Tag: Switching DMS technology

Strategies for a DMS Switch

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Dreaming of investing in new technology to give your dealership that next-level boost over the competition? Many dealers get sold on fancy technology promises but lose sight of their goals and business needs in the process. Finding a new DMS partner is a big decision. But you can break it down into smaller, more manageable steps with the advice of Cox Automotive’s Director of Product Consulting, Josh Bickerton. Learn how to Invest in a Strategy to Overcome Inertia below and watch the full webinar to Demystify a DMS Switch when you’re ready.

Understand Your Dealership

Understanding your own dealership goes beyond the day-to-day workflows. If you’re not taking a close look at your mission statement and what sets you apart from the competition, you’re at risk of losing sight of your core values in the overwhelming decision-making process. Start here, otherwise, you’re at risk of letting technology own the decision you’re about to make.

Document Your Objectives

Fear of change can derail even the best decisions. Make sure to stay aligned as a team by writing down how well a potential provider addresses your wants and needs. Catalog each department’s unique challenges to ensure you have a clear line of sight into the issues you hope to address by a technology switch

Identify Employee Needs

Don’t ignore the fact that a new DMS will impact your current and future team members. Millennials and Gen Z now make up a significant portion of your workforce. According to a
report from cloud networking firm, HPE Aruba, 93% of surveyed employees believed their workplace would be better if their employer made greater use of technology, and 64% believed their companies will be left behind if they didn’t implement new technology. *

Overcome the Fear of Change

The natural reaction to risk is to stick with the status quo. The ‘unknown’ can be perceived as threatening and switching to a new DMS can make even the most experienced employee feel like a novice again. Will your paycheck suffer? Will there be a negative impact on the business? Investing time and effort in learning a new system (or training new employees due to turnover) is also a common fear. Will my support staff assist with the change, and could we lose our data? It would be a mistake to ignore these very real, very common fears. Leaders and decision-makers need to address and acknowledge the anxiety that comes with any technology change.

Set Expectations

Knowing that no software change will be a perfect fit is not only realistic; it is also the antidote to the fear of change. When your staff understands that there will be grace given for a learning period due to change, and expectations are managed, some of the anxiety will be released.

Expectations of Accountability

Have an agreement with your team that evaluating your new technology will be given a wholehearted effort. While many software companies may try to earn your business with shiny bells and whistles, you and your team will do your best to put in the discovery work and find a solution that meets your unique business needs.

Validate your Contract End Date (CED)

Before you make the decision to switch (or put the fear of change on the table) take a good look at your DMS vendor contract to fully understand when your contract ends. If you have ongoing 3rd-party vendor agreements, be sure to evaluate those as well.

Making a DMS switch impacts your whole dealership. From the data you use to deliver premium customer experiences, to running payroll, your DMS is the backbone of your entire business operation. But finding the right partner can empower your franchise to profitability once you’ve made the move. While it may seem overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be. Watch the on-demand webinar, Demystifying a DMS Switch: 7 Key Principles for Success.

Demystify My DMS Switch – Watch Now

 

 

 

Source: https://betanews.com/2018/06/04/technology-improves-job-satisfaction/

 

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.

 

Master Your Upcoming DMS Transition

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Learn the 4 Steps Dealers Need to Know Before You Roll Out a New Dealer Management System

 

Your dealership relies on technology to drive innovation and meet changing buyer expectations. Finding a right-sized Dealer Management System (DMS) is a big step. But, the transition to your new DMS is a big step on its own. Now that you’ve made the decision to move to your new DMS, make sure you’re ready to launch and hit the ground running with your brand new technology by following these four steps from our Performance Management team.

There’s More to a DMS Transition than New Technology…

Dealertrack DMS Performance Manager Michael Panozzo began his career in retail automotive twenty years ago. He’s experienced the ups and downs of a DMS transition from various roles in the dealership and tells his dealership partners, “Yes, you’re changing technologies, but it’s about more than that.” There are countless fears that hold business leaders back from adopting a new DMS. Eventually, though, when it’s time to switch to a DMS that fits your goals, your budget, and your dealership’s needs, taking the next step can be done well if you follow a few best-practices.

Step One: Be Prepared for Change

It sounds simple, but according to Panozzo, it’s the little things your team wasn’t expecting that become a big deal later. “Understand how the DMS and other departmental tools are used and integrate together, then develop a plan for adoption,” Panozzo explains. “A DMS change is a change to how people do their everyday tasks. Staying prepared and ahead of this is essential!” Being mentally ready for change can help everyone succeed.

Step Two: Operational Efficiency Starts with People

So, you’ve decided to change your DMS. You’re pretty excited and looking forward to the new functionality of the new system that touches every corner of your dealership. But, keep in mind, “you’re changing your technology, but it’s about a whole lot more than that,” Panozzo states. You can’t roll out a shiny new system and expect everyone to embrace it simply because it works better, or because it’s easier to learn. Your organization runs well because of deep-rooted operational efficiencies that rely on people. Make sure you include them in the transition at every step. And, speaking of including your people…

Step Three: Communicate Again and Again

According to Panozzo, Dealer Principals and Managers cannot over-communicate when it comes to preparing the dealership for a new DMS. If you’ve just signed on for a transition, you likely have time to prepare the team. “Don’t waste it! Communicate often and encourage good performance. Find out what motivates your team and go from there.”

Step Four: Master the Mindset

In his experience, Panozzo knows that to be truly successful with your upcoming DMS implementation, your dealership’s leaders must learn to master a bit of psychology. “Something like seventy-five percent of learning a new DMS is all psychology,” he states. “It’s a total mindset shift.” Helping your team adapt to change begins there, so “begin early and help shift the way your team operates before launch, not after.”

Dealertrack DMS has mastered the art of installing your new technology at the dealership. Our team is with you every step of the way to ensure a successful launch. Prepare your dealership staff for change with steps in our guide, The Road to Consensus.

It’s Time to Think About a Change

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Dealerships rely on a network of business operations running behind the scenes to make sure all of their information is easily available when needed. The DMS is a core component of this, along with other major IT systems playing key roles in dealer operations, including sales, F&I, digital marketing, registration and titling, inventory, back office functions — the list goes on. Without these technologies, dealers simply cannot focus on customer service and building a positive buying experience.

When the technology isn’t working for the dealership, it’s time to think about a change. That’s not an easy decision, especially when it comes to your DMS. A lot goes into choosing a provider and then transitioning to a new DMS. Here’s a roadmap of what to consider when choosing a DMS provider, and why they should treat you as a partner, not just another customer.

Flexible Technology

One of the first things to look at is the flexibility of your provider’s technology. Salespeople and management used to hover over their desktop computers to access all the details needed to run their operations. That data was stored on-site in big servers. If a staff member was off property, good luck getting the needed information.

Technology has changed 180 degrees. Today, we need data that’s accessible and secure from any location. It should be available on laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

That availability from any device and location is key. Given how rapidly technology is changing, you should be confident your provider is keeping up with technology. What works now may not work in five years, or it may just be clunky and no longer supported. That’s why many dealers using legacy systems are rethinking their choice in technology. If a provider isn’t forward-looking and introducing new functionality, how confident are you that they’ll adapt to changes in the future?

Real-Time Data

Real-time data means different things to different people. For some, it means hours. But what you really should expect is one to two minutes at the most. Imagine a customer walks into the service lane with an appointment. You want to update that appointment with new information as you check them in on your tablet. What if that update doesn’t get pushed through for another 15 minutes? How does this impact your productivity? What about the customer experience you provide? Your DMS provider should be enabling your strategy rather than holding you and your operational efficiency back.

Accessing Your Data

It’s commonly accepted the data in your DMS is your data. However, the devil is in the details. Not all providers make it easy to access that data. Think about putting your money in a safe at the bank. It’s your money, but you can’t get it unless the bank is open, and you’ve brought all the right information with you. Perhaps, you’ll be charged a fee every time you want to get into the safe. Unfortunately, some providers hold your data hostage when archiving it.

Before choosing a provider, find out about their data access policy. Who can access the data? Who authorizes the data? It’s critical you make sure data ownership is spelled out clearly in the contract. You should be able to get access to your data whenever you need to. End of story. Security is always an issue, and that data should be protected. But it should not be held hostage.

Open Integration

The system architecture should enable you to partner and work smoothly with other vendors and software solutions in order to fit your strategy and needs. Just as data shouldn’t be held hostage, your DMS provider should make it an easy process to integrate with these other solutions, no strings attached. Some providers require customers to jump through hoops, like charging inflammatory monthly fees that are great for the DMS provider, but if it’s not making things easier for the customer, then what’s the point?

Flexible Contract Term

You should have the freedom to run your business the way you want without contractual constraints. Yet, with the average DMS contract length spanning five years, this is easier said than done. Delve into contract terms and length before signing on the dotted line. Flexibility to change providers is important if they can’t accommodate the elements vital to your business. Plus, when you aren’t locked into a contract, it’s your provider’s job every day to earn your business and help you succeed.

A Partner, Not a Vendor

Yes, your DMS will come from a vendor. But the smart vendors consider themselves partners. It shouldn’t be a one-and-done type of sale. If you succeed, they succeed. Each dealership has different needs, whether that’s staff members fearful that making a change will impact their sales, or someone who doesn’t want to send an email and wait back for a reply to a pressing question. A partnership values both parties. Mike Tourtillott, general manager of Sisbarro Dealerships says it well: “We needed a partner who would really be there for us. Someone who would pick up the phone when we call, and also give us a system that works around what we do and not the way they think it should be.”

Creating this partnership fueled by a DMS provider that is flexible and adaptable will be essential to the success of your dealership and the ease of the switch process. With this roadmap in place, you’ll be on your way to partnering with a DMS provider that’s willing to mold to your strategy rather than the other way around.

A version of this article originally appeared on Digital Dealer here.

About the author, John Grace

John Grace

John Grace is associate vice president of operations for Dealertrack DMS, Cox Automotive. Grace brings nearly 20 years of high-tech operations and support experience to this position. Grace joined Xtime in 2011 from Tastingroom.com where he was vice president of operations. Prior to Tastingroom.com he spent nearly eight years as a member of the executive staff of the Location Services Division of Autodesk. At Autodesk, he played a critical role in the growth and expansion of the division, delivering middleware and application solutions to wireless telecommunications companies. He was responsible for managing SaaS solutions, customer premises equipment, and customer support for domestic and international customers. Grace has extensive experience with pre-IPO start-ups, as well as more established companies in all phases of technical and business management.