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Losing car keys in your dealership is frustrating. Losing a sale because someone lost the keys is even worse. If you lose an average of five keys a month, you could be spending over $20,000 annually on key replacement costs alone! So how do you avoid lost keys and overcome chaotic operations? By combining electronic key management with geo-intelligence.
When keys go missing, your key control system will tell you who took them when. Geo-intelligence gives you an added layer of transparency by showing where keys and vehicles are throughout your dealership.
What Is Geo-Intelligence?
Geo-intelligence is the intentional synthesis of location data with measurable processes and user expectations. In simpler terms, it’s technology that tracks items — like keys and vehicles — in near real time. With this location data, you can improve your dealership’s processes.
How Does Tracking Keys and Vehicles Save You Money?
1. Save Money on Key Replacements
Location technology can help you cut the amount of money you spend on key replacements and the number of hours dealership employees spend looking for cars and keys. When you go to check out a key in your key control system, you’ll see who checked it out last, and location technology tells you where to find it.
For example, TrueSpot, a pioneer in location technology, reports that dealers who implemented location-based key and vehicle tracking reduced lost keys by 95% and saved $2,000 a month in expenses tied to replacement keys.
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2. Make Strategic Operational Decisions
Digitizing your lot management also helps you make operational decisions related to sales strategy, inventory management, and more. For example, you can easily identify sales hot zones and organize inventory to capitalize on sales trends and increase revenue.
3. Give Salespeople Confidence to Close More Sales
Your salespeople might be able to recite a vehicle’s key selling features in their sleep, but that’s only one part of an effective sales process. If they don’t know where a specific key or vehicle is, that’s a deal killer. No customer wants to wait while the salesperson walks all over the dealership to track down a key or vehicle for a test drive.
When your salespeople are equipped with information about each key or vehicle’s location and availability, they’ll be more confident and better equipped to close more sales. Reducing bottlenecks in the test drive process leads to better discussions with customers and gets them in vehicles faster. In fact, according to TrueSpot, auto dealers using geo-intelligence have shaved 45 minutes off the sales cycle.
Auto dealers using geo-intelligence have shaved 45 minutes off the sales cycle.
By combining electronic key management and geo-intelligence, you’ll transform your dealership operations This approach will not only substantially reduce replacement costs and operational inefficiencies but also build a more effective sales team.
