Continental Automotive Group runs six dealerships across Central Texas, and solutions consultant Levi Lohrman works with every department across all of them, handling everything from IT support to using tech to enhance customer experience. Being mobile is crucial — both for himself and the workers he helps to support.
“I use a smartphone to run my life,” Lohrman says. “My position requires me to be on the go all the time. I never know where I’m going to be from one day to the next.”
Like many dealerships, Continental Automotive isn’t new to mobility. Employees have been using a mix of smartphones, tablets and laptops to get through tasks each day. But Continental Automotive wasn’t looking for just another smartphone; they were looking for the right device to take customer experience to the next level — evolving the often maligned process of car shopping and repair.
Improving Functionality and Reliability With the Galaxy S7
To see how a cutting-edge smartphone could make their always-on-the-go workday a little less hectic and drive an improved customer experience, we challenged Continental Automotive to see what would happen if they tried getting through their workday using only the Samsung Galaxy S7.
“I was a little skeptical that I could accomplish everything I needed, but I was able to do almost everything exclusively from my phone, which was fantastic,” Lohrman says. “I was easily able to manage our [help desk] ticket flow, and beyond that in our service department we were able to work with service advisers on production flow, with the sales department on vehicle appraisals, and with inventory management. It really made the day a breeze.”
In this fast-paced environment with so many moving pieces, reliability, durability and usability are the key considerations when selecting a device, says senior systems administrator Tony Salazar. “Our users demand functionality, they demand devices that work all the time, and often they’re rough on their equipment.”
Enhanced Productivity Across Departments
On the back end, Lohrman and Salazar were pleased to have the IT department put Samsung’s My Knox to the test, letting users run apps in a sandboxed environment. “It allows us to make sure the apps required for our business are secure. It adds an extra layer of security, which is exactly what we’re looking for in our enterprise environment,” Lohrman says.
Continental Automotive’s service department used a Galaxy S7 equipped with a dealership app to deliver a better customer experience — checking in customers when they pull up, allowing technicians to take photos of vehicle or parts that need replacing and, paired with an app that works with RFID tags, tracking vehicles through the service department until they’re back in their owner’s hands. Lohrman says the mechanics also appreciated having a water-resistant device, as service technicians often have phones slip out of shirt pockets into sinks when washing their hands, an expensive slip-up with other phones.
In the sales department, staff were better able to appraise vehicles on the lot, where extreme weather can prove problematic for other mobile devices. Besides no longer having to worry about a little rain, sales staff loved having a screen that worked well enough in full sunlight to review inventory or appraisals with customers via the Galaxy S7 rather than running back inside to sit at a PC. “The screen is fantastic. That baby is bright, especially in direct sunlight, which is always the case here,” Lohrman says.
Continental Automotive’s inventory specialists also found the Galaxy S7 valuable, allowing them to optimize their daily workflows to reduce the amount of walking required. “Our inventory specialists are mobile all the time. On an average day they walk 8–12 miles because our facility is so large,”Lohrman says. “Having the Galaxy S7 in their pockets made their day much better. It kept them out of the office and on the lot dealing with deliveries and pickups and making sure inventory was in the right place at the right time.”
From My Knox’s sandboxed environment to the increased customer experience users were able to deliver with the Galaxy S7, the Samsung Challenge proved to be a success for Salazar and Lohrman.
“I would definitely call this challenge a success. Samsung has converted me over to the Galaxy S7,” Salazar says. “I’ve enjoyed everything about this phone — everything runs fast and smoothly. It’s unleashed me.”
Lohrman agrees. “I wouldn’t change it out for any phone on the market.”
No matter the size of your business, using digital technology can greatly improve the customer experience. Learn more about our full line of retail technology solutions here.
