There was a time when buying a car was simple. Requiring only a test drive and a few pieces of paperwork to be signed.  

Nowadays, customers shop for a car online, and when they have a query, they expect an instant response, or they will look elsewhere. Competition is fierce.  

For dealerships, that’s a problem, especially when they are managing leads, managing finance queries, and dealing with aftercare queries.  

To add to this, customers now expect to communicate across multiple channels… Phone, email, live chat, social media and WhatsApp, and it’s all happening at once, in different apps.  

This is what causes the cracks, allowing customers to slip through.

The communication gap 

Most dealerships have great employees, and the exact product a customer is looking for. But it’s their outdated systems that create chaos when customers communicate, which causes a lot of their problems.  

Think of a typical customer journey…  

A customer sends in a message via Facebook about booking a test drive.  

Someone in the office then writes it down, planning to call back later when the salesperson comes back in.  
 
The customer is keen, so they send in a follow-up email that goes straight into the spam folder.  

By the time a member of staff notices the customer has gone and booked in a test drive elsewhere. More than likely at a competitor.  

 
It’s that easy to lose customers, and it’s down to your processes, not your people.  

Where omnichannel helps 

With omnichannel, you connect every customer touchpoint. Phone, chat, email, social media, and WhatsApp all into a single pane view.  

This means:  

• You won’t lose leads between departments 

• You can send out service reminders automatically.  

• You can see every single customer message in one timeline.  

• Your sales, finance and service teams all stay aligned.  

• Your customers don’t go elsewhere.  

 
It doesn’t matter where your customers start their conversation with you, whether it’s on Instagram under a photo of a car you just uploaded, or if it’s an email about a service, all your team get to see the full customer history.  
 

It eliminates duplication, confusion and lost conversations.  

The power of connected channels 

Channel choice matters, because customers want to reach out their way, through the channels they naturally use the most. Forcing them to use the channels that make life easier for you, just causes more frustration.  

Some customers prefer to send an email to ask about financing. Whilst others prefer to send you a DM to enquire about booking in a test drive. And more than ever, customers are calling through WhatsApp instead of traditional phones.  

This shift in behaviour is a game-changer for dealerships because WhatsApp isn’t just another app to chat on. It’s become the world’s most trusted communication platform. It’s where customers already spend their time.  

With QContact, dealerships can take advantage of our official WhatsApp Business calling integration to:  

• Share images, videos and specs directly in chat 

• Handle test drive bookings and service reminders 

• Send personalised offers  

• Answer questions instantly without switching platforms 

• Make and receive WhatsApp calls with verified business numbers and your logo  

• Set up automated menus that route customers to the correct departments, sales, finance or servicing.  

 
Now imagine this as your customer journey…  

A customer reaches out asking about an Audi A3 you have up for sale, asking if it’s still available.  

Your agent instantly replies to confirm its available, sends some more photos, confirms the customer’s details, then follows up with a quick WhatsApp call to book in a test drive.  

There’s been no missed DM’s, no missed emails and no missed calls. Everything is managed in one thread.  

And for dealerships that use WhatsApp catalogues, customers can even browse their available cars, right inside WhatsApp. 

From a customer perspective, it creates trust, and it’s convenient.  

And because every single interaction is logged in QContact’s unified CRM, you’ll see everything you need in one place, giving all your teams the full picture. This includes every call, message and follow-up in one place.  

And at the same time, you can have Facebook and Instagram become even more powerful lead sources by having them fully integrated into your contact centre, allowing you to track every inbound enquiry from the first message to the final sales to the follow-up for servicing and beyond. This created one continuous, connected experience for your customers.  

As you can see, omnichannel makes communications easier, whilst building stronger customer relationships.  

Beyond the sale 

All good dealerships know that customer experience doesn’t just end when the car leaves the showroom. 

From dealing with service reminders to warranty renewals, dealerships are given plenty of opportunities to build loyalty, but this is where most don’t follow up effectively.  

By using automated workflows, appointment reminders, follow-up surveys and targeted offers based on previous purchases can all get sent out automatically and in advance.  

This keeps the conversation going with your customers, making it a no-brainer for them to come back to you for their next car. But if you get it really right, they’ll recommend you to their friends and family.

The human element 

Automation and omnichannel are designed to free up your people to focus on what really matters… human connection.  

By having the right processes in place, your team get to spend more time providing a better and more personalised service.  

Instead of switching between inboxes, trying to make sense of disjointed customer messages, they can focus on building rapport and real customer relationships. 

When systems handle the admin, agents have time to provide better service. 

The road ahead 

The dealerships that invest in connecting their communication tools can expect to sell more cars as well as retain more customers.  

They will gain visibility, be more consistent and gain insight into the entire customer journey.  

And having great customer communications gives you a competitive advantage in an industry where trust creates customer loyalty.  

 
The future isn’t about adding more channels for the sake of it, the future is about having one connected conversation.   

Ready to connect your dealership’s customer journey? 

 
Book a demo and see how QContact helps automotive teams turn every interaction into an opportunity. 

#AutomotiveCX #Omnichannel #ContactCentre #CustomerExperience #CCaaS