COVID touched almost every industry, and the auto sector was certainly no exception.
Some of the biggest changes continue to be felt to this day.
“Dealerships at large were successful during COVID from 2020 to 2021. Sales came pretty easy for whatever reason. I’m not certain what was going through the buyers’ heads during that time, but people wanted new/used cars,” says Sales Manager John Nicholson of KIA Sudbury Motors.
A bit later, there were inventory challenges due to a shortage of microchips, followed by supply chain issues, which have largely resolved themselves. “Now we are faced with geopolitical pressures (tariffs), but that’s a whole new issue to deal with,” he says.
He shares the top three changes his dealership has made since the start of the pandemic.
1. Integrating technology to help communicate with customers better
KIA Sudbury Motors has incorporated technology in their daily processes—even more than they were doing before. These improvements apply to both the sales and service departments.
Their system has been upgraded to allow service advisors to text directly with customers, making communication easier. They also have a robust website that features up-to-date inventory, an accurate payment calculator, and more pictures and descriptions.
Within the past two years, the sales department has hired an outside Business Development Centre to help with the rising number of online inquiries for sales. They’ve also adopted the use of a CRM, which helps them keep track of their customers and allows them to email and text right through the system.
“This has freed up time for our sales team to service customers in the dealership,” notes Nicholson.
2. Reducing store hours
They also reduced store hours and haven’t gone back to pre-pandemic standards. “We used to be open 9 am - 9 pm most days and now our latest opening time is 7 pm, which is pretty common in the Sudbury auto industry, with some exceptions,” he says.
It’s a change that makes good sense. “Nobody comes around in the dead of winter when it’s pitch-black outside. Because there’s little-to-no customer demand for us to be open late, we adjusted our store hours to give our staff a better work-life balance. Even during the summer months, people generally aren’t shopping past our closing time at 7 pm.”
Of course, if a customer is looking for assistance, they are happy to accommodate and stay late. “We never turn someone away,” he says.
3. Adjusting expectations
The third biggest change involved learning to sell from an empty lot. “Inventory issues still persist (for various reasons, right now it’s due to tariffs) and the public has become much more understanding and patient,” says the Sales Manager. “If it weren’t for the global inventory shortage of 2022-23 or so, I don’t think the public at large would be as accommodating as they have been.”
Now that their website has been vastly upgraded and uses more online tools, including video and images which show people the ins and outs of their vehicles, customers feel confident joining the wait list for a vehicle. They also understand they may not be able to test drive the exact car they will purchase or be able to see every colour available.
Keeping prices down, embracing change, and staying true to your roots
Price has always been paramount to customers. One of the ways the dealership is mindful of this is by keeping their door rate—the hourly rate they charge for a mechanic’s labour–in check. “We are the least expensive for any OEM/Franchise dealer in the city,” says John. “This saves people money.”
One good thing to come out of the upheaval of the pandemic was that dealers were forced to change rapidly.
“Many dealers don’t like change, including this one (historically). COVID forced businesses out of their comfort zone and made us adopt technology for both sales and service to communicate with customers. Customers have changed how they want to do business. They want more information available to them online. They want ease of making appointments (sales and service). They want more direct access to employees (service advisors/salespeople),” says John. “We have accommodated a lot of these requests through technology.”
The approach at KIA Sudbury Motors has always been to work honestly and with integrity, keeping peoples’ best interests at heart.
“We operate by using fair practices. We don’t gouge our customers. We offer the lowest door rate in the city for a franchise dealership. We don’t have unnecessary fees when people want to purchase a vehicle. Our service advisors don’t recommend or offer unnecessary service work. We’ve been a Kia Franchise (26th in Canada) since 1999 and we aren’t about charging the most money; we try our best to earn people’s trust and we try to give everyone a reason to want to do business with us.”
The dealership is very involved in the community, sponsoring two teams in Sudbury Minor Baseball and a men’s curling team, donating prizes to charity golf tournaments, giving money to the Laurentian Relay for Life, donating to the Sudbury Food Bank, and serving as named sponsors at the Chamber of Commerce Curling Event.
Visit KIA Sudbury Motors at 1086 Kingsway or call 705-524-2404 for Sales or Service.
Follow the dealership on Facebook, X, Instagram @kiacanada, and YouTube.