Tag: modernization

14 Reasons to Start eContracting Now

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As more and more dealerships adopt eContracting, you might be wondering if now is the time for your dealership to look into getting or using an eContracting solution. The fact is, there’s no good reason not to use eContracting today for the growing list of lenders that currently accept it.

When you adopt and use eContracting with your current lenders, you benefit from more efficient workflows, fewer returned contracts and faster funding from those lenders. Each time an additional lender joins the platform, you’ll be ready to expand those efficiencies in your daily transactions.

Here are some of the many ways your dealership can benefit from using eContracting today:

  1. Move away from the hassles and costs of paper contracts – Using less paper in your contract process means less printing, copying, faxing, toner cartridge replacement, shipping and paper files.
  2. Make your contract process more efficient and customer-friendly – Streamline your workflow with a single electronic deal jacket, integrations that reduce data re-entry, and a smoother contract review and signing process for your customers.
  3. Improvements to your bottom line – Investing in eContracting can cut contract in transit time so you get funded as fast as the same day, and also save on printing and shipping costs.
  4. The convenience of electronic signatures – “Sign and tap” functionality allows buyers to sign one time per signing session and pre-fill all subsequent signatures with just a tap
  5. Faster funding from lenders – eContracting includes features that increase accuracy, which helps reduce the need for re-contracting and allows lenders to review and fund more quickly.
  6. Optimize your contracting workflow – The right eContracting solution should allow your dealership the flexibility to develop eContracting processes that support the way you do business.
  7. Submit and store contracts securely – The security features built into eContracting can help keep data safe within the dealership, in transit to lenders, and after the deal is completed.
  8. Cut down on data re-entry – Integrated technology systems allow customer and deal information to flow more smoothly from lead to contract with less duplicate data entry.
  9. Submit a complete deal that includes aftermarket products – A complete eContracting solution should give your dealership the ability to create and digitally submit service contracts to aftermarket providers and aftermarket sales contracts to lenders.
  10. Extend the convenience of digital retailing to the in-store experience – Support your dealership’s digital retailing initiatives with eContracting technology that meets customer expectations for a seamless online to in-store process and a speedy shopping transaction.
  11. Increase customer satisfaction – The number one frustration for car buyers is negotiation and paperwork according to Cox Automotive 2019 Car Buyer Journey research. Digital review and signing of contracts can save a customer 45 minutes at the dealership.
  12. Make lease deals easier – eContracting helps standardize lease contracts and align them with your dealership’s workflow for retail contracts to create a more efficient process across the board.
  13. Reduce contracts in transit – Overcome cash flow roadblocks with an eContracting process that can get your dealership funded faster.
  14. Offer customers flexible signing options – Have your customers review contracts and eSign from anywhere.

Dealertrack has the fastest growing digital contracting lender network. Find out how we can help you experience the benefits of eContracting today.

How econtracting can improve your dealership’s bottom line

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When a dealership is considering a switch to electronic contracting from traditional paper contracts, it’s important for them to figure the value they’ll receive from modernizing their processes.

Some paper contract expenses are easy to identify:

  • Paper, ink, toner
  • Maintenance of copiers and fax machines
  • Shipping costs and related materials

Then there are the expenses related to the time the process takes. Dealertrack data shows that the average time in transit for paper contracts is five days. In the meantime, holding costs accumulate and cash flow is halted.

Doing the math

A Savings Calculator can help dealerships estimate their projected savings using digital contracting.

Here’s how the calculator works:

Let’s say a dealership has an average of 200 contracts each month with an average loan value of $18,000. Their floorplan rate is 3% and it costs them $15 for overnight shipping and $2 to prepare basic ancillary documents on paper for each deal. Their contract in transit time using paper contracting averages 5 days. Plugging these figures into the calculator, we find that using eContracting for all their contracts would save them $4,879 per month, which adds up to $53,765 per year.

Interested in seeing how your dealership’s numbers add up? Use our Savings Calculator to find out.

Selecting a cost-effective eContracting solution

To maximize cost savings, it’s important for dealerships to choose a solution that doesn’t trade one type of expense for another. If an eContracting solution requires that a dealership purchase expensive equipment or pay a transaction fee for each contract they submit, it will take a lot longer to see a positive return on the technology investment.

An eContracting solution should maximize efficiency and time-savings so that the dealership staff has the capacity to work with more customers. That means a solution that requires less data re-entry and includes functionality to catch input errors and missed signatures to cut down on re-contracting is ideal.

Digital Contracting on Dealertrack uniFI is hardware-agnostic so it can be used on any device including tablets, touchscreens and laptops. And, there’s no transaction fee for dealers. Take into account the savings of submitting all deal documents to lenders instantly and getting funded as fast as the same day, and that’s the ROI dealerships are looking for.

Find out how quickly your dealership can start saving with Digital Contracting on Dealertrack uniFI.

4 Reasons Your Dealership Should Be Digital Contracting

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We all know that digital contracting is the wave of the future and that its big-picture benefits include speeding up funding, increasing accuracy and compliance, and virtually eliminating re-contracting. But how about the everyday improvements you’ll enjoy when you use less paper in your contract process?

1. No one’s ever gotten a paper cut from an iPad

Let’s face it: paper is a hassle for you and your customers. You have to make sure you have every document with the copies collated in the right order. Do it correctly and all your hard work will be greeted by heavy sighs when your customers see a giant stack of paperwork in front of them when all they want to do is drive off in their new vehicle.

If there’s a mistake, all that effort goes to waste and you have to print even more copies and start over from scratch.
Digital contracting has the advantage of being mobile, so you can use a tablet to get signatures anywhere in the dealership. And it puts all of your documents in one place with no need for hard copies.

2. ‘PC Load Letter’? What does that even mean?

Then there are the printers. They’re fine when they’re working properly, but it never takes long before you have to clear a paper jam or try to troubleshoot the connection from your computer. Sometimes you can handle it yourself, but other times it takes an expensive repair call and frustrating downtime before you can start printing again. Even routine replacement of an ink or toner cartridge can turn into a messy ordeal – and those supplies are costly.

With digital contracting, your battle with the printer comes to an end. You gather electronic signatures and all contract documents are securely sent to the lender online – no paper needed.

3. Wide open spaces

How much square footage at your dealership is taken up by filing cabinets? It may be a while before digital contracting completely replaces paper, but imagine how great it will be to reclaim that space for other uses!

Paper files are bulky and retrieving old files can be a challenge. Digital contract data can be stored in a single “virtual” deal jacket in a way that’s highly secure but easily accessible when needed. Plus, electronic transactions are encrypted and more secure than sending paper in the mail, so customer data is protected throughout the process.

4. Stay right where you are!

Being steered to a desk to tackle a stack of paper contracts puts a dent in any customer’s excitement about their purchase. With new remote signing technology, you can bring them a tablet to review and sign their contract from the comfort of the showroom or even the driver’s seat of their soon-to-be new vehicle. A car buyer can even use their own device to read over the contracts and sign from home.

With the ability to upload stips and deal documents, add signature and date fields to create eSignable forms, and set up a secure connection to a mobile device, you can create a single signing session for your customers no matter where they are.

The future is now
Digital contracting offers a better connection with lenders, less paperwork, a more flexible customer experience, and faster funding. The best time to get started is now!

Learn more about how your dealership can start benefiting from digital contracting today.

4 Ways eContracting is Easier Than You Think

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When a dealership is planning to introduce new technology, the initial worry is often, “Will it be a hassle?” Here are four reasons that adopting and using eContracting can be easy and beneficial for dealers.

Setup is simple

As with most technologies, eContracting setup is “one and done.” There’s minimal setup and easy integrations with other systems. The daily hassle of paper contracts is much more of an obstacle for dealerships than the minimal setup required by eContracting platforms.

Multiple devices can support eContracting

It’s important to know what hardware is necessary for the eContracting functionality you plan to use. Some providers require proprietary devices for contract review and signing—or otherwise limit your technology options for using their solution. Choosing a hardware-agnostic solution will allow you to work with the devices you already use every day, which will save you time and money.

Lender form changes and updates can be done automatically

When using DMS for paper contracts, there are licensing and programming fees. eContracting has the potential to eliminate those fees, as the latest approved forms from lenders can be added at no charge. With no paper programs, you can avoid paper licensing – and always have access to the correct lender version of every form.

A digital workflow adds efficiency and convenience

Workflows for paper contracting processes are filled with everyday hassles where customers must sign paper form after paper form, all of which are then overnighted to lenders – sometimes sent back for corrections, then shipped again – and finally, securely filed.

eContracting offers a streamlined workflow that is easy to learn and use. The benefits are immediate, with file cabinets full of paperwork replaced by digital deal jackets that include every document needed to complete a deal. Some eContracting platforms even include aftermarket contracts.

You’ll find that integration with other dealership systems means less data re-entry, which helps prevent the introduction of errors. That means eContracting helps dealerships submit accurate contracts quickly and easily, with no more back-and-forth with lenders.

Whether your dealership is considering a switch to eContracting or looking to maximize the benefits of your current eContracting platform, the more streamlined processes of eContracting can help you leave many of your current hassles behind you.

Click to learn how your dealership can take the hassles out of contracting with Digital Contracting on Dealertrack F&I.

Stay Nimble and Accurate When Funding Loans

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Auto lending is a valuable service for dealerships, with 85% of new cars purchased in 2018 financed rather than purchased outright. Dealers require fast funding to stay cash flow positive, so it’s important for lenders to strive for the quickest possible turnaround.

Every day, lenders must perfect the juggling act of staying competitive through speedy funding while still focusing on accuracy and compliance. But if you think of day-in-and-day-out contract processing as juggling sandbags, peak loan volume months are more like juggling torches.

That’s when the combination of digital and paper contract processing can strain the resources of even the most efficient lending operation and its staff. When you’re facing a significant increase in volume, it become harder than ever to maintain compliance with state and federal regulations while trying to speed up data entry without introducing errors.

Finding the balance between accuracy and speed

Before you can maximize funding speed, it’s important to figure out how and where your processes might be slowing things down. When it comes to processing paper contracts, most lenders find that manual data entry, validation and storage of documents are where things get off-kilter.

Working with a reliable technology partner to handle these tasks is a cost-effective way to increase your speed to fund without sacrificing accuracy or compliance.

Want to learn how? Download our eGuide.

A Dealership’s Digital Ecosystem: Insight into Technology of the Modern Franchise Dealer

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Did you know that the average car dealer needs 7 different technology solutions to run their dealership? The once simple and straightforward business of selling cars has transformed into a complex ecosystem of interconnected and interdependent parts. And while technology has certainly become indispensable, there’s also room for improvement at many dealerships.

Dealer Dissatisfaction

In a recent survey of more than 200 senior leaders at different franchise dealerships, only 20% of respondents had no complaints about their current technology. That means 8 out of 10 car dealers are at least somewhat unhappy with their technology.

The Value of Technology

Nearly every dealer uses a dealer management system (DMS) or customer relationship management (CRM) software. In fact, almost 99% of dealers use a DMS and nearly 93% use a CRM. And, unsurprisingly, nearly all surveyed respondents said that their DMS and CRM were the most important systems to their businesses. Still, dealers expressed the lowest satisfaction and loyalty rates for these two systems.

Considering an Upgrade

With so many dealers expressing at least some dissatisfaction with their technology, 53% of respondents said they evaluate their systems and consider a technology upgrade on an ongoing basis. About 25% said they consider upgrading with declining value or persistent problems. And 18% said they evaluate when contract expiration is approaching. Only 4% perform such evaluations on an annual basis.

Selecting Software

In selecting new software, dealers tend to look for vendor familiarity first. They also consider contract terms, ease of training/implementation and vendor reputation. Surprisingly, only 1.7 out of 7 dealers said they look for product benefits and features of new technology. When asked how they’d like to see their technology improve, dealers named integration, ease of use, support, reporting, and flexibility as the top five factors.

Time to Consider an Upgrade 

Overall, survey respondents felt that merely improving their current technology wasn’t enough. Rather, they’re looking for the future of technology with more enhancements and mobile capabilities.

If your technology is slowing you down, it’s time to rise to the challenge of integrating new technology. To read more dealer survey insights and learn about the role technology plays in the modern franchise dealer, check out our infographic.

Fight Back Against Margin Compression

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Margin compression is taking a toll on the auto retail industry. Dealerships across the country are reporting slimming margins, with some even experiencing negative overall gross profits. And the problem isn’t going away anytime soon. Yet no matter the cause, dealerships can either choose to ignore margin compression and continue business as usual. Or, they can choose to fight back, finding ways to outsmart and outmaneuver margin compression with a few tricks of their own.

Finding Better Ways to Do Business

The secret to fighting margin compression is to find alternative ways of generating profit. And dealerships must think outside the box of the traditional sell-more-cars-to-make-more-money approach to business to recoup their missing margins. In general, dealerships can focus on seven specific practices to fight margin compression.

  1. Fixed Operations – When other sources of revenue run dry, service lanes offer a steady stream of customers and renewable income. By placing a strong emphasis on customer service and retention, and doing a better job of creating awareness of their offerings, dealerships can win back customers that have left for the convenience of corner quick lube shops.
  2. F&I Sales – A dealership’s F&I office is where retention is built and future relationships with customers secured. Plus, dealerships retain a larger percentage of each dollar generated through the sale of prepaid maintenance plans and other services than through the sale of cars.
  3. Process Improvements – Through cost and expense control and other business improvements, dealers can sell cars more efficiently to recoup profits lost to margin compression.
  4. Holding Cost Expenses – Time is money for dealerships. The longer a car stays on the lot, the more money it costs a dealership. By removing inefficiencies in the vehicle reconditioning costs, dealerships can improve profit margins.
  5. Employee Training – By maintaining close interaction with employees, and conducting better, more thorough training, dealerships can correct costly mistakes caused by human error and sell cars closer to MSRP.
  6. Digital Retailing – In today’s environment, it’s become almost necessary to move at least part of the car-buying experience online. The shift to digital retail allows customers to do a lot of front-end work in the car-buying process, saving dealerships time and money.
  7. New Technology – Implementing a modern dealer management system can reduce dealership waste and increase profit by streamlining operations. And a modern DMS that provides real-time data allows a dealership to scrutinize each deal and track margins over time.

Margin compression isn’t going away. But by focusing on alternative ways to recover missing profits, dealerships can avoid the negative effects of margin compression and continue to grow their businesses. If you’d like to learn more about how dealerships are fighting back against margin compression, download our free guide, 7 Solutions to Margin Compression, Strategies for Preserving Dealership Profit Margin.

Was your DMS built for the Digital Age?

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Every home has a drawer filled with old technology—remote controls, flip phones, charging cords, solar calculators, and compact discs. These items were built for another age and are no longer suited to provide any real benefit, but still we hold onto them. Is your dealership doing the same thing with its DMS technology? Most dealerships have used the same DMS for decades, even though it was built for a previous era of car buying. The truth is, modern DMS platforms offer very real benefits over older, legacy systems, including the following five hallmarks of a modern DMS.

Hallmark # 1: Cloud-Based Structure

These days, any piece of software not hosted in the cloud cannot be considered modern. The benefits of cloud-based platforms and SaaS delivery are clear. When your DMS is delivered through the cloud—and not hosted on a local server—you get automatic upgrades and the security of redundant data storage on remotely located servers.

Hallmark # 2: Open Third-Party Integration

Today, dealerships can’t rely on a single technology provider to meet all of the demands of modern business. DMS platforms that can’t connect to new, innovative software solutions are holding dealerships back. And, even when they allow integrations, legacy providers often charge high integration fees that hurt dealership profits. Modern DMS platforms, with their open architectures, let you choose the vendors that are best for your business and they work to limit data access fees.

Hallmark # 3: Data Visibility

Digital Age DMS platforms allow dealerships to access their data anytime, anywhere, and from any device. More importantly, they always provide real-time data and up-to-the-minute numbers. Legacy platforms, on the other hand, rely on intermittent batch updates, so it’s hard to be sure that the information you’re seeing is real.

Hallmark # 4: Ease of Use

The best part about modern technology is that it’s easy to use. Because modern DMS platforms have vastly improved their interfaces, navigation structures and workflows, they are easy to learn, easy to train, and easy to use. That means, you can make hiring and retention decisions based on what’s best for the business, not the limits of your DMS.

Hallmark # 5: Efficient Workflows:

One of the biggest problems with old systems is that they were built to align with outdated customer preferences and antiquated dealership processes. Modern DMS platforms align digital workflows with natural, real-word processes. By eliminating the need to jump between multiple screens, enter duplicate data, and dig for information, modern systems make your employees more efficient and your customers more satisfied.

Most DMS platforms were not built for the Digital Age and are not providing the capabilities necessary to satisfy today’s car buyers. But, instead of junking those legacy platforms, many dealerships simply patch up and work around their limitations. To keep up with the changing automotive industry, it’s important to evaluate your current DMS against the hallmarks of a modern system and to modernize when necessary.

To learn more about the five hallmarks of a modern DMS, download our guide, “Was your DMS built for the digital age?”

How Dealertrack DMS is Investing in the People Behind the Buttons

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE WRITTEN BY PAUL WHITWORTH, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF DEALER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AT DEALERTRACK

 

Today, the automotive industry has more pressure than ever to drive a seamless, technologically enhanced experience for consumers at all points of the car shopping, buying, and owning journey. To meet the needs of consumers, both dealers and technology providers have often found themselves investing in more buttons rather than the right ones. At Dealertrack DMS, we took a step back and asked ourselves: What is the right strategy for us? What is the best way to serve dealers? To answer these critical questions, we started to dig into the purpose of the DMS and how it was being utilized by dealers. After several working sessions, dozens of customer advisory board meetings, and too many data-deep-dives to count, we came to the conclusion that what dealers really want is a DMS that’s open, easy, and flexible to use. With this insight, we ultimately came away with the mission to focus more on the client experience and less on the buttons. Since that time, our dealers have driven every moment, every design, and every decision that we’ve made.

 

A Look Back at Our Latest Strides:

 

At NADA 2017, Dealertrack DMS unveiled its Performance Management offering, which provides dealers with an industry expert who, similar to a personal fitness trainer, helps dealers maximize the full potential of their DMS and develop both long and short-term objectives to achieve their business goals.

Additionally, in Fall 2017, the company announced DMS Edge, its first annual user event series that brings on-demand training and DMS best practices right to the dealer. DMS Edge reached 3,500 dealer participants in 2017. We also plan to continue our controllers conference as an annual event, where controllers from across the country can learn more about how Dealertrack DMS can help them run their dealership as well as have more peer-to-peer exchange around best practices.

Now, Dealertrack DMS is continuing to double down on its dealer-centric approach with the introduction of DMS 360. Set to debut at NADA 2018 later this month, DMS 360 is an all-encompassing self-service portal where dealers can get support and interact with one another and with Dealertrack DMS team members. At the core of DMS 360 is its peer-to-peer functionality. We’ve developed a virtual community where dealers can collaborate and engage with each other, such as ask questions and respond to other DMS users’ cases. DMS 360 also enables dealers to track and receive real-time support and better understand their DMS. Through DMS 360, dealers gain instant access to DMS help documentation and can search by topic any knowledge articles that exist in Dealertrack DMS’ Wiki or newly created articles that are added into DMS 360.

But our work to drive a dealer-centric business doesn’t stop at DMS 360. We are heavily invested in helping our clients get more out of their DMS and will be providing dealers with ongoing education through a series of online learning courses that we will be releasing this year. We also have a big project underway to share all best practices and processes we’ve learned over the years with dealers in what we are calling Books of Knowledge.

By focusing less on the buttons and more on the client experience, we’ve made it our mission to meet the needs of our clients and build a system that’s easy and flexible for our clients to use every day.

 

To learn more about DMS 360 and our dealer-centric approach visit us at Booth #2737C at NADA 2018, March 23-25.

 

 

Paul Whitworth, Senior Vice President of Dealer Management Systems at Dealertrack, has been at the forefront of automotive retail technology advancements his whole career. Paul graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has held positions with J.D Power & Associates, Accenture, Hyundai Motor America, and Cox Automotive as well as leading several start-up companies.