It’s Time to Reimagine the Dealership Sales Desk

Bed Bath & Beyond is the latest big-box retail wonderland lost to the ease of internet shopping. While mass-market physical retail dwindles, the good news for the retail automotive space is that shoppers still want to visit dealerships. In fact, our 2023 Friction Points Study found that 91% of shoppers bought from a dealer.

However, the retail ritual of shopping on the showroom floor is disappearing. Vehicle shoppers want to complete more of the purchase steps online and move through the in-store process as fast as possible. This brings us to the sales desk.

The biggest in-store time issue for shoppers surveyed was waiting for the salesperson during the negotiation process. The back and forth between the sales agent and the desk tanks the customer experience. It also leaves customers sitting alone in the store, free to ponder the purchase, and use their phones to surf for a better deal. It’s time to change this scenario by reimagining the sales desk.

The Modern Retail Sales Desk

Many have acknowledged the road to higher profits and increased customer satisfaction is paved with efficient processes. The way to inject efficiency into the desking process is to lean on a modern retail strategy where sales associates are empowered to work the first pencil with the customer using the same digital retailing tool in-store the customer used at home.

What does this look like in the store? The sales agent pulls up the saved deal, reviews it with the customer, has it electronically approved by the desk, and finalizes the details. All without ever leaving the customer’s side. And all in a fraction of the time of a traditional process.

Mind the Guardrails

Some dealerships are hesitant to turn over the reins to sales agents who don’t have the years of experience of a desking manager. The biggest worry is that deals won’t be as profitable as possible. However, digital retail tools have guardrails to keep deals on track. Every dealer sets deal parameters for the store. In addition, the desk manager electronically signs off on every first pencil.

The result: Sales agents spend less time waiting on the desk and more time with customers, which speeds up deals while maintaining profitability. The process also promotes personalized and fully transparent deals to meet the demands of today’s customers. There’s no hiding information anymore. Savvy internet shoppers will find every fee and research every tax payment. Dealers who embrace fast and transparent deals will win in the end.

Take Baby Steps

While some dealers want to jump into the modern retail sales desk with both feet, others prefer to dip a toe in first. A solid strategy is to appoint one sales agent to give the process a test run. It’s best if the appointed agent is open to change and is a team influencer. Meaning he or she is a leader within the organization and has social influence over the sales team. In this way, dealerships can evolve into the showroom process that customers want.

The results will surely motivate the rest of the team. Sales agents using digital retail remotely work multiple deals at once and close as many as 17 deals per month compared to the industry average of 10. Those are sales numbers any team can get behind.

The shift in consumer buying behavior is here to stay. Dealers who fail to adapt and create a more efficient buying process may indeed go the way of big box stores like Bed Bath & Beyond. Get ahead of the curve and dip your toe into modern desking. Your customers will thank you.