Chuck Evans

An article from a business journal highlighted a company’s reservations on the subject of new technology that many businesses were overwhelmed with. The solution was to restrict employees’ use because of the fear of marketable secrets being exposed; inside information shared, and workers simply wasting their time. Company executives resolved the dilemma by locating a single station in the middle of the workplace so that everyone could keep a watchful eye on those while they used it. That article is from a 1930s business journal and the new technology was the telephone.

Nearly one in four businesses block employee access to social networking Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, according to a survey of about 200 human resources professionals, but if you narrow the field to only dealerships you know the frequency is higher than one in four.

Businesses have been blocking gaming, porn and entertainment from the workforce for some time and in many industries blocking social networking sites may be just an extension of that. The reasons that dealers are less than receptive to social media exceed the number of makes and models, but surely some obstacles lie in the historical approach that dealers have dealt with consumers. That approach was the dealer controlling a one-way flow of information. Not all dealers have accepted the reality today, but the days of that on-way flow are over.

Today 4 out of 5 buyers do their research online before visiting the showroom. Internet Sales Managers and salespeople alike have been enlightened by customers with accurate facts ranging from invoice and hold back to safety and performance. Nevertheless, the 20% of customers that visit the dealership without that information is enough for some dealers to hold on to processes built around a time-honored tradition of evasiveness. The reluctance to divulge information on the road to the sale perpetuates the age-old consumer perception of distrust in our industry keeping salesmen ranked just above members of congress. The dealer’s that just can’t shake that instinctive approach to a sale may also spill over to the lack of genuineness when dealing with employees. After all, how much detail do you provide when a salesperson questions the accuracy of his commission check?

Social media offers forward-thinking dealers a way to change this perception with consumers and an opportunity to demonstrate a new level of directness with the workforce. A whole new way has been opened up for people to express themselves. As people become more comfortable sharing information granting access to social media in the dealership is just a matter of time. Will your dealership be ahead of, or behind the curve?

The Web introduces transparency into the processes of creating, sharing and interpreting information. With so much information available on the Internet, transparency in surviving dealerships will be the rule rather than exception. More importantly, if done right, transparency will begin to build customer confidence encouraging them to visit your showroom and openness with employees will go a long way in reducing another long standing dealership tradition - excessive turnover.

Don't you agree that the way you deal with access to social media today is the same way your dealership would have dealt with the advent of the telephone 80 years ago?