[Technology Corner] Looking at the Dealer of 2030

Thinking about the dealership of 2030, it will be driven by solutions and customer success, says Jim Henderson, with Exemplary Innovations and the Machinery Advisors Consortium.

He suggests the focus will change from “equipment-centric” to “case-centric” in terms of how dealerships will re-think and re-allocate staff to provide success-based solutions to customers.

To make the transition, Henderson says

“…The precision group will become the entire dealership. A goal will be for customers to be trained on how to operate digitally and it will be assumed that internal dealership staff does so … A new department, legacy equipment, will form as customers and staff do not want to jump onto that smart equipment bandwagon. Owners who succeed will understand the investment, cashflow and returns on solutions and success. Some dealerships will have developers and data analysts on staff; others will outsource that under their brand…”

Henderson adds that a key change will be the addition of the customer success specialist within dealerships, who will serve as service advisors. But instead of focusing on dispatching service, they will be focused on understanding the customer's goals, communicating those goals to the dealership team and providing data to show how the dealership is helping the farm achieve their goals.