Comments - What’s the Big Deal with Data Anyways? – Part Two - DealerELITE.net2024-03-28T21:09:10Zhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=5283893%3ABlogPost%3A421440&xn_auth=noOf note, Tom, I reviewed your…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-05-22:5283893:Comment:4219802014-05-22T20:14:10.111ZBrian Benningtonhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/BrianBennington
<p>Of note, Tom, I reviewed your bio which I do when I comment on any post, and than I went on to review your company site. Just wanted you to know I take you seriously. </p>
<p>Of note, Tom, I reviewed your bio which I do when I comment on any post, and than I went on to review your company site. Just wanted you to know I take you seriously. </p> Hey Tom, Your "What's the Big…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-05-22:5283893:Comment:4220802014-05-22T19:44:53.128ZBrian Benningtonhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/BrianBennington
<p>Hey Tom, Your "What's the Big Deal with Data" series should be mandatory reading for everyone involved with data collection at every dealership, including all vendors peddling anything related to it. Unfortunately, looking at the 50 views it's received since its May 6 posting, I'd guess it just isn't a glamorous topic. But to me, it really "hits home," as basic dealer data is beyond critical to the Relationship Centered Marketing we've done for a small group of dealer clients for over 20…</p>
<p>Hey Tom, Your "What's the Big Deal with Data" series should be mandatory reading for everyone involved with data collection at every dealership, including all vendors peddling anything related to it. Unfortunately, looking at the 50 views it's received since its May 6 posting, I'd guess it just isn't a glamorous topic. But to me, it really "hits home," as basic dealer data is beyond critical to the Relationship Centered Marketing we've done for a small group of dealer clients for over 20 years. Our core service is based upon ghostwriting and delivering ongoing highly personalized customer contacts that must appear to come from the sender, which in most cases is the rep who originally sold the recipient. I think you can understand that when we hand-sign the senders' names to it, it better be 100% accurate with a zero tolerance for any errors or typos. </p>
<p>I could literally talk for hours about data retrieval, and in our many years of doing it, we've developed a lot of systems to get what we need, but our clients could never be accused of making it easy. As an illustration to how goofy some of what we've seen being done is, let me relate a recent incident we discovered when we were exploring working for a mid-sized dealer group here in SoCal. Having their BMW store's dedicated IT person pull customer data on a particular rep, we noted the following:</p>
<p>(1.) There was no title or gender ID for their customers. This eliminates being able to use a title to address customers in electronic or hardcopy correspondence, as even with the custom manual algorithm we've developed to ID titles, we can still get it wrong, especially with the ethnic diversity in our area where many names are unisex. And, there's nothing quite as "endearing" as addressing a "Dr." as a Mr. or Ms. (Fault: The title field wasn't a mandatory prompt.) With a gender field, you're a little closer to a solution, but not as good as having a confirmed-by-the-finance mgr. (who spends time directly in front of the customer) title.</p>
<p>(2.) Next, we noticed there wasn't any co-buyer info, and when we asked the IT person about it, he said "it was in the data somewhere, but he didn't know where." This increases the possibilities of relationship-damaging contacts. (Example: The wife decides on a BMW, shops the store, makes the buying decision and drives the car, but the contacts are only directed to the husband, who was just there to sign papers. It shows a flagrant disregard for “married/partner” relationships.</p>
<p>Then, when we pointed it out to management, their eyes "glazed over"! This is extremely basic customer info, and if you don't think it's an industry wide problem, just ask a dealer, any dealer, to see a sample of the data they collect in their finance dept. and ask if "customer title" is a mandatory prompt. I've only scratched the surface of what is a genuine living example of the "garbage in, garbage out" proposition, but this is your post, not mine, so I better shut-up!</p>