Upload Speed Should Not Be Your Competitor

With the surprisingly poor results uncovered by our first-of-its-kind nationwide dealership network speed survey we have been receiving many questions from dealers wondering how their network shapes up and why it matters. The most common question is, “in terms of my network speed, which measurement is most important, upload, download or ping?”

The answer is there is no way to decide this because poor performance in any of these areas affects your business in different ways. However, it could be argued that upload speed, where 60% of dealerships underperformed, carries the greatest weight because it directly impacts the speed you are able to communicate with customers who are still deciding whether to buy at your dealership or another in the market.

For obvious reasons, digital retailing is all the rage. The tools necessary to do it well are all about convenience and efficiency. In-market car shoppers are devoting their precious time to find the right vehicle then ultimately determine their price and select the dealership that can provide those specifications for them.

In a world where information is readily available and convenience is key, if you are a second too late in sending a vital message to your customer, you may have lost a sale as they move on from your website, or worse, your salesperson, to another.

Consider everything you are doing now to provide the best information and interactions for your customer. Taking multiple pictures of every vehicle in your inventory, loading walkaround videos, even your service team is (or should be) sending videos to customers letting them know of issues with their vehicle that need to be addressed.

What about the customer who is basically ready to buy and just wants your salesperson to work with them on a video call for a final walkaround or to get their last few questions answered?

All of this is data is competing for resources on your network.

If every vehicle you have in inventory is not up on your website when a prospect visits, they may not come back. If they experience a choppy sales call, that could reflect poorly on the quality of your dealership and encourage them to look elsewhere. You are only going to hold a service customer’s attention for so long, trying to show them what’s wrong with their vehicle over a shaky, interrupted connection in the middle of their busy day makes a convenience offering a huge inconvenience in a hurry.

More of these tools are being made available every day and customer expectations are rising at the same rate. If your dealership is running into issues with upload speed now, they are only going to get worse.

Network speed and performance improvement in terms of upload speed, download speed and ping must be addressed holistically. Improvement in one area will lead directly to improvement in the other two. Download speed, which we wrote about in our last article, tends to impact those in your dealership, while upload speed most greatly impacts potential buyers. This factor must be considered as you measure the effectiveness of your overall network and determine the importance in driving customers down your sales funnel from online car shoppers to in-dealership car buyers.

Find out if your dealership’s network is where it needs to be. Click here to take a network speed test, then fill out our form for a COMPLIMENTARY technology assessment from DealerIT.