9:30 am, March 10, 2025
A key takeaway from this year’s National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) event in New Orleans, USA, was that a typical motor retailer’s sales team will, on average, generate 10 sales per month per person.
Perhaps more notably, this stat hasn’t changed much over the past 50 years.
With advancements in technology, especially the increased use of digital marketing tools, why hasn’t the industry seen a shift in the volume of sales per sales professional?
And how can retailers better utilise technology and track outcomes to improve their overall sales performance in the short- and longer-term?
Many of the tools available are generic products not specific to automotive, but Marketing Delivery’s VoiceBox software is designed solely to serve automotive retail, and this has been key in enabling it to deliver an above-average return on investment for many clients.
One of our clients has seen a notable increase from the industry average 9.8 sales per sales executive to 14.9 in the second half of last year since implementing our VoiceBox Sales solution.
Digital solutions should encourage retailers to rethink how they engage with customers, as well as facilitating a greater clarity on outcomes and improved focus on overall efficiency.
When used in the right way, technology streamlines the production of inbound and outbound communications and tracks response through the sales and aftersales journey – all while maintaining the personalised character of a sales team.
Trackable ROI
Retailers should define clear, measurable outcomes, such as lead conversion rates, to understand the impact of automation on operational efficiency.
Our metrics portal, BrainBox, can underpin cohesive reporting to better connect departments across the business, allowing for a holistic view of customer interactions and results.
Measuring against prior performance is only part of the story. To help give context to marketing activity, we created a series of motor-retail-specific performance benchmarks. Based on results from over 500 clients, these benchmarks are now assisting retailers in understanding what ‘good’ really looks like.
One retailer client recorded that, since implementing VoiceBox, between June and December 2024, inbound calls to its contact centre were up 8%, year on year, while online bookings resulting from CRM activity rose by 159%.
Without tracking these results, the retailer wouldn’t have been able to see the improvement and – crucially – use it to understand ROI and guide future activity.
A is for…
AI was another hot topic at NADA, although, similarly to the UK, the interpretation of what’s classed as ‘AI’ is wide open.
We’ve seen it referred to as Artificial Intelligence, of course, but also Automated, Automotive and, interestingly, Algorithmic Intelligence. Whatever the answer, AI has found its way into more retailers’ operational roadmaps and is undoubtedly on the rise across the industry.
As with all technology, we recommend that retailers ensure that their investment in AI is a complementary activity which supports, rather than replaces, genuine customer engagement and has a clear, measurable ROI.
For example, our VoiceBox software can automate time-sensitive, repetitive communications while allowing sales departments to focus on higher-value interactions with efficiency demonstrated by increased sales per sales executive.
Each interaction is tracked to allow for a seamless transition when speaking with customers online or offline.
Another example is our two-way SMS tool, LeadBox Live, which facilitates meaningful conversations rather than simply being used to notify customers of relevant events and then logs customer response against their record.
By aligning technology with core objectives and regularly reviewing against benchmarks, retailers can ensure they are making data-driven decisions that build sustained growth.
