Recently in a speech in San Francisco, now retired NADA Chairman, Wes Lutz, advocated for dealerships in America to fully embrace the changing times for dealerships. Advising them to truly listen to their customers and discussing what the future of the auto industry holds.
According to NADA News, Wes Lutz is the president of Extreme-Dodge-Chrysler-Ram in Jackson, Michigan. Lutz was the head of NADA and was there to see new-vehicle sales go beyond 17 million units. However, he also predicted that personal vehicle ownership would eventually end.
“As I traveled around the world in 2018, my biggest takeaway was this” So many people want to write our narrative. They say that dealerships are fighting the inevitable, that change is coming and we don’t like it,” he said during his speech. “The truth is that we love change. Change is not happening fast enough for us. Dealers aren’t fighting the future, we’re writing it.”
Lutz continued on: “People prize convenience above all else. People value freedom above all else. The ability to just get up and go without waiting for anyone is a luxury that people don’t want to give up – they can’t afford to. Which is why people have very little interest in giving up their keys, despite what Wall Street or Silicon Valley says.”
With customer convenience at the forefront of dealership focus, software companies have management software available to help make dealership operations, and the customer’s life as easy as possible. Products, like ReconMonitor, have fully customizable forms and triggers that can notify customers of their vehicle’s status, and alert vendors and employees when their work is coming up. No more phone calls required to keep everyone informed.