Sandi Jerome extols the virtues of wikis and looks to Gary Nixon as a trusted source on the subject.
by : Sandi Jerome
Wikiwiki means “quick” in Hawaiian, which is a perfect theme for this article since I’ll be giving my Profit Reporting and Super Controller seminars in Hawaii for NADA and HADA this summer. The quicker you can do your job each day using technology the happier the customer will be and you’ll have more time to concentrate on those things that make profit.
I have found something that can save time in the office and get your money quicker – remote deposit. All you do is run the check through a scanner and you get instant credit for the checks. The bank keeps a digital image so you can then destroy the original. It creates your deposit, and if you don’t have any cash to deposit, you eliminate the need for an employee or a courier to take the deposit to the bank. Another potential benefit is that it cuts down on paperwork, and therefore reduces the chances of making mistakes or losing checks in the process of depositing them. Bounced checks also show up faster when processed through remote deposit. See if your bank offers this service – 11 banks currently do.
Speaking of scanning, the quickest way to get your customers into your database is with a driver’s license scanner. I saw the latest version of SnapShell from Card Scanning Solutions at NADA. It was very fast – only two to three seconds to capture and process. There are no moving parts and they can read driver’s licenses from all 50 states.
Another way to get your money quicker is to have the F&I managers pull contracts. I used to pull my own contracts when I was an F&I manager because I knew exactly what was supposed to go with the contract. It was easier to do it myself then write a note to the office telling them what the bank wanted. My dealer would come into my office each morning and sign the contracts and then I’d take them back to the parts department to have them deliver or overnight. Wikiwiki!
Moving into the service department, another technology solution that is not only quick, but also easy for a dealership’s service lane is CIMA ServiceDriver. Through this system, dealership customers are able to click on a link in a dealer communication piece and are sent to the web site with a list of manufacturer recommended maintenance for their particular vehicle. The customer can then click through the recommendations, calculate an estimate based on the service they need and even watch 10 second audio/video clips that explain why the service is important. Afterward, the customer can use CIMA to schedule a service appointment online. It’s fast, easy and requires no additional work from your service staff. Now that’s wikiwiki!
And speaking of wiki, have you heard of the term wiki on the web? A wiki is described as a web site that enables users to add, edit, remove and change content. Forward-thinking dealerships are moving on from brochure-ware web sites and creating sites that center around user-generated content. For an example of a wiki, go to www.wikipedia.com – a giant encyclopedia of terms and facts that is continually added to by its readers. The exciting thing about wikis is they’re moving user-generated content to the forefront of the industry. Unlike a static website, dealerships can use wikis to share internal knowledge, create a blog, share customer-based content with other customers etc. For instance, CIMA Systems has built a wiki for their customers that displays all of the marketing campaigns available in their marketing communication solution. Dealerships can even add their own campaigns to the CIMA wiki and share with other CIMA users why one campaign performed well over another or which was the most successful for pulling ups into their dealership. That is quick!
If you want more information about my seminars in Hawaii, just visit my web site (www.crsauto.com) to download a registration form or call the Hawaii Auto Dealers at (808)593-0031 but do it wikiwiki, seats are limited!
Sandi Jerome is the editor of Digital Dealer magazine. She is a former controller, CFO, system administrator, F&I, assistant GM, and fixed operations manager with over 30 years experience in the automotive industry. She is the owner of Sandi Jerome Computer Consulting.
Read the original article at Digital Dealer online.
