Getting ahead of the data quagmire
NADA’s recent article on the complicated data quagmire plaguing the auto industry is spot on. For auto retailers to truly leverage data to benefit their customers, the industry absolutely must find a way to securely and efficiently integrate data flows across all channels.
This means across technology partners, DMS providers, your OEM— everyone. And in the age of Amazon where a seamless flow of data is crucial to providing the dynamic, personalized experience customers expect (and receive in virtually all other industries), this isn’t a problem that can be ignored.
The good news, as the NADA article stated, is that some OEMs are finally turning a new leaf on how they approach data. The bad news is that many technology and DMS providers are making data integration even more complicated or hoarding data for themselves to use in ways that abuse customer privacy and hurt vendor integrity.
As Peter Welch, NADA President and CEO, said, “Dealers need partners—OEMs and vendors alike—willing to embrace this reality and work with dealers, not against them, in service of consumers.”
Hear, hear!
At Outsell, we truly believe what’s right for the dealer is right for the customer. In order to provide the best customer experience, vendors must embrace an open ecosystem in order to capture the data coming from all different directions.
It’s also time to stop abusing the data needed for our success and to start being more accessible and collaborative to achieve that success together.