Hardware and Software
Adapting information systems to mobile devices is a great way for a company to increase efficiency and productivity within the workplace. “They increase productivity and provide quicker response to customers and business needs. Analysts predict enterprise use of mobile applications will grow 30 percent per year and 70 percent of employees will be mobile by 2012.”(1) The hardware needed to move to a more mobile workplace is devices such as tablets and smart phones. These devices allow employees to use a wide array of software applications that help a person receive information faster and get jobs done quicker. Here are a number of software applications that are useful in the retail automotive industry.
Mobile Carfax: This application allows a person to get instant access to a vehicles history. The process is as easy as opening the application on your smart device and taking a picture of the vehicles VIN number. This application has helped dealers make sure they know the vehicle they are buying. Dan Moltz, a general manager at Car Center of Waldorf, Md., says “As our business moves faster and faster, it's important for us to evaluate cars that much quicker. Whether we're at auction or out evaluating a trade on the lot, we're more confident about the cars we take into inventory.”(2)
Galves Mobile app: Galves is a used vehicle pricing index used by auto retailers. Galves allows dealers to give fair and market based trade-in prices for a customer’s vehicle. The mobile app lets sales consultants and managers inform customers on the realistic value of their vehicle. Chris Carey, CEO and president of Stronghold Technologies, the company responsible for adapting Galves to a mobile application says, “This third-party information is valuable to dealerships in educating consumers and in negotiating the most accurate, realistic and current price on used vehicle trade-ins and purchases.”(3)
Mobile Product Guide: This is an application for a smart phone or tablet that many manufactures offer to their sales consultants. This app provides information on the manufacture’s entire product line. A person can view information on the vehicles performance, gas mileage, options, features, colors and much more. It is a great way for any sales consultant to answer any question quickly and efficiently.
Payment calculator: The payment calculator is exactly what it sounds like. It allows both customers and staff to calculate quick and accurate payments. Selling price, tax, fees and rebate can all be put into the system and a quick payment can be given. This is a great way for people to realistically figure out the vehicle and payment they can afford.
Emails/Customer Leads: Every auto dealer is connected to some kind of online inventory. It could be the store’s website, the manufacture’s website or third party sites such as Autotrader.com or Cars.com. These sites generate potential sales leads for the dealership. These leads are then emailed to the dealership with all the needed information such as name, phone number, email address, vehicle interested in, and customer comments. With a smart phone or tablet the dealer can answer these leads in a more efficient manner. Dealers can call or email after store hours or during a busy day when someone can’t get to the computer. A quick response is proven to lead to more sales. “The odds of contacting a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 100 times.”(4)
As shown the use of mobile hardware and software can greatly increase productivity and efficiency. If used right these devices can only increase sales, increase profits, heighten staff moral and strengthen the customers buying power.
Works Cited
(3) NASDAQ OMX/Globe Newswire http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=20527
(4) The Lead Response Management Study http://www.leadresponsemanagement.org/lrm_study
No comments:
Post a Comment