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ferentiator is the amount of data we have and our ability to […] be able to translate that into a consumer experience, and into consumer advertising that captures those folks at the right place in the funnel, drives them back to our experiences, gives them the ability to navigate through those and then gives you the ability to work quality leads and spend your time doing quality things is more important than ever.”

Shops that want to make more sales, increase profitability and establish a loyal customer base should “measure everything to be efficient with your time and your money,” Terreberry said. This means “keeping your funnels full, but using technology to your advantage and being laser-focused. For those of you that have used reporting, whether that’s in your CRM or whether that is in Envision, or within a third-party data aggregator’s tools to understand what’s working or what not, I want to challenge you to take that one step further, because of the current market conditions.

“And that one step further means using the data that exists there to look in the rearview mirror, to tell a performance story or to measure an ROI equation,” she said. “Today, you have to look at so many different things. If you’re not using that data to decision make, promote, optimize and determine where to spend your time, you’re not using the data the right way. But your competition is using it correctly, and that’s how they’re finding that edge on you, day by day.”

Collision repair facilities, service shops and dealerships should also “be nimble and be aware. Consumers don’t stop wanting or needing their cars when there’s a chip shortage,” Terreberry said. “Use the full picture of everything at your fingertips to make decisions. Be laser-focused with your time, and plan your work.”

Terreberry offered additional advice to dealerships related to streamlining inventory acquisition to disposal strategy, reimagining certified pre-owned segments and extending slow-moving inventory beyond the immediate market.

She also discussed the importance of focusing on fixed ops, noting, “Fixed operations [is] the most stable segment of revenue that you can have within your organization today. We all know people just started using their vehicles more. We expect to see more and more people return to the office place, but right now, 43% of consumers are saying that they plan to put more miles on their cars on 2021 than they did in the years before the pandemic, and 41% of consumers have told us that they have summer plans and are planning on using their vehicles to get there, versus other methods of transportation.

“And so, we’re seeing this steady increase of consumers visiting [the Kelley Blue Book] Service and Repair Guide. Just this year alone, over 9 million service shoppers have gone to the service and repair experience, indicating that people are not only hitting the roads again, but that they have a different expectation and a different way that they want to interact than they ever had before.”

Terreberry recommended businesses set specific goals around each strategy that it chooses to implement, but she also stressed the importance of considering conversion.

“Are you converting consumers into transactions?” she asked. “Sadly, not everybody is going to succeed, but ultimately, the market share and measurement of your success in today’s environment from a multi-pronged profitability perspective is what is going to help you navigate through […] database decisions that you can make to streamline in those areas and start moving the needle, and to streamline our processes and to train our people on how to meet consumers where they want to meet us with the experience that they want to have, because if you don’t, somebody else will.”

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