Today’s digital landscape has changed consumers' buying behaviors. A little over a year ago, COVID-19 brought distress (and yes, even fear) into the world. It changed the way people make purchases and even changed the what items they need, want, and search. Automotive, as a whole, was already falling a bit behind projected sales and adaption of new technology, but the pandemic brought even more unexpected shifts, and urgency, to our industry.
In the first six months of 2020, 10% of cars were sold online compared to 1% in all of 2018 (GoogleThink).
The automotive sales and distribution models have largely been the same since the 1980s. Other industries have taken full advantage of advanced tech in our country and across the world. Consumers can purchase products completely from their couch and have it at their doorstep in two days. Most consumers have shifted online, especially due to covid, and the automotive industry, largely, has not. There is a disconnect here.
3 Birds recognized this disconnect and created a way to help dealerships learn more about their online customers. We use technology that most others in automotive have not even absorbed yet. We looked outside of our own market and combined it with the business intelligence we are known for to bring the holy grail of tech, so to speak, and implement it to work within our own automotive industry. Companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google have already actualized it into their platforms. It is called Behavior Data.
As consumer behavior has changed, they want their experience on your site and in your store to be all about them. Behavioral intelligence allows your dealership to do this. Over 83% of car purchasers have already spent up to three months doing research and are ready to buy as soon as they arrive at your door. This is just one reason why it is important to reach your customer in the beginning of their car buying journey.
Two of the biggest aspects to online retail are marketing and data (GoogleThink). 3 Birds provides your dealership with both.
We took a step back and looked into the big picture of what our data was showing us about what is working across the automotive landscape. We then carefully analyzed the numbers and talked to our clients to put together a product mix to help dealers not only navigate the current market terrain, but empowers them with the agility to pivot ahead of changing consumer demand.
What we came up with were several packages based on automotive dealership Service, Sales, and Opportunity. All of our packages use behavioral data to market for your dealership. All of our packages include our Blue Sky Dashboard that gives you access to your data and performance metrics.
SERVICE
The Service package includes Retention Accelerator, Service accelerator, and Service BOOST in addition to our Blue Sky Dashboards. This package gives you the chance to connect with customers immediately. The average dealership brings in at least half of all its revenue from the service drive. The service and parts department account for almost 50% of the dealership’s gross profits (NADA), so being able to retain customers is critical to the revenue of your dealership.
SALES
The Sales package helps your dealership build momentum and begin generating leads straightaway. You will have access to our Lead Accelerator and Smart Sales Accelerator. With these features, our clients have seen up to 73% increase in lead conversion rate for new leads that engage with 3 Birds’ messaging streams. The ability for your inventory to get twice the interaction that inventory in the SSA gets is only a few clicks away.
OPPORTUNITY
The Opportunity Package compromises Service, Sales plus Equity Accelerators as well. This package provides the most features for your dealership. No matter what your dealership needs, we can customize a solutions that goes to work for you.
Submitted by:
Destiny Chafin
Staff Writer