Black Book released the results of its Mobile Usability survey, which takes a deeper look into how industry professionals use mobile technology in their day-to-day business.

Auto Remarketing previously spoke with Mike Williams, the vice president of mobile and direct sales at Black Book, to get a forward glance at the study’s results. The majority of the more than 1,000 dealers, remarketers and other such professionals surveyed revealed that they feel more profitable using mobile technology (64 percent of those surveyed) and said the apps they rely on make vehicle valuation quicker (77 percent of those surveyed).

“While mobile technology today offers a wealth of features and benefits to industry professionals, it has to show that we can make profitable decisions faster,” Williams said in Black Book’s release. “And the speed at which mobile apps like Black Book Digital perform, can eliminate critical seconds when accessing valuations, vehicle scans and history reports.”

Here’s a breakdown of the survey questions and results, according to Black Book:

How much more profitable do you think you are using a mobile app?

• Equally profitable (31 percent)
• More than 10 percent (30 percent)
• 1-5 percent (19 percent)
• 6-10 percent (15 percent)
• Less profitable (3 percent)

How much faster can you value a vehicle using a mobile app?

• 20 or more seconds faster (53 percent)
• 10-19 seconds faster (15 percent)
• Equally fast (14 percent)
• 5-9 seconds faster (9 percent)
• Not faster (6 percent)

Which area does mobile help you most?

• When buying at auction (56 percent)
• When appraising a trade-in (39 percent)
• When selling retail (2 percent)
• When selling at auction (0 percent)
• I don’t use a mobile app (0 percent)

What features do you use the most on your mobile app? (Choose as many as apply)

• Valuation and appraisal research (30.9 percent)
• VIN Scan (30.7 percent)
• Vehicle history reports (15.0 percent)
• Market Report (7.3 percent)
• Other (7.2 percent)
• Q-list/Wish list (5.4 percent)
• Determine demand for vehicles selling in specific regions (3.4 percent)
• Sharing vehicle information with colleagues, other dealers or retail customers (0.0 percent)

Reader feedback for our previous story on this topic shed light on the opinion that some new technologies may be making people in the industry a bit lazier. And, according to our previous interview with Williams, that is a suggestion that’s not too far from the truth.

“At this point you can sit down in front of a computer, you can be in four different auctions, you can be looking at two or three different dealer networks, all at the same time,” Williams said. “You can be pulling the trade-in value and see what they’re going for on all these networks. I don’t want to say anything provocative, but you’re now in a better position not to go anywhere than you ever have been.”

This lead to a question about the importance of the physical auction setting, where many in the industry swear by the relationships they’ve grown and fostered in person while bidding. Williams believes that side of the auction system will always have a place.

“The reality is there’s always going to be a core group of guys,” Williams said. “And I think every dealer enjoys a good auction. It really is a carnival, it’s a fun atmosphere; there’s a lot going on. I think that while they’ve slowed down their number of visits per year, the reality is they’re always going to go there. They’re always going to visit their IADA convention and things like that. And they’re going to have opportunities to intermingle with other dealers.

“I don’t think, in the end, we’re ever going to see the end of the auctions,” Williams continued. “But I think we’ve already seen one evolution of them, which is now most guys at the auction, if they’re not on the mobile themselves, they have a second spotter out on the lot who’s checking the information. They’re communicating back to the dealership. We’re already getting this hybrid where they’re not just online and they’re not just in the lane. There are a lot of guys who will bid on 4 or 5 different sales at the same time from home base while they’ll have guys out there on the lot checking the vehicles.”

What do you think? Do you prefer to go to the auction in person or do you find more value in bidding remotely? Or a mix of both? Let us know in the comments or tweet us @autoremkting.