Digital Dealer - June 2018 - 31

DEALERS WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT THE
CUSTOMER FIRST AND IMPROVING THE BUYING
EXPERIENCE WILL BE THE ONES THAT SUCCEED."
ent software applications salespeople had to work with in order
to complete a car deal. We created
FUSE so salespeople could live in
one software system. By creating
the software, we eliminated duplication of entry and automated
many things that used to be done
manually.
THAT ONE-PRICE MODEL
HAS ALSO PLAYED INTO
YOUR RECRUITING STRATEGY.
HOW HAS THIS
HELPED ATTRACT
NEW TALENT?

IN-HOUSE TOOLS YOU'RE
USING, SUCH AS CRM AND
DMS.

Our sales staff only has to be
trained in two software applications - FUSE and CRM. Software
for CRM requires constant training
in a dealership, and that's why we
have four full-time trainers who
continuously train new and existing
sales staff.

challenge is making those systems
work as one within your sales
process and your DMS environment. In our business, there is too
much duplication of data entry and
not enough automation. We are
partnering with the right software
vendors to make sure information
seamlessly pass back and forth
through FUSE and our DMS.
That's a challenge. If you talk to
most dealers and ask
how many software
companies they use
outside of their DMS,
the number is staggering. I don't know of any
other industry that has
this problem.

WE PROMOTE AND
LIVE BY THESE FOUR
CORE VALUES: DISPLAY A
POSITIVE ATTITUDE, LEAD
BY EXAMPLE, BE OPENMINDED, AND DO THE
RIGHT THING."

In 2011, we went
to a one-price,
one-person model.
We saw this model
as a way to attract
a different kind
of candidate. We
replaced commission pay with
hourly compensation and a 40hour work week. Moving away
from a commission-based pay
structure allowed us to recruit
enterprising college graduates
and millennials. Our focus was to
attract candidates who are careerpath oriented and loved working in
a team environment.

WHAT IS YOUR MARKETING
STRATEGY, ESPECIALLY
REGARDING DIGITAL?

Eighty percent of our ad dollars
are spent on digital and social media. We are also focused on relationship marketing, leveraging our
CRM, and engaging the customer
throughout the entire lifecycle. We
all know that sales sells the first
car and service sells the next five.
PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE

WHAT IS YOUR
MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY?

We promote and live by these
four core values: display a positive attitude, lead by example, be
open-minded, and do the right
thing. All of our employees need to
embody these values to be successful at Walser.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE
MAJOR TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
FACING DEALERS TODAY?

Software is very fragmented in the
automotive industry. Every software
provider is solving just one piece of
a larger, complex problem. Because
we have 25 rooftops between two
states, we are working with our
CRM to create one customer record
that details each transaction from
any of our stores and lets us identify
who are best customers are. The

WHAT'S AHEAD
FOR DEALERS OVER
THE NEXT DECADE?

Dealers who are
thinking about the customer
first and improving the buying
experience will be the ones that
succeed. That means focusing
on collapsing the time it takes
to transact and building more
transparency into the sales and
service process.

IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE
ONE WORD OR ONE PHRASE
THAT BEST DESCRIBES
YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A CAR
DEALER, WHAT WOULD YOU
CHOOSE?

Speed of change. I've been in
the business 32 years, and every
year the pace of change seems to
increase. They're saying the next
five years will have as much change
as the last 50. We need to continue
to innovate to meet the needs of
the consumer tomorrow. ■

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

JUNE 2018

http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - June 2018