Erik Nachbahr shares steps dealers can take steps to protect their dealerships from ransomware.

Erik Nachbahr shares the leading cause of customer data breaches at dealerships and how this can be prevented.

Erik Nachbahr shares the two major causes of outages that can disrupt a dealership's operations and how to avoid them. 

Erik Nachbahr shares why dealers need to be mindful of their Wi-Fi service in order to manage it properly in this video blog.

Erik Nachbahr explains why dealerships shouldn't neglect their IT solutions in this video blogs. 

Dealers, do your computers still run the Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 2003 operating systems? Do you have a Windows Server 2008? Be aware that your machines are vulnerable to a new type of malware called BlueKeep that’s seeking to infect thousands of computers and could be more destructive than the WannaCry ransomware outbreak of 2017.

Microsoft released a patch in May to fix the vulnerability; however, close to a million computers and servers in the U.S. are still unprotected. The potential harm is so great that the National Security Agency (NSA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have joined forces with Microsoft to issue warnings and raise awareness.

BlueKeep is a remote code execution vulnerability, which basically means that if your computer and/or server is connected to the Internet, it’s vulnerable to being affected by this “wormable” malware, meaning it can spread from a single infected machine to every other computer in your network.

Not only that, but those computers can then infect other devices they’re connected with, rapidly spreading the bug to business networks and residential computers across the U.S. and other countries.

Once a computer is infected with BlueKeep, it allows hackers to exploit the affected machines by installing viruses and malware such as ransomware.

The BlueKeep vulnerability could be used to launch cyberattacks on the scale of 2017’s massive WannaCry attack, which infected more than 200,000 computers with ransomware and cost companies billions of dollars.

To protect your dealership from being infected by BlueKeep, be sure to install Microsoft’s most recently released operating system patch.

Better yet, upgrade to Windows 10 OS, which is automatically updated with the most recently released security patches. Computers with Windows 8 and Windows 10 operating systems are not vulnerable to the bug.

If you’re still using Windows 7 but reluctant to upgrade, you should be aware that beginning in January 2020, Microsoft will discontinue support for the old OS and so you’ll be forced to upgrade at that point anyway. May as well do it now.

But in the meantime, patch your computers and servers, because BlueKeep is out there, actively searching for vulnerable machines to infect.

Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and aggressive in their attempts to breach business networks. The BlueKeep threat could potentially shut down your dealership’s operations and cost thousands, if not millions of dollars, to remedy.

A multi-layered approach to network security is highly recommended; as well as proactively keeping abreast of all the latest threats, and methods for protecting against them.

Helion Technologies Founder & President Erik Nachbahr shares some tips on what dealerships should be looking for in an IT solution for their dealership.

In this video blog, Erik Nachbahr shares why it is important to protect your dealership from phishing attacks.

Erik Nachbahr explains why employees could be endangering dealerships through improper use of computer software.

My friends at CallRevu are allowing me to share some interesting statistics from their most recent 2 million call report. This quarterly report aggregates data from over 1,200 dealerships and is sure to be eye opening for many dealers.

Sales

CallRevu analyzed data from 699,639 sales calls and found the following:

• 32% of incoming calls never connected with an agent. Of these, 7% of callers hung up when placed on hold, 8% left a voice mail, 8% hung up when they are transferred into voice mail and 10% hung up because nobody was available to help them
• 27% of all attempted calls resulted in appointments
• 46% of connected calls resulted in appointments

Service

CallRevu analyzed data from 960,066 Fixed Ops calls and found the following:

• 23% of incoming calls never connected with an agent
• 45% of all attempted calls resulted in an appointment
• 74% of connected calls resulted in a price inquiry, inventory inquiry or appointment
• 18% of service calls are status checks on vehicles

If you look at these stats, the first thing that pops out is that dealerships are losing a huge amount of phone leads. Of calls to ALL departments, an average of 28% never got through to a human being! That's hundreds of thousands of lost opportunities.

When dealers realize they are losing this many phone leads, they often blame it on people or processes. Sometimes that is the cause, but calls that never connect with a human being often have nothing to do with process. They have everything to do with technology. Specifically, these lost leads are a direct result of a poorly designed call flow.

A phone system's call flow determines rules like how many times a person's phone rings, whether a call gets routed back to the receptionist or into voice mail, and what happens to calls after hours.

Call flows are set up when the phone system is installed. An inefficient call flow emerges over time due to the following reasons:

1) Employee turnover, extensions change, call groups changes

2) New managers create new call flows, creates loops or black holes

3) Lack of training for receptionists on call routing

4) No tracking or management of incoming calls; what doesn't get measured doesn't get done

The good news for dealers is that it's possible to fix call flow problems. The first thing that needs to happen is a meeting that includes managers from all departments to discuss the current call flow. What does it look like? Do you have a call flow map? If not, create one so you can visually see the holes. Do you have a process for assigning and re-assigning extensions?

Now think about your sales process and service process. How do they work? Design a call flow that is synergistic with your current processes. Don't let phone extensions ring more than four times. Avoid sending callers into voice mail except as a last resort. Create multi-line hunt groups to increase the chances of someone picking up. Create a process for assigning and re-assigning extensions when employees leave, as well as adding and deleting extensions.

It's important that the people involved with creating the call flow are familiar with dealership operations and your specific processes. This is why managers must get involved.

Next, assign a keeper of the call flow. Someone has to be responsible for approving any requested changes to the call flow. If a new manager wants calls to be routed a certain way that does not fit in with your process, don't let it happen. Also, the keeper should conduct an annual review to keep the call flow clean.

Is it possible to get a 100% connected call rate? According to CallRevu, in the very best dealerships 14% of calls still don't connect with a human being. But there's a lot of room for improvement between 28% of callers not connecting with an agent and 14% of callers not connecting with an agent. That difference could translate to thousands of dollars per month to the bottom line.