Communication within your dealership can make a world of difference for your customers, your employees, and your staff. Even if you believe your dealership is great at communicating inside and out, improvement is always possible.

Working toward more effective communication can mean:

• Increased Revenue — Do your service technicians spend a lot of time walking back and forth to the parts back counter to discuss and retrieve parts needed for a vehicle? Are you service advisors waiting for customer authorization on services? How long do customers need to wait at the dealership to get updates on their vehicles and pay? This time adds up to fewer cars serviced, fewer cars sold, and money left on the table.
• Happier Employees — Businesses that present more transparency and communication improve employee morale. This means more engaged team members. In fact, according to the McKinsey Global Institute, effective communication can improve productivity in any workplace by up to 25%. Happier employees also mean reduced turnover.
• A Fulfilling Customer Experience — Put yourself in the shoes of a customer for a moment. Which sounds better: spending the day in a dealership waiting room, or going about their day with the trust that they know their car is in good hands? People are known to take better care of their cars over their own health. Your customers want to take their vehicles somewhere where they will be frequently updated on services.
• Transparency in Your Dealership — If you communicate better and more frequently with your employees they are more likely to communicate better with you. This means problems are solved quicker, your staff is more relaxed, and your customers come back.

If one or more of these would be beneficial at your dealership, now is the time to start.

Barriers to Effective Internal Communication

If communication is lacking throughout the dealership, there might be a physical or psychological barrier causing it. The cause may be deeply rooted or something easily fixable.

Do any of these sound familiar?

A Lack of Transparency

There could be any number of reasons why staff members might not be in sync. Often it’s because nobody understands the goal. For example, if you expect your dealership to service 1,200 vehicles a month, does everybody in your service department focus on that? If so, are they aware of how they are performing? Not being transparent about information like expectations or even the vision of the business can get in the way of meeting goals.

Clearly defined goals set the right expectations. There should be a process or tool to help maintain an easy flow of internal communication.

Unclear Direction from Managers

An easy mistake a manager can make is to point out an issue without involving employees in finding a solution.

Let’s say a service manager received complaints from customers about paint scratches on serviced vehicles. Relaying this to the service staff without a prevention plan going forward may not help. Reminding employees to be careful with vehicles is reasonable, but what if the vehicles were damaged prior to arriving at the dealership? Your team may suggest implementing a more consistent check-in inspection of the vehicle’s condition upon arrival. This inspection could actually lead to higher service revenue in repairs to these damages along with more trust from the customer.

Employees Can’t Ask Questions

Do you remember the old saying, “There are no stupid questions”? Is that what your employees actually believe? Fostering an environment where your team feels comfortable speaking up will strengthen your dealership. Creating a habit where experienced employees are encouraged to mentor others will improve their morale and allow new employees to get up to speed more quickly.

Not Recognizing and Celebrating Good Work

Staffing issues can mean that teams are stretched more thinly than before. With everyone so busy, it is easy to forget to show appreciation. The perception of being unappreciated can lower morale and lead to burnout. When employees feel recognized and seen by managers, they feel more open to voicing their ideas. Satisfied employees are far more likely to provide superior customer service and productivity.

Stressful Training

The more difficulty new employees have with their training, the less likely they will be comfortable asking questions or communicating well with others. According to a 2016 study by the National Auto Dealers Association, 28% of dealership terminations occur within an employee’s first 90 days. Starting a new job often demands learning a lot of information. Investing in effective training programs can pay dividends in quicker new hire productivity while reducing turnover.

How to Improve Dealership Communication

There are several ways a dealership can implement to increase and improve communication between departments. These tips can break down many of the barriers listed earlier that prevent good communication within the dealership.

Start with Yourself

You are in charge. This means you influence a lot of what happens at your dealership for better and for worse. Create a culture of good communication. Set up ways to promote transparency in your dealership. Spend more time with your staff to create a comfort level for employees to ask questions, understand expectations, and feel more recognized. This should result in better goal attainment, a happier workforce, and more satisfied customers.

Communicate Digitally

It is hard to beat a face-to-face conversation, but that is not always possible or efficient. Digital communication is better than none at all. There are paid and even free options available for sending messages between departments. It may even be functionality that is already available. Using an internal chat tool can provide quick answers to keep your business running at its peak.

Create One Source of Truth for Information

A dealership typically invests in many different types of software, with different and sometimes redundant sources of information. Between your DMS, your CRM, and other tools in use at dealerships today, it can be confusing and inconsistent. A best practice is to choose one system to be the source of truth that all employees rely on. This will make transparency easier, and provide the foundation to communicate across departments.

Between all of the benefits, barriers, and tips discussed, there is one overarching theme: effective internal communication is important for a successful dealership, and it starts with you as the manager. It offers many benefits and prevents a lot of potential problems. Overall, it can improve productivity, boost profitability, and create a positive employee and customer experience.

If you are unsure where to start, take a look at your dealer management system. See what features are available that may make following the tips provided easier. As a DMS provider ourselves, we strive to make important processes like internal communication easier for you with dashboards, chat features, and collaboration tools.