Category: Trends & Insights

Data and the Disconnected Dealership

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Does your DMS provider enable the free exchange of your dealership’s data?

More and more of your business relies on the accurate exchange of data. As customers shop for cars online, they freely share their information with the dealerships they do business with. This includes sharing personal information like addresses and contact information, as well as more sensitive financial information contained on credit applications. Customers exchange this information for a more convenient and seamless car buying experience, but with the caveat that your dealership will keep it protected. And according to our study, 86% of thriving dealers agree that having accurate and complete customer data is a top priority.

If the technology driving your operations doesn’t deliver the data you need to connect people, cars, and services in a fast, secure, and accurate capacity—you need to take a serious look at the risk you’re facing

Your Right to Your Data

Under the guise of protecting customer privacy, some DMS providers believe that dealerships don’t have the right to share information between their own systems. Simply put, the debate between data security and data access isn’t an either/or scenario. Your dealership doesn’t have to choose one or the other. It can have both. Especially as the industry shifts to incorporate more digital technology (in an effort to enable a more seamless online buying experience for your customers), sharing dealership data between dealership systems is critical to business continuity.

When your DMS provider gives you free and unfettered access to your data, you can work with both customers and vendors to facilitate shared data processing, storage, and analysis, without having to navigate multiple systems just to complete a simple task. It boosts efficiency for you and saves time for your customers during the car buying process. It also allows your dealership to advance into a new age of automotive retail with data that will become increasingly important to your business’ success.

Your Right to Cost Transparency

Now that you know you shouldn’t have to choose between your data and your customers’ security, you should also know that enabling these two compatible dealership components shouldn’t be a financial burden to you. The costs associated with data integration and data security, storage, and analysis should be fully disclosed upfront by your DMS provider and justified by the value they add to you and your customers.

Your dealership’s access to your own data is self-evident. Knowing how much you’re paying for data integration should be self-evident too. Those costs should never limit or financially encumber your business. Your systems should be easy to work with. They should help you avoid the tedium of inputting customer data into multiple systems. And your tech provider should be able to clearly explain each cost with full transparency.

As your dealership continues to incorporate more digital elements and your customers continue to trust their information with you online, make sure that you have a tech provider that can prioritize both sides of the same customer data coin to give you and your customers a better car buying/sales experience.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THE RIGHT DMS TECHNOLOGY AND PARTNER CAN HELP YOUR DEALERSHIP EVOLVE TO MEET THE DIGITAL DEMANDS OF TODAY’S CUSTOMERS, GET YOUR COPY OF THE DEALER’S GUIDE FOR MAXIMIZING PROFITABILITY.

 

 

Empower Your Accounting Team to Build a Better Dealership

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Dealers are great at finding ways to become more profitable. In 2020 alone, nearly three out of four franchise dealers added at least one digital retailing solution to meet the needs of a public more interested in servicing their car (or buying their next one) online. But they rarely focus on their accounting team. The consensus I hear is that dealers are simply too busy to be bothered, and, well, if it’s not broken don’t mess with it! But if you’re overlooking your accounting team—missing training opportunities or recognizing objections to progress—you’re headed for trouble. Profitability, and profit retention, go hand-in-hand with an empowered and efficient accounting department.

Identify and Overcome Objections

There’s real risk in sitting back and settling for the status quo. It may be easier to focus on the quick wins and avoid disrupting the one team that always checks their task list. And change can feel disruptive, and scary, at first. But it’s worth looking at what may be holding you back.

  • They’re busy. But are they busy doing things that add actual value to your dealership? Or just busy doing busy work?
  • They get the job done just fine. Your competition does it faster, better, and it results in a better customer experience.
  • They push back on new technology. So, what are you doing to help bring in tools, training, and technology that makes their work more fulfilling?

The past eighteen months have put a lot of stress on you and your business. (And you’ve handled it in stride.) Many dealerships have added tools and processes that have improved the way we communicate across dealership departments in ways we didn’t even realize needed improvement. We’re faster at what we do—and better off for it. Now, it’s time to focus on the team that provides critical information and insights to the decision-makers at your business. With the help of your dealership’s accounting tools—specifically your Dealer Management System—your accounting team can do so much more.

Prioritizing Ongoing Training

The vast majority of industry training and education is focused on helping the dealer principal and the general manager. Controllers and accounting teams don’t often get opportunities to attend conferences or get access to new learning and training events. They don’t get to collaborate with their industry peers to see what’s working and what’s not working at other dealerships. True to tradition, they’re usually back at the dealership, dutifully performing their tasks. But given how important a well-run, well-educated accounting office can be to dealership profitability, this has to change.

Sharing knowledge is empowering, both for the sharer and the learner. That’s how accounting teams learn to take on new technologies and figure out new ways to do things, instead of just falling back on the way they’ve always been done. When we pulled together nearly 300 industry experts in one room for a rare Controller Conference, pre-pandemic, we almost didn’t need vendor trainers to help lead the group. The simple fact is, we learn better when we learn together and share what we know. And research from Harvard Business Review supports it. When we take an active role in learning (i.e. get outside our dealership comfort zones and talk with our peers), we internalize concepts better and produce better outcomes.

Simple Steps, Big Payoff

Dealerships that prioritize and invest in staff growth tend to be both more efficient and more profitable than other dealerships. In fact, 74% of top-performing dealerships make sure that their employees are satisfied and well-trained in how to use new technology, according to Cox Automotive research. Consider the following practices when looking for ways to empower your accounting team to learn and grow. Your dealership will be better for it.

  • Go Forth & Learn: Learn about new technology by having your controller and the accounting office leaders attending tradeshows, provider-sponsored events, training seminars, and other industry gatherings. Then invite them to share the information with dealer management to find ways to improve.
  • Unmask the Superheroes: Identify “super users” of your technology and rely on them to teach other team members how to leverage technology to your dealership’s advantage. Hold lunch and learn sessions across rooftops and invite these people to meet and mentor new team members.
  • Virtual Learning: Network online with industry peers, including those from accounting offices at other dealerships, through on-demand training resources like DMS360 and additional summits through your technology provider.

Understanding the ‘Why’ of What We Do

Accounting offices in car dealerships are rarely actually accounting offices. Most often, they are task-management offices, with hard-working, well-intentioned employees who have been taught to complete lists of tasks, without ever really understanding why they’re doing what they’re doing—the actual accounting at the foundation of their busy work.

Among other implications, this lack of big-picture vision can be stifling for dealership growth. When new technologies are introduced—some of which are necessary to future-proof the dealership or to ensure increased efficiency in a competitive industry—the accounting employees are often the first to push back. They push back because they’re stuck inside their list of to-dos.

On the other hand, when controllers and accounting teams have a better understanding of their roles, and how they play an integral part in the dealership’s success on so many different levels, it becomes empowering. Employees see a greater purpose and find the motivation to improve how the entire organization operates, instead of just honing task-management skills.

When accounting employees understand the balance sheet implications and the trickle-down effect of their tasks, they’re more likely to get on board with industry and dealership-level changes. The fear of change takes a backseat to the excitement for new processes and technology that can pave a new way forward. When they begin to see the big-picture and their importance within the master plan, they become more loyal and more connected, which can transform a traditionally “slow to adapt” team into one that embraces progress.

As you seek to empower your accounting team, take time to teach every member, from the controller to the most entry-level position, the “why” behind what they do. It will have a profound impact on your dealership in producing more direct results with more accurate information.

In Closing…

It’s time to adjust your focus to see just how profoundly your accounting team can impact profitability. Empower your team with the educational resources, big-picture perspective, and technologies to ensure that your dealership is operating efficiently and profitably, and you can begin to build a better accounting office and a better dealership.

About the Author | Karli DeVall

Karli DeVall is the CFO at Tim Dahle Nissan and Red Rock Auto Group. Prior to her current role, she spent ten years running an accounting and consulting practice in the retail automotive industry where she specialized in fixing broken accounting offices. She is passionate about the role that controllers and accounting teams play in the business and looks for ways to empower teams to connect and showcase their skills to their community.

Seven Benefits of Streamlined Service Lane Technology

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A streamlined service drive can boost your dealership’s profit potential, make your employees more satisfied with their work, and keep your customers coming back. But redundant data entry and technology systems that don’t connect can have the exact opposite result.

Your Dealer Management System is connected to the data that drives every decision and detail within your business. It helps you determine how well your business is functioning, where to uncover underperforming areas, and shows you how to take action to drive results. So, when your Fixed Operations software, like Xtime, integrates and shares data in both directions with your DMS? Everyone wins!

Dealertrack DMS, backed by the power of Cox Automotive, is designed to fully integrate with a full suite of technology solutions, including Xtime. Here are seven benefits to switching your DMS:

  1. Share Critical Data – The ultimate service experience ends with a happy customer. But it begins with intelligent, connected systems. Together, Dealertrack DMS and Xtime share critical service data between systems that enable an efficient workflow, reduces errors, and drives revenue.
  2. Get Grunt Work Done, Faster – With the ability to edit Repair Orders, writeback parts and labor, and order the parts your customers need in either the DMS or Xtime, your staff can get the job done without having to double-down on the details.
  3. More Opportunity for $$$ – Inventory Stocking Alerts keep your team informed of new revenue opportunities so you can secure high-value vehicles arriving for service.
  4. Reduced Human Error – Manual data entry leads to inaccurate data according to 56% of companies surveyed.
  5. Improved Customer Experience – Speed up customer interactions by reducing the need for rekeying information between Xtime, your DMS, and other systems so you can focus on better customer service.
  6. Build Trust – Even simple tasks become a burden when your DMS isn’t connected to your tools and systems.
  7. Lower Fees – Dealertrack DMS uses Opentrack integration, reducing the cost of your vendor integration fees (by a lot!).

When you streamline your service drive, you win. Your customers and your staff win, also. In fact, the only thing you miss out on are extra steps, manual workflow, duplicate data, and (likely) extra, hidden fees charged by your vendor.

Experience the Unexpected From Your DMS
It’s time the technology at the center of your dealership serves as a catalyst for success.
Schedule a demo today to see how Dealertrack DMS can make an impact on your business.

 

Five Steps for Better Change Management

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Often, when I work with Dealer Principals and Managers looking to improve profit margins and grow their business, I’ll turn their Dealer Management System, first. There are specific reports that can uncover key metrics, such as performance metrics, that in turn can result in higher gross profit. But, sadly, when I return to the dealership to follow up, I’ll find that the staff has already moved on to a new issue or process challenge that is sometimes referred to as “the flavor of the month” issue. That’s normal. Things move quickly in our business. And roadblocks can make solving smaller problems seem overwhelming. Our good intentions get lost in the shuffle. But, in my experience, if you stick to a simple, five-step process to change management, utilizing your DMS to look at clear data and results, those “roadblocks” turn into tiny speedbumps.

Step 1: Identify a Challenge

This may sound simple, but first and foremost, you’ve got to identify what problem you’re trying to solve. And simply saying, “we need to become more profitable,” isn’t a simple challenge. Make sure the problem you want to solve answers the following questions:

  • Is it specific?
  • What are the consequences?
  • What is the impact or gain?
  • How easy/difficult is it to solve?
  • Is this a sustainable or short-term fix?

Start with the data in your DMS—a Labor Profit Analysis report, for example—and look at the numbers. “I have an underperforming service advisor,” is an identifiable challenge.

 

Step 2: Determine the Root Cause

When it comes to mastering change management, we need to look at the contributing factors of the problem rather than focusing on blame. I encourage you to rank these by importance. Is this issue even solvable? Sometimes certain things are not, and that’s OK. Simply understanding if contributing factors can’t be fixed will free your team to focus on the things that can be. However, if, to use the example earlier of an underperforming service advisor, is due to an employee not understanding a policy, then you can fix it. Additional coaching, help from a manager, training, these root causes are solvable.

Step 3: Develop a Strategy

Now that you’ve identified a challenge and determined its root cause, you have the opportunity to form a plan of action. Identify who is responsible and what needs to be done to take the next steps. What resources are at your disposal (or lacking in the first place) in order to correct the issue? Set a timeline and determine how long it might take.

Step 4: Implement the Plan

It’s not enough to just manage a plan. Real leaders need to take ownership and ensure that processes are seen all the way through. Ultimately it’s our responsibility to make sure everyone moves towards positive change. Aligning implementation with goal and strategy means we have to make sure that the rollout fits the timeline and objective. Are we solving the right problem? Do the actions support the original goal? Make sure you’re coaching and driving the performance along the way. Offer positive reinforcement, encouragement, and progress reports.

Step 5: Analyze the Change

You did it! That’s great, but you’re not finished yet. Now it’s time to review, process, and accept feedback from everyone. That feedback should come from everyone—other managers, advisors, customers, etc. Don’t forget to pull that same DMS report (our example used the Labor Profit Analysis) and see how it has changed. Then continue or alter your plans. What else needs to be done or changed? Was it effective?

Strengthening your people should result in a stronger dealership. And a stronger dealership, with a well-supported team, will result in greater profit potential. Your DMS houses incredible information. It allows you to uncover and dissect what’s happening in your dealership. What’s your effective labor rate? How about your hours per RO? Do you know your gross percentage? The DMS helps you understand averages, set benchmarks, determine what’s good or poor. But most importantly, your DMS helps you understand what’s causing all of this. Because we don’t search for results, we search for actions to drive results. Our actions will determine the results we get.

Experience the Unexpected From Your DMS
It’s time the technology at the center of your dealership serves as a catalyst for success.
Schedule a demo today to see how Dealertrack DMS can make an impact on your business.

About the Author | Michael Panozzo

Michael Panozzo is a Dealertrack DMS Performance Manager who works with dealerships to maximize DMS utilization and drive process and profit improvement. Michael came to Cox Automotive in 2016 after a 15-year career working in and managing auto dealerships where he honed his skills in operational excellence.

Ask the Expert: Three Unchanging Truths of Hiring

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The past year and a half have thrown dealers the gauntlet of challenges. Yet, despite an ongoing pandemic, vehicle inventory shortages, and other economic woes, the automotive industry continues to do surprisingly well. Customer satisfaction is reaching all-time highs, dealers are finding innovative ways to improve the online retail buying experience, and the industry continues to shift according to recent Cox Automotive research. But, the ever-present challenges to hiring and staffing remain. In fact, dealerships and industries across the country are facing what is now being dubbed the “Great Resignation” as employees are leaving their posts in greater numbers each day.

Although the retail automotive landscape has changed—in many ways, for the better—some things have remained constant in recruitment. We turned to the experts at Hireology, the Human Resource Solutions team that specializes in retail automotive, for advice on the matter. Here’s what they had to say about the unchanging and reliable truths of hiring.

  1. Hiring great people is difficult
    Because every industry is looking to hire new talent, your competition is likely more vast than in previous seasons. You need to continue to work to attract retail automotive talent — so continue to use the appropriate job boards — but don’t limit yourself to those within the industry. You’ve got a huge talent pool if you open your roles up to other sectors, simply by making your requirements broader. Include things like “great customer service skills a plus” rather than “this role requires 2+ years of automotive sales experience.”
  2. Your team is your competitive advantage
    Regardless of how reliant we become on technology, your team will always be your most essential asset. Every hire you make needs to be a strategic play to improve your business operation because hiring is the biggest expense for business owners. You can’t risk just filling roles with warm bodies — you have to find people that add value to your organization and are looking to grow their careers with you. That said, your dealership has to facilitate that career growth and you need to prioritize advertising it to potential job seekers through your career site and social media channels.
  3. You have to take care of your people
    It’s not enough to do the bare minimum for your employees — you have to offer competitive benefits and compensation in order to keep your team around and attract new employees. Look at your competitors and what they’re offering, and consider including unique incentives as well, like continuing education stipends or certification reimbursements.

Hiring at your dealership will continue to be an investment that yields a huge payoff, for your business, your customers, and your staff. The industry will continue to change. But the importance of your hiring strategy, and the value of your people, will always remain a crucial component to your company.

READ THE GUIDE FOR FREE, ONLINE: REDEFINING TODAY’S RETAIL AUTO EMPLOYEE: WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN TOP RETAIL AUTO TALENT—AND WHAT THEY EXPECT FROM YOUR DEALERSHIP.

The High Cost of Poor Integration

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Your customers see your dealership as one, holistic entity. They can service their cars, shop online or in person, and finance purchases through your operation. But, in reality, your dealership is composed of multiple (sometimes siloed) departments, with various tools and technologies, working together to make the magic happen. In some cases, employees get really good at checking off tasks and performing processes that keep the lights on, without seeing the bigger picture. Between your different departments and technologies, it takes teamwork to do the job right. And one weak link has the potential to throw off your entire operation.

High Costs and Higher Risk

According to one study, the average dealership uses almost seven systems to complete a single transaction. That means that data must travel across multiple departments, offers have to be desked, and trust between your client and your business is tested up to seven different times. It also means that you rely on your technology to cooperate seven different times. It’s a tall task and one that you may take for granted. Your DMS is the source of truth for the data within your dealership. And the vendors and OEMs that you partner with rely upon it. They also tend to charge sneaky, hidden fees to access that data, and hide those fees within the costs you pay to work with your chosen vendor. (Want to see how much you’re spending on integration fees? Try our integration fee calculator here.)


The Importance of Integration

As more of your business takes place online, integrating your operations becomes more important than ever. These integrations allow you to track shoppers online and implement a cohesive retail experience across platforms. They streamline interfaces and facilitate the flow of data freely between systems, which reduces human error and costs while increasing profits. As these integrations become increasingly important, you should be able to choose the providers that are best for your dealership, and you should be able to do it affordably.

Having secure, real-time, bidirectional technology integrations enable a seamless online to in-store buying experience for your customers and allow you to work with the providers and technologies you want—those technologies that facilitate a better overall customer experience. This gives you maximum flexibility to give your customers the kind of smooth, seamless car buying experience they want, without any technology hiccups in between.

As your dealership continues to venture into the new age of online to in-store retail, your operations will become even more complex and the need for smart technology integrations will become even more essential. It’s going to take teamwork to succeed, and it’s only fair that you should be able to choose the technologies that are right for your team.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THE RIGHT DMS TECHNOLOGY AND PARTNER CAN HELP YOUR DEALERSHIP EVOLVE TO MEET THE DIGITAL DEMANDS OF TODAY’S CUSTOMERS, GET YOUR COPY OF THE DEALER’S GUIDE FOR MAXIMIZING PROFITABILITY.

The New Retail Auto Employee

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New technology was the key to success for many dealers over the past 18 months. And thriving dealerships have shown that the ability to adapt gives your business an advantage over the competition. But the flipside to the rapid adoption of new tools and technologies is the toll it takes on your number one asset—your team. In order to reduce turnover at your dealership, you must be just as innovative and adaptive when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees. Here’s what the latest research says about hiring today’s retail auto employee.

The Big Shift

 

It’s no secret that buyers have long demanded new options when it comes to buying and servicing their cars. Flexible hours, text options, and virtual shopping have made the process faster and more digital for buyers. But there seems to be a surprise to dealer principals and managers—now that changes are in place—that those seeking employment are looking for flexibility as well. According to research from the team at Hireology, 79% of retail automotive respondents said they’d be interested in remote work if it was an option. And it’s not just our industry that’s seeing change. With five out of every one-hundred service and hospitality employees quitting their jobs in April of this year, this period has been dubbed “The Great Resignation.”

Think Outside the Showroom Floor

So now that your dealership is running new technology that works well together, driving new leads to your sales team through integrated CRM data and powerful DMS data, it’s time to ensure your staff is up to the challenge. Right? But where are dealers turning to find tech-savvy, career-driven employees interested in the automotive industry? Consider this—roughly 9.6 million people lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and nearly half came from the restaurant and hotel industry. If you have a narrow view of only hiring candidates with prior automotive experience, your dealership could suffer.

Expectations have changed. But your dealership has overcome challenges unimagined nearly five years ago. To learn more about today’s retail auto employee and how to overcome the challenges facing your dealership,

check out the online playbook from both teams at Hireology and Dealertrack, Redefining Today’s Retail Auto Employee.

Read the guide for free, online: Redefining Today’s Retail Auto Employee: What to look for in top retail auto talent—and what they expect from your dealership.

Connect the Dots with Integrated DMS Technology

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The new age of online automotive sales has arrived. And as you work to bring your dealership up to speed with the digital shopping preferences of today’s customers, it’s important to consider your technology. Specifically, whether your technology facilitates the kind of connected online shopping experience your customers expect. Because, for all your hard work and effort to implement the right processes and drive better innovation, if your technology can’t connect the dots, you’ll come up short.

The Customer is Always Right

Consumer interest in finalizing a deal online has risen 73% in the past year alone, according to a Cox Automotive Report. In addition, 56% of customers want to start negotiating on their terms, preferably online, and 75% want to complete credit and financing paperwork online, according to an Autotrader study. Does your dealership’s DMS technology enable you to cater to these customer preferences and move at least part of the car buying experience online?

“The ability to deliver a superior, personalized experience is now
within reach.” – Lori Whitman, Senior Vice President of Dealer Software, Cox Automotive, The Dealer’s Guide for Maximizing Profitability

The Next Gen Benefits of Connected Technology

As your dealership transitions to incorporate more elements of an online sales experience, put your technology in the proper perspective. Instead of thinking of your DMS as just another expense, think of it as an invaluable asset, enabling you to sell more cars, drive profits, and facilitate the kind of buying experience your customers expect.

Your online customers don’t want to put up with a clunky, disconnected shopping experience. From start to finish, they want a buying experience that weaves every step of the process into one connected whole. The good news is, with integrated technology, it’s entirely possible to optimize efficiency. As Lori Whitman, SVP of Dealer Software at Cox Automotive explains, “The ability to deliver a superior, personalized experience is now within reach.” Technology designed to bypass workarounds and intuitively share information across platforms, from interest to point-of-sale, is changing the way dealership operations function. And your Dealer Management System—the source of truth for data continuity at your dealership—is making it happen by integrating with your other technologies and facilitating an intuitive, customer-focused car selling experience.

Your DMS technology, working together with your other systems, should support an omnichannel sales experience that keeps track of customer information over time and between systems. The best part: this connected technology not only benefits the customer, but it also improves your dealership’s efficiency and profitability.

Move on From Disconnected Tech

If your DMS doesn’t integrate with your other technologies, or requires expensive workarounds that ultimately feel mismatched, out of place, and even conflicting, your technology probably isn’t the right fit for the next generation of digital customers and online sales.

As your dealership moves into the new age of automotive retail, continue to evaluate how your technology can either help or hinder your customers’ specific shopping experiences and your dealership in general.

To learn more about how the right DMS technology and partner can help your dealership evolve to meet the digital demands of today’s customers, get your copy of The Dealer’s Guide for Maximizing Profitability.

 

Could your DMS technology be due for service?

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Vehicle owners understand the need for scheduled maintenance and regular check-ups. And most of them appreciate the emails they receive from your service department reminding them that it’s time for a visit. Just like a car, your DMS is a complicated piece of technology. And maintaining efficiency is crucial to the overall health of your dealership. That’s why occasional DMS check-ups are an essential part of running a successful dealership. In today’s digital world, those check-ups are more important than ever. But how do you know when you’re due for a quick evaluation? Well, consider this your friendly reminder! Take a look at the following signs to decide whether or not your DMS is doing all it can to keep your dealership running strong.

Your Vendor is Absent

A great DMS vendor brings more to the table than great technology. In fact, having a partner you can trust is just as important as having a capable dealer management system. To be a good partner, a DMS vendor needs to offer efficient, easy-to-access technical support. And in today’s work-from-anywhere world, product and technical support need to be easily accessible omnichannel offerings. For example, you should have access to peer-to-peer forums where you can search for answers and learn from other dealers and veteran employees.

A great DMS partner goes well beyond traditional tech support by providing an experienced Performance Manager. Performance Managers are both product and industry experts. They understand your business and can proactively provide suggestions for applying the power of the DMS to your specific challenges and opportunities. They also offer personalized training and feedback on utilization that goes well beyond troubleshooting and product assistance.

Your Technologies Feel Disconnected

Car buying behaviors continue to shift, with shoppers wanting to complete more of the process online. In this new era of automotive sales, your tools and technologies have to work together. Specifically, those technologies need to reliably and securely share information with each other—a process that starts and ends with your dealer management system. You can’t afford to have disconnected data silos any longer. Your DMS needs to facilitate secure, bidirectional, real-time third-party integrations that protect customer privacy while giving unfettered access to your other systems. When your technologies connect, your dealership benefits from streamlined processes and your customers enjoy smoother experiences.

Your Customers Are Frustrated

Of course, all of the technical capabilities and connections in the world don’t matter if your dealership can’t keep its customers happy, and dissatisfied shoppers are the number one sign of a DMS that isn’t delivering. By increasing efficiencies, a great DMS facilitates better buying experiences from start to finish. As the source of truth for all data, the right DMS can share a shopper’s individual information across systems so that salespeople can personalize the buying experience.

Your DMS can be a powerful tool for driving change and promoting profit within your dealership. But to run a finely tuned business, you need to frequently evaluate the strengths of your technologies. Like regularly scheduled vehicle maintenance, occasional DMS check-ups can help diagnose problems and identify solutions for becoming more effective. After considering vendor availability, ease of integration, and customer satisfaction, you may find that your DMS doesn’t work anymore or that it needs a tune-up.

If you have big profitability goals this year, your DMS technology is likely due for a check-up. Consider our six-part Digital DMS Check-up Process. Get Yours Free Today!

How Next-Gen Technology Drives Staffing Success

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Your dealership’s technology plays a significant role in your day-to-day business—sometimes in ways that aren’t immediately apparent. The right tools can improve how efficiently your data travels between systems, speeding up transactions for clients, and delivering exceptional service. And, while it may be difficult to quantify—at first—more efficient technology improves the lives of everyone who interacts with your dealership. Most notably, your current and future staff. When it comes down to it, the technology driving your dealership can literally drive away the talent you need to deliver the best customer experience. While the right DMS can help you attract and retain top talent, the wrong technology can deter both talent and customers from coming to your dealership.

Retain Talent for Customer Continuity

Despite the increasing popularity of digital car buying tools and the prevalence of online car shopping, your customers still want a personalized car buying experience. In fact, up to 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company that offers a personalized experience, according to one study1. They just want it on their terms and in their own time. And most eventually want to actually see the car they’re buying and meet the dealer they’re doing business with in person.

The fact that your customers want to complete much of the car buying process on their computers can, however, make it difficult for your team to personalize their experience. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the automotive sales industry has one of the highest turnover rates in any industry, which has the potential to frustrate customers looking for a cohesive online to in-store buying experience.

Today’s workforce values technology. When they work with technology that facilitates next-gen tools attracts, it gives them reasons to stay at your come to and stay at your dealership, resulting in more continuity for your customers. This cuts down on hiring and turnover costs and makes your customers’ transition between online and in-store shopping much smoother.

“If we don’t invest in technology, the market passes us by. It’s critical that our staff has the tools that they need to help answer client questions. That’s where the technology comes in. Dealertrack provides us a very easy-to-use, simple solution.” – Jeanne Brewer, General Manager Acura of Glendale

A Next-Gen DMS Empowers the Next-Gen Sales Team

The right DMS (and the right DMS partner) also gives your dealership access to real-time data, without restraints, enabling better sharing of information, better customer hand-off between incoming and outgoing employees (when turnover does happen), and a better understanding of your business for everyone involved. All of these benefits ultimately get passed along to your customers and to your dealership’s bottom line.

And a failure to take your dealership’s DMS technology into consideration—the single source of truth for all of your data and day-to-day operations—can cost you both staff and sales. As Jeanne Brewer, General Manager Acura of explains, “If we don’t invest in technology, the market passes us by. It’s critical that our staff has the tools that they need to help answer client questions. That’s where the technology comes in. Dealertrack provides us a very easy-to-use, simple solution.”

Your dealership’s technology really does play a significant role in your day-to-day business, especially as you transition to incorporate more digital tools. Whether part of the onlineor in-store buying experiences (and especially the exchange in between), the right (and wrong) DMS technology can help or hinder your talent retention, your customer’s experience, and your business’s bottom line.

To learn more about how your DMS technology play a role in retaining top talent, check out The Dealer’s Guide For Maximizing Profitability.

 

1Epsilon Marketing, “The power of me: The impact of personalization on marketing performance,” 2018