Also in this report:

– Economy, new entries fuel luxury gain: Manufacturers capitalizing on trend toward entry-level and sport-utility luxury vehicles p.29

– Superstore threat prompts new customer focus: Canadian dealers, car makers out to pre-empt arrival of U.S. mega-retailers p.29

– Spotlight onAutomotive Creative p.30

When most people think about interactive technology as an automotive marketing tool, they envision car buyers using the World Wide Web to track down information about the latest models.

But as Chrysler Canada has discovered, new media can also be employed effectively as a training tool for dealer sales staff.

The Windsor, Ont.-based auto manufacturer has been setting up interactive training kiosks in its dealerships across the country, as part of an ongoing effort to educate the salesforce better about the workings and safety features of Chrysler’s many products.

Training is a high priority for Chrysler, which offers a management program, with in-class sessions, for sales people in both Canada and the u.s. The kiosk system, which uses Compact Disc Interactive (cd-i) technology, is another avenue for salesforce education.

‘The cd-i course is not yet a requirement for certification, like the in-class training, and we don’t expect that it will ever completely replace it,’ says Steve Tolton, manager of product training at Chrysler Canada. ‘But it does provide an efficient way to teach our staff across the country.’

Tolton says that by getting more information into the hands of sales staff, in a more efficient manner, Chrysler hopes to improve the level of customer service at the dealer level – an important objective, as car buyers become increasingly knowledgeable, sophisticated and demanding.

Chrysler began introducing the kiosks two years ago. There are 5,000 now installed in dealerships throughout the United States, and another 540 in Canada.

The kiosk system, which was developed by McGill Multimedia of Toronto, consists of a monitor and a cd-i player, which closely resembles a standard compact disc player.

Instead of a traditional keyboard and mouse, the user panel has point-and-click controls, which feature up/down and left/right buttons, as well as a rolling track ball that can be used to direct the cursor.

Various training sessions are stored on cd-i disks. They feature information about all Chrysler products, including Dodge, Plymouth and Jeep-Eagle vehicles. The plan is to update that information on a regular basis.

‘The system allows staff at dealerships everywhere to learn about the products in a uniform manner,’ says Michael Holland, president of McGill. ‘And sales staff can easily refer to the information when dealing with specific customer concerns.’

Once the sales person has called up a training session on the disk, by entering his or her name, job title, dealer code and a pin number, the user can go to a general menu of Chrysler products. Under each vehicle heading, information is organized by categories such as safety, utility, value, performance and styling.

After reviewing the product information, the user completes an extensive quiz of random questions. Chimes sound if a user answers correctly. If a user answers incorrectly, the right response pops immediately onto the screen. Chrysler considers a score of 75% or above a passing grade.

Completing the entire course can take several hours, but users can log off at any time, and pick up later where they left off. Because the kiosks are located on-site, sales staff can refer back to them for information as often as needed.

The cd-i kiosk system is connected on-line to a central server. Chrysler in the u.s. has been using that connection to assemble data from its dealerships.

If, for example, the automaker launches a new vehicle, Holland says, it can find out which dealerships have had their sales staff complete the training course on that product.

‘You can also find out what [topic] area staff are accessing the most, or what they are looking up for customers,’ he adds. ‘This can help the company better understand the needs of staff and customers.’

Chrysler Canada has yet to use the system for this purpose.

Holland says the system could also be employed to keep dealerships informed about product-related issues, such as the recall of parts.

‘Chrysler could send out a cd-i to all its dealers about a part that’s being recalled, or even show mechanics how to fix the problem, through visuals on the screen,’ he says.

Tolton says Chrysler Canada is currently researching the effect that the kiosk system is having. u.s. dealerships have seen a marked improvement in performance among sales associates who have done cd-i training, he adds.

‘We wouldn’t be investing in this if we didn’t believe it would be a benefit. We’ll know in the near future exactly what impact it has had on our staff.’

While the use of cd-i technology is still in its early stages, it has enormous untapped potential, says Holland.

One of the most common applications, besides training, is to offer customers an easy way to find product information in the retail environment.