The Future of Automotive Sales - Predicted by Jeff Lippold

Hello everyone. Welcome back to another volley rally. Today I am joined by Jeff, our national sales director again. Jeff, how are you doing today?

Jake, it's an awesome day. Spring is sprung here in Colorado, as I'm sure you know across the country. It's probably beautiful in Florida, but we're catching up to you. Glad to be here.

Jeff has this theory, this insane theory that Colorado is going to be the, the new Sunshine State take that title from Florida.

Well, it's a secret. We don't want to tell too many people that I think we have more days of sunshine than you guys do. But we're coming close to getting that title from you, Jake. Maybe one day Google will make that change, huh?

Yeah, we'll see. So today we're going to talk about what's changing in sales in the automotive industry and how dealerships, what they need to be doing to keep up. So with that said, Jeff, let's dive right in. What are some of the biggest shifts that are happening right now?

Yeah, Jake, I've been a part of the auto industry, you know, for most of my, most of my life, so it's near and dear to me. But I think a lot of the, well, I think the single biggest shift that we've seen in sales in particular is that it's really moved beyond the showroom. You know, dealers are starting and even finishing their deals online. Customers are doing their research, getting pre approved and even selecting vehicles they want to buy before they ever talk to a salesperson or step on the lot. So it's really mission critical that dealers are just as strong digitally as they are in person, Jake.

Well, there's no doubt that the customer experiences are changing. I mean we've seen Amazon is trying to get into the car sales business so it's certainly all changing. What is the importance then of the BDC to the dealerships in this time?

Well, I think, you know, the importance of growing out the BDC is that the BDC has really become mission critical. It's not just a call center anymore, it's really the front line for customer, you know, communication and customer experience. It handles appointment setting, it handles follow up, unsold leads and maybe more importantly retention. Right. Dealers pay a lot of money to get these customers into their dealerships and it's important that they retain that high value customer and high performing bdc. As you know, Jake is now a core driver of both sales and service revenues.

Well, it's also interesting because the BDC is the team or the people that your customers are interacting with. First and foremost, when they're dialing into your dealership. So having a great team in place is paramount because want to leave a good first impression. Right?

Critical. Absolutely critical.

So what is one trend that you think every dealership should be paying attention to?

Well, I know for myself and I'm sure for you and everybody that's listening, you know, I think it's important that the dealers are paying close attention to the omnichannel communication, because you might not be able to get ahold of me on my phone, but you might be able to text message me and I can quickly reply or I might see that before I see an email. So it's really important that they, you know, integrate phone, text, email and social media into a seamless customer journey. It's gotta have consistent messaging, it's gotta be timely and most important for the dealer, it's gotta be trackable across the board. What communication point does the dealer want? Where can I meet them, where they want to be met and in what timeframe?

It's different for every customer too, hence the importance of tracking it. Because what works for Jeff is not going to be what works for me. Right, right. Where do you think the industry is heading in the next three, five years? We have all of these new tools coming out AI the digital retailing, like you said. So what do you think this looks like, Jake?

That's a really great question. I've seen the automotive industry change rapidly over the past five years where it was stagn for a period of time, but I think in the next five, we're really headed toward a much more connected and personalized retail and service model. I think digital retailing is really maturing right now. I think online transaction adaptation is going to grow and I think dealers will really, you know, rely heavily on the data and automation to drive efficiency and profitability, especially in the fixed ops department.

Especially in the fixed ops department. Because at the end of the day, with all of these new tools, with all of these new things coming out, everybody still needs to service their vehicle. Right. So you want to make sure that it's with you, as Scott Davis always says.

Yeah, absolutely. Especially with the conversation, you know, going on and a little bit of market uncertainty around tariffs, it's even more important that these dealers are paying attention to their fixed ops. Absorption rate and volley does a really great job of helping to drive that metric up.

It's certainly something that we're hearing a lot. Obviously, you know, your guys on the sales team hear about the current economy and such, but how Does Vali, you know, what role does Volley have in helping dealers future proof their processes now, regardless of what's going on?

Well, the Volley platform is really designed to bring together communication, it brings in automation, brings in real time data integration into one platform. You know, our. The Volley platform is really designed to help BDC eliminate those mundane manual tasks that are just time suckers from the BDC team. It helps to increase contact rates and it really helps a dealership to stay consistent with their messaging so dealers can effectively do more with less. And most importantly, Jake, never miss an opportunity.

Again. Really, really important to be future minded with this. What does the team look like? You know, how if you were a gm, if you were a manager, how would you be future proofing your team?

Well, first and foremost, Jake, it has to be a team that really embraces technology, right? A team that uses data to drive decisions and prioritizes the customer experience. As we talked about, customers are engaging differently than they ever have before with dealerships. So if I were a gm, I'd want to ensure that every department was aligned around shared goals. And everyone from the BDC to the front of the house to the back of the house on the floor is trained to engage customers consistently across all channels.

Mm. So what would be one mistake that you are seeing dealerships make nowadays?

You know, unfortunately, Jake, I guess the one mistake I see is that many dealers still see the BDC as a support function instead of using it as the strategic asset that it is. I consistently see that they're under investing in training, they're underinvesting in tech and leadership, which really limits the BDC growth. And in my opinion, it just leaves a lot of money on the table for these dealers.

So then with that said, if there, if you had to do one thing, if you could only do one thing, make one change to level up your bdc. What are you doing today?

Oh, that's an easy one. That's an easy one, Jake. I'm starting to track and optimize every customer interaction, whether it's an inbound call, whether it's an outbound, whether it's sales or service. I think the insights that a dealer will gain from the data can definitely drive better decision making and improve performance across the board.

If you were to make one bold, wild prediction about the industry, not your Colorado prediction. I'm looking out my window right now. It's pretty sunny down here in Florida and sunshine. Stay for a reason. What would be your bold automotive industry prediction?

One bold prediction. That's a really great question. I guess I would say within the next five years, I think fixed ops is really going to be the primary growth engine for most most dealerships. I think with margin compression on new cars, the rise of the EVs, you know, service intention and re engagement will become even more critical. I think that would be my number one bold prediction is that service is going to have to maybe carry the weight for the next five years.

Well, we'll see. And if it does, Volley will be here to help you all level up your service teams and your service bdc. So thanks Jeff, very much for taking the time.

Absolutely. Jake, Good conversation everyone.

Thanks for tuning in. Let us know if you have any questions down below. And we hope you all have a fantastic day.