Tag: case study

The Dealer Who’s Different Demands a DMS Who Cares

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Making the move to a new Dealer Management System requires careful consideration from the stakeholders at your dealership. When evaluating the technology that houses the data driving your business, your entire staff will be affected by making the switch. For the team at Greg Hubler Automotive, who made the switch to a new-to-market DMS in early 2022, the promise of a better experience for both their guests and their people was reason enough to leap into the unknown. However, when the promise from their vendor was under-delivered and their employee morale took a big hit, Matt Lohmiller, VP of Operations, was ready to pull the plug. Greg Hubler Automotive is a different kind of dealer—one who truly values its people and its guests. Here’s their story.

A DMS Partner Who Lives Up to Their Promise

A few months after implementing their new DMS, Lohmiller received feedback from his team that things weren’t on the up and up. “I was going to potentially be losing some team members if we stayed (with the other DMS) …and I couldn’t have that.” Employee retention and satisfaction have always been key components of what makes Greg Hubler unique. While going through multiple DMS switches within several months isn’t ideal, Lohmiller took careful consideration from his team and decided to switch to Dealertrack DMS. After hearing their input, it was clear which direction they wanted to go. “We had to make the change,” he recalls.

A Partner Committed to Their Success

A key benefit of making the switch to Dealertrack DMS was the ability to observe the implementation process first-hand and compare the difference from Greg Hubler’s previous provider. The switch to Dealertrack DMS was more streamlined and the level of support “has been great, all around,” said Lohmiller. “Even after the implementation team has left, we have a Performance Manager we can reach out to any time.”

For the people at Greg Hubler, the difference has been night and day. The change enabled ownership and management to keep their promise of being a different kind of dealer—one that listens to team members cares for customers and prioritizes people.

Looking for a DMS who matches your values? Read Greg Hubler’s full story here. 

Making the Switch to Your New DMS

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Changing technologies might be the right move for your dealership, but it’s never an easy decision. Many dealers hold off switching to a new Dealer Management System for fear of disrupting workflows and downtime. It’s not a decision that any dealer takes lightly, which is why it’s so important to find a DMS partner committed to helping you every step of the way. Watch this video and discover why making the move to a more flexible DMS was worth the switch for these real-world franchise auto groups.

Trusted Partners

Your DMS provider should be invested in your success. When it comes to the time for installation, your new DMS team should be on-site, ensuring that your dealership has everything it needs to succeed. That means answering your questions, ensuring that every employee is up to speed, and employing industry best practices for data migration and installation.

Ongoing Support

Once your installation is complete, your new DMS partner should help you get the most out of your new technology. Your provider should have an ongoing presence in your dealership, consulting with your teams on a regular basis to improve performance and help enact operational changes when necessary. Because technology and the auto sales industry are constantly changing, your DMS partner should be forward-thinking, providing ongoing support and updates to help your dealership grow, as the industry evolves.

Watch the video below to see how real-world dealers, like you, made a successful transition to a new DMS and DMS partner.

Control Your Data with the Right DMS Partner

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Your dealership’s data is your business, literally. It’s the key to invaluable insights into your customers, your operation, and the overall performance of your dealership. When you’re in control of how you run your operation—and whom you choose to do business with—you not only save time, but you also save money. Find out why dealers like you are switching to a DMS partner with open and integrated solutions. Watch the video.

Seamless Open Integration

Are you spending money to access data you already own? It sounds wild, but certain vendors can and do charge (often hidden) fees just to access customer information. The average dealership now uses up to seven software systems to complete a sale—and that can add up over the course of a year. Most franchise dealers are paying up to $42,000 every year on integration fees, alone. * (Yowza.) A DMS partner who offers seamless integration with bi-directional data flow and third-party software and OEM integration, would speed up processes and save dealers a lot of cash.

Real-Time Insights

How you access your data is just as important as how you share it. Your data should be on demand, not waiting for you the next day after a lengthy overnight download. Your DMS partner should empower you to access your data when you want, whenever you want. With unrestricted data access, you can get up-to-the-minute insight into transactions, account balances, and dealership performances. You have the freedom to make quick, effective decisions at a moment’s notice, with every possible piece of information.

It’s your data. You should be able to access it when, and where, you need it most.

See how real-world dealers, like you, are taking control of their data with a true DMS partner in the video below. 

References

*Avg. $500/month x 7 third-party apps x 12 months = $42,000/year

 

Find a DMS Partner Invested in Your Success

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A good salesperson can earn your business. And, often, that business transaction ends at the point of sale. But a great partnership is built long after the ink dries on the contract. Your DMS partner should work hard to help you achieve success. Improving your day-to-day operations and accomplishing long-term goals is an investment in the future. You expect your technology to do a lot for your organization. It’s time to start expecting more from your partners. See why dealers like you are making the decision to switch to a partner invested in their success. Watch the video.

An Invested Partner

A great business partner should empower you to be the company you want to be. That means working with your team to ensure a seamless installation and technology migration. It means helping you find solutions to all your questions and working with your dealership to get the most out of your technology. Your DMS partner should be an invaluable resource to you, helping your team navigate industry complexities, enact operational change, and grow your business.

An Intuitive Technology

Any technology you take the time and resources to invest in should be intuitive to learn for new and experienced employees alike. It should make your operations more efficient by reducing the number of clicks to complete a task and making it easy to access information. That includes being flexible enough to integrate seamlessly with third-party systems and meet the requirements of every dealership department.

Flexible Contract Terms

Finally, your business partners should be easy to do business with. Technology providers should earn your business every month, giving you the freedom to choose and the ability to change direction at any time. That means offering flexible contract terms, not auto-renew clauses. In other words, you should be in control of the direction of your dealership, not your DMS provider.

Watch the video below to see how real-world dealers, like you, have made the transition to a DMS partner that’s invested in their success.

 

 

 

 

Digital Technology Ushers in New Level of Partnerships

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According to buyer sentiment, digital adoption in the auto industry is here to stay. It’s not just that dealers have adapted to new norms and implemented new digitization tactics. Although, they are. (And at record pace!) According to the 2020 Digitization End-to-End Retail Study from Cox Automotive, 69% of franchise dealers now boast at least one new digital step to their buying process such as test drive home delivery, purchased home delivery, and online credit apps. It’s also due to overall record buyer satisfaction rates—72% at recent count.

With so many changes taking place, who can dealers turn to for guidance and accountability? For the following dealerships, finding the right Dealer Management System to drive better efficiency across the entire organization was the first step. The second, was finding a true partner—not just a vendor—they could trust.

A Vital Business Partner

For Downtown Auto Group, finding the right Dealer Management System (DMS) was a process that spanned over 18 years. In most cases, what felt like the right solution ended up being more of a burden. However, Dealer Principal Matt Garner, calls their current DMS a “no brainer.” Garner specifically selected it for its intuitive nature and simple integration with other systems. But, more than anything else, Garner and the team benefit from the expertise of their Performance Manager.

“A DMS is such a critical part of the dealership, and choosing Dealertrack DMS was a no brainer… But the number one thing for me, hands down, is the fact that Dealertrack DMS comes with a Performance Manager,” explains Garner. With Performance Management, Garner has a dedicated industry veteran available to help his dealership capitalize on new growth opportunities. And with the roll out of new digital technologies, the auto group also has a resource to ensure everyone gets the most from their technology.

Read their story here.

“A DMS is such a critical part of the dealership, and choosing Dealertrack DMS was a no brainer… But the number one thing for me, hands down, is the fact that Dealertrack DMS comes with a Performance Manager.” — Matt Garner Dealer Principal, Downtown Auto Group

A Partnership Built on Respect

For the service center at Lawton Kia, finding the right provider to meet the needs of their state-of-the-art facility would require more than just top-tier technology. The dealer group prides itself on delivering no-nonsense experience. And that’s exactly what they were looking for from their next DMS partner. Lawton Kia soon discovered that the right DMS was more than just an expense—it was a profit-driver. “We love having our Dealertrack DMS Performance Manager. He brings a lot of value to the table—from real-world experience and his ability to think outside the box, to helping us with campaigns, finding gains, and reviewing analytics,” explains Service Manager Frank Seitz. “He helps us strategize how to capitalize on more opportunities and bring us more profit.”

Read their story here. 

The right partner should do more for your dealership than hand over a contract. With Performance Management, data-driven insights, and streamlined workflows that integrate with technology at your dealership, finding the right DMS partner can optimize your entire business. Learn more.

Integrated Solutions: A DMS That Does More

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As more and more of the car-buying process moves online, dealerships across the country are demanding more from the technology solutions that drive their business. According to a 2020 Cox Automotive COVID-19 Dealer Impact Study, more than 70% of consumers are completing part of the buying process online. With so much riding on how well your technology runs, one this clear: your DMS has big shoes to fill. So it’s a no brainer that a DMS that integrates solutions and speeds up efficiencies is helping dealers meet that demand.

“We used to have to custom report or hand- create reports. And now we can just click download and five minutes later we’re onto the next task. If I had to guess, we won back three to four labor days in a month.” – Bryan Baer, General Manager Budd Baer Auto Group

When Manual Processes Slow You Down

Every dealership deals with custom—and often complex—reporting. For Budd Baer Auto Group, some reports were taking up so much of his accounting team’s bandwidth that General Manager Bryan Baer would often step in and take on the complicated algorithms himself. But, in early 2020, Dealertrack DMS partnered with Netchex to deliver an advanced Payroll solution that integrated through the DMS software directly, and Budd Baer Auto Group was one of the first franchise groups to test it out. The results were pretty clear. By delivering process improvements across the entire human resources team and advanced, accurate reporting, the dealership was able to win back significant time. “We used to have to custom report or hand- create reports. And now we can just click download and five minutes later we’re onto the next task.” Bryan Baer explains. “If I had to guess, we won back three to four labor days in a month.”

Integrated Solutions Are the Key to Going Digital

Dealers looking to meet the needs of today’s challenging market know that reliance on technology is a given. But, tech-savvy dealers are demanding their vendors do more of the heavy lifting. If your technology doesn’t play well with others, you’re going to have a problem. That’s likely because the average automotive transaction now requires seven different software solutions just to complete a sale. It’s so significant, it’s one of the top reasons dealers are making the move. “What I like best (about Dealertrack DMS) is it integrates with all the other Cox Automotive products that we use.” explains Chad Kirchhoff, Director of Operations at Tom Wood Automotive Group. “We have Dealer.com, we have vin solutions, we have vAuto, and the other products that we have from them, they’ll now integrate seamlessly behind the scenes so we won’t have the ‘back and forth’ between the DMS and a third party system.”

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

The move to a more digital and streamlined workflow for dealers has been spurred by recent events in 2020. With many dealers working with reduced or remote staff, the demand for technology that improved the sales process and built a better customer experience was paramount. As Mandi Fang, VP of Back Office and Fixed Ops for Dealertrack DMS recently stated, “Time is money and the stakes have never been higher for dealers to optimize their workflows.” By working with technology vendors to provide best-in-class integrated solutions, it appears that our partners in the automotive industry are fighting back against the challenges they are facing. Mandi Fang explains, “The new Dealertrack DMS integrations ensure dealers are getting the support they need to eliminate inefficiencies and navigate the uncertainty of the current environment.”

A DMS that does more—by offering integrated solutions that drive improved processes and efficiencies—is a DMS that delivers. Start demanding more from your technology. Read Budd Baer Auto Group’s full story and learn about Payroll powered by Netchex.

 

Beyond The Contract

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Finding the right technology partner for your dealership takes more than a solid contract or a good deal to secure your trust. When it comes to choosing the right Dealer Management System (DMS), you deserve a partner, not just another provider. Here’s what you should expect from your DMS partner when you go beyond the contract.

Discover more from your technology investment

Signing a contract can feel like a serious investment—and it is. Yet, often for dealers, before the ink is dry, the relationship between your DMS provider is out of sight and out of mind. A truly vested partnership should help you and your team uncover the true value of your technology investment. Learning a new system has the potential to help your team uncover more productive process improvements, learn new ways of analyzing data, and change the way your business operates.

Partnering with true experts

Getting advice from your vendors in the past has probably felt like a sales pitch. And those “trusted experts” have probably had their own sales goals to meet. What if your new DMS partner came with a team of industry pros, with real field experience, who had your goals, values, and aspirations in mind? Partnering with Performance Managers is like having a trusted advocate in your corner to help level-up your goal-setting game. After all, when our partners do well, it makes everyone look good.

Trust and transparency are the new customer service model

Your dealership goes a long way to deliver top notch customer service to your buyers. So you’d expect nothing less from your partners, right? Then why do so many dealerships tolerate customer service that fails to meet the needs of their team before, during, and (especially) after a technology transition? With the introduction of DMS 360, our DMS users have access to an online community of peers for faster problem-solving that delivers a new level of transparency.

Choosing a new DMS is the first step, but discovering a true partner who can help ease the pain of a transition to your new, improved DMS and deliver better customer service is the future of dealership technology. Learn from real-world dealers, like you, who have made the transition by watching the video below.

 

Watch now >>

 

Our Partners Are Doing Amazing Things In The Auto Industry

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When it comes to choosing the right vendor, automotive dealerships have a big decision to make. Matching a technology to meet your needs is only one part of the process. Dealers have to consider the bigger picture, including onboarding new hires long after the transition to a new platform takes place, ongoing training and learning options, and client support and guidance. Really, it comes down to selecting a partner, not just a provider.

See how our partners are mastering the automotive industry, every day. And hear how making the move to a DMS partner vested in their continued success makes a big difference.

Beyer Auto Group | Bringing Data Together

“With Dealertrack, I’ve got all the information I need accessible on a mobile device, on an iPad; anywhere that I go, I can see what’s happening with all our stores. “

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Sisbarro Dealership | Unparalleled Support

“If you’re not with Dealertrack, it’s only because you haven’t tried it. The system and the people are phenomenal, and they actually do what they say they are going to do. You can’t get that anywhere else.”

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Todd Wenzel Automotive Group | Improved Process & Efficiencies

“Dealertrack’s DMS has put us in a position to handle things both in the present and prepare for the future, whether it’s improving our processes now or acquiring more dealerships in the future.”

Read More

 

Three Success Factors for a Smooth DMS Install

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Changing technology at your automotive dealership has the potential to disrupt your day-to-day workflow, wreak havoc on morale, and halt sales with unknown amounts of “downtime.” In short, it’s not a light decision. But, finding the right Dealer Management System (DMS) is worth it in the long run. Fortunately, Dealertrack DMS installs 40 dealership’s a month with a trusted, professional team of experts. And we build on everything we do with feedback from our partners by establishing long-lasting relationships with the dealerships who grow with us. Just check out these success stories from three outstanding dealers and discover three success factors for a smooth installation at your dealership:

Standardizing Your Processes.

As dealerships grow and expand, acquisitions are common. Yet, bringing a new dealership into your business group often includes adopting old, legacy software systems, unique processes, and dramatically different management styles. When Goode Motor Group began growing rapidly, they needed to find a single, easy-to-use DMS provider they could rely on. With Dealertrack’s proven record for fast, easy transitions, staying on one DMS system company-wide, and across all locations, made analyzing data, training staff, and optimizing their growth plan much easier.

Read about Goode Motor Group’s success here.

Partners. Not Vendors.

When it comes to something as significant as switching your dealership to a new DMS, your provider should be as invested as you are. When Crestmont Cadillac made the switch to Dealertrack from their former provider of 35 years, the anxiety about the change was understandable. Building trust is no easy factor, but having a project champion—someone who believes in the change and communicates the mission from the top of the organization, down—can make a big difference. On Dealertrack’s end, the installation team was committed to being on-site for five full weeks prior to the change to ensure that each team member had the training needed to feel confident and comfortable.

Watch Crestmont Cadillac’s story here.

Ongoing Support.

Upgrading your DMS system has many powerful benefits, including faster access to data, integrated and open systems, and an easy-to-use interface. While these were among the top reasons for Bob Smith Toyota to partner with Dealertrack, the ongoing customer support has been the most important factor in the partnership. Since technology is constantly changing—just like the automotive industry—having a partner available to guide new team members, enlist training services, and build best-practices for the dealership has been invaluable.

See why Bob Smith Toyota uses Dealertrack here.

Dealers have many factors to consider before, during, and after a DMS switch. But, finding a forward-thinking technology provider who helps your team build better processes, offers ongoing support, and becomes a trusted partner will enable a smoother transition from beginning to end.

Driver’s Village: More Than A Vendor, A DMS Partner

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The crew at Driver’s Village relies on their DMS for a lot of things: running a smooth business, digging deep into their data and analytics, and growing. So, when it came time to choose a new technology, they didn’t want to purchase a vendor, they wanted to find a partner. That’s where Dealertrack DMS came in. But, what does it take to make the grade? What are the key attributes that make a DMS provider qualify as a partner? Here are the four top qualities that Driver’s Village looks for in their partnership:

A True Partner Drives Connectivity
With Dealertrack DMS and Opentrack, there’s a bi-directional connectivity with other partners and integration that allows dealerships the ability to look back. And when you have the ability to dive into your dealership’s history, like Driver’s Village, you’re more empowered as you move forward. Connecting, empowering, and making all data easily accessible is step number one to being a good partner.

Good Partners Help You Grow
Driver’s Village has actually partnered with Dealertrack DMS since the 1990’s and a lot has changed. As they’ve grown (and grown!), Dealertrack DMS has been there each time a new dealership has joined the family. Having a partner who helps Driver’s Village reach their goals, without being a roadblock or a burden, is key.

“We don’t consider Dealertrack DMS as a vendor,” says Firas Makhlouf. “We consider Dealertrack DMS as a partner.”

A Good Partner Brings Bright New Talent to Your Dealership
The old, archaic days of DMS in the green screen is the fastest way to scare away millennials when recruiting new team members. With high turnover rates and an increasingly difficult race to master the millennial market, a shift in DMS technology can be the key to finding, onboarding, and retaining potential candidates. “Our new hires? They like that ease-of-use and point-and-click…When we show them a nice DMS user-interface, with point-and-click, they feel at ease,” says Fira Makhlouf, CIO of Driver’s Village.

Making the Switch to a New Partner
An overhaul of your dealership’s DMS technology is a big deal. Although Driver’s Village has been with Dealertrack DMS for several decades, each time they acquire a new dealership their team faces the reality of changing the new business’s DMS to Dealertrack. The emotional process of making the switch, however, is softened by having a good partner at-the-ready. “Dealertrack’s DMS is intuitive,” explains Lou Bregou, Director of Operations. “Dealertrack has a history of integrating companies.” Plus, Driver’s Village points out that Dealertrack DMS is backed by Cox Automotive. It’s a partnership that the their team has come to rely on as more than just a vendor. “We don’t consider Dealertrack DMS as a vendor,” says Firas Makhlouf. “We consider Dealertrack DMS as a partner.”

Your dealership will always work with outside vendors, SaaS providers, retailers, perhaps even marketing agencies. And those vendors can be the key to your success or drive your downfall. It’s vital to select technology vendors who understand your goals, have reliable platforms, and are willing to work together to drive the success of your business. Ultimately, take time to select your vendors wisely and to forge partnerships with real people you trust. Read more about Driver’s Village and watch their story here.