Oxygen Technical Services Ltd

Document Management for Dealerships: Your Tool for Contactless Auto Sales

The automotive industry has been rocked by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the growing consumer push to purchase items more safely using delivery, curbside purchasing, and pickup options to reduce the spread of infection.

This disruption has caused a significant change in the way dealerships conduct business, with consumers having more control over the car buying process — and how much of that process they want to experience in an online environment.

For car dealers, the online sales path can include scheduling test drives or vehicle deliveries to prequalifying for loans and financing and even getting a trade-in appraised in an online environment.

Since 92% of car buyers are already going online to research cars before they  go to a dealership, most dealers have already taken steps to get in line with a virtual buying experience.

While this brings consumers a more flexible purchasing process, it does put stress on dealerships to implement touch-free car buying using digital tools.

These tools can range from virtual car tours and test drives followed by FaceTime or Zoom calls to point out details and options to using e-signatures as allowed through the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).

What is certain is that there are still a lot of documents to consider when making a car purchase.

To achieve the kind of operational efficiency that can keep your dealership thriving in post-COVID contactless sales scenarios, keep your online and paper documents organized — and secure — using document management for dealerships.

How Document Management for Dealerships Spurs Efficiency

Auto dealers generate a lot of paperwork. From sales contracts, disclosure forms, titles, and lemon law statements to financing agreement documents, there are innumerable pieces of paper connected with a car purchase or trade-in.

These documents must be copied, stored, and distributed properly — and securely. Digitization of car purchase-related documents not only saves time and money but helps car dealers provide a more contactless experience.

1. Expedite the Sales Process

Digitizing and storing documents using a document management system (DMS) can speed up the sales process, eliminate the need for costly physical storage, and enhance the customer experience.

Using a DMS allows dealers to personalize marketing forms to target customers based on their recent activities online, easy and efficiently access documents using a number of intuitive search terms, and conduct changes and revisions with complete version control.

2. Increase Security

In a contactless buying scenario, sensitive personal information and data may be securely transmitted for e-signature using electronic presentation and signature capture capabilities. After the sale is completed, digital documents can be securely stored and accessed by authorized personnel only.

A cloud-based environment offers increased security, alongside other protocols such as data encryption, access control, and two-factor authentication.

3. Enhance Efficiency

Your DMS can create a secure home for dealer and client documents that allows for fast, efficient retrieval. When you consider that it costs $20 in labor to file a document and $120 in labor to find one that has been misfiled, you understand how a DMS can not only increase efficient document location, but save money as well.

One out of every 20 paper documents generated is lost and it takes 25 hours — over a day — to recreate a lost document, not to mention the lasting negative impression this may relay to your customers.

Let First Phase Data Help You Configure Your Contactless Dealership with DMS

At First Phase Data, our document management experts can help your dealership access the benefits of digitizing documents and provide your customers with first-rate contactless car buying options.

Our state-of-the-art document management systems feature tools that assist your staff in managing the many documents generated over a business day quickly, easily, and securely to increase efficiency and save money in these unprecedented times.

To give you a much-needed competitive edge, we have partnered with leaders in document management solutions to bring you DMS technologies that optimize your workflows and help your dealership make a smooth transition to a more digital business environment.

Take your automotive dealership to the next level, even in a contactless sales environment. Contact First Phase Data today and let our document management experts help you create a streamlined process that will increase efficiency — and leave your customers happy.