Outsourcing for Auto Dealers
At Connext Global Solutions, we work with small and medium enterprises in all different types of industries. One of the industries where we have seen quite a bit of growth in the last year has been in the automotive industries. Not necessarily automotive manufacturers, but dealers who are having a hard time finding and retaining the talent they need to be successful. Given the current state of the automotive market, business process outsourcing can be an excellent way for dealers to reduce overall cost structure while optimizing their productivity and creating the capability to scale.
It’s strange though, when we first talk to automotive dealers, outsourcing is one of the last things on their mind as a potential growth strategy. But can you think of a company that doesn’t outsource something? Most automotive manufacturers outsource parts, or all, of their manufacturing, IT, and sometimes customer service. Why can’t the dealer do the same, just at smaller scale? They can. The question isn’t whether to outsource, the question is how to do it smartly and strategically.
Functions Auto Dealers can Outsource
As an automotive dealer what are some functions that can be transferred to a remote team? The answer is anything that you want. But here are some examples of functions our current automotive dealers are outsourcing to teams offshore:
- Accounting: several of our automotive dealer clients have full accounting teams, associates through senior CPAs, to support their day to day operations.
- Customer Service: customer service is an incredibly broad category but can be broken down into several functions that are specific to automotive dealers:
- Answering incoming customer calls
- Scheduling appointments
- Sales follow ups and lead generation
- Inventory Management: coordinating with manufacturers and coordinating current inventory levels and forecasts.
- Warranty Claims Submittal: submitting and following up on warranty claims is incredibly similar to the medical billing process, which is a huge outsourcing industry by itself. Automotive dealers can certainly take advantage of offshore medical billing experience to automate their warranty claims and submittal process.
- Graphic Design, Social Media Marketing, etc: automotive dealers heavily rely on social media presence and digital marketing to drive sales. Using an offshore resource to perform this function would significantly reduce cost structure and increase scale.
Outsourcing for Differentiation
Outsourcing can be used to enable your differentiation strategy. In a competitive industry like automotive sales, differentiation is key and if you can provide services faster and cheaper than a competitor, you are going to come out on top. My charge to automotive dealers is to think about the components of your business and what you need to do to enable and reinforce your differentiation strategy. The time is now to start thinking outside of the box and challenge the traditional ways of doing things.
If you are an automotive dealer and curious about an outsourcing vendor, start researching and find a vendor partner that meets your needs and goals. For more information on starting the outsourcing process check out our Getting Started guide or Vendor Assessment Checklist.
If you want to learn more about Connext, schedule a call with one of our experts to see how we can start helping you reduce cost structure and improve productivity.
Connext provides fully customized outsourcing solutions for organizations looking to innovate and grow. Work with Connext Global Solutions today.
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