One problem we've had at our dealership is overuse of the PA system. In dealerships the PA or Intercom system is commonly used to page someone for a phone call, come to the showroom/office, customer waiting, calling a meeting, call this extension etc. With so much activity in our dealerships, this can lead to the PA being used every 5-10 minutes becoming a nuisance to both your employees and productivity with excessive use of the PA. 

Using the Intercom system is likely something you do not always think about, but there are actually many flaws with using your PA system as a means of notification or communicating with your staff. 

Why You Need To Stop Using Your Dealership System:

• Excessive use of the Intercom system can become a nuisance to customers and productive staff.
• Anything you say over the PA can be heard by customer's and irrelevant departments.
• Most Systems are loud enough and use of loud voices disrupt phone conversations.
• The amount of time it takes to respond to a Intercom page can interrupt productivity.
• You cannot communicate important information to a particular staff member in a subtle manner.
• Your PA system may not have enough speakers to be heard on large lots.

The Alternative

Recently, our dealership has invested in two-way radios with attachable in-ear pieces to reduce the use of our Intercom system. All sales staff, service advisors, porters, and managers for each department have received one. The improvement of communication has been impeccable.

Benefits Of Using Walkie-Talkies:

• You can subtly communicate vital information to a staff member dealing with a customer.
• Your staff can directly and quickly respond to request over the radio without interrupting productivity.
• You can quickly and effectively communicate with all departments.
• Most radios have a one-mile radius that can be used clearly from long distances.
• Your dealership is not annoyed by frequent short messages over a loud speaker.
• Phone calls are not disrupted by the loud speakers or people talking excessively loud.

Our dealership is certainly not the first to do to implement walkie-talkies. However, the amount of dealerships who have not invested in this method is even greater. 

What About Use of Phones and Cell Phones?

First and foremost, your sales person should not pull out their phone while with a customer, even if you're the one texting/calling them. Calls can be ignored, phones can be left at desks, phones can die, etc. While the same thing can happen with walkie talkies too, implementing this at part of their work tool will force them to make use of it. 

Think of being able to whisper a special price in your salesperson's ear without even coming up to them in front of the customer. It's one of the little things that can make a big difference.

How To Implement It Properly

Your Sales People, Managers, F&I Managers, Service Advisors, Service & Parts Managers, Lot Porters, Head Detailer, and anyone in the dealership who would need direct communication should all have one. Service technicians, non-supervising detailers, assistants, and non-managing office staff is your discretion. 

These radios can break, and your staff will likely not treat them respect without making them liable for the cost of replacement. An agreement noting that the cost of replacement will be taken from the employee's check should be implemented.

It's important to enforce the use of them and make the use of them mandatory, any discipline any employee who does not use or is negligent with their use. Again all of this is for the sake of easier communication.