.
“Other safety features like radar detection, parking sensors, parking assist, and blind spot monitoring are all things customers regularly look for now,” Crosno explained. “And technology has really affected sales.”
Crosno went on to explain how the sales experience has changed with technology.
“Because of the internet, people are able to get on our website and look at what we have on the lot,” Crosno said. “And they can compare features and prices online with other dealerships. So, what we’re seeing more of now is people coming in here and they already know exactly what they want. They know all the information about the vehicles and they are just needing to make sure they get the finance terms they want.”
Crosno also noted improving technology has helped the service department communicate necessary information to the customers.
“In the event of a recall or something like that, technology allows our service department to immediately send a message and get in contact with a customer to fix what needs to be fixed,” Crosno remarked. “It’s extremely valuable and it helps us take care of customers, which is something we want to do.”