In a world flooded with vendors just let me say “I’m just not that into you.”  There are so many vendors out there that offer solutions to make the dealers lives easier but it can be so overwhelming.  Many dealer groups often need to hire one individual to just manage everyone.  I remember getting presented a product and a vendor trying to convince me that I was missing business all because I wasn’t signed up with them.  My response was “I’ve never met a vendor I can’t live without.”  After the conversation I realized that that is actually true. 

Most dealers I have worked for, and with, sign up for a product based on a promise of selling more cars but all to often the dealer comes to realize that the cost isn’t really worth it.  This happens for two reasons.  One the product isn’t really that good or two your dealership doesn’t know how to capitalize on the product.

How do decide to add or change a vendor:

1. Need – When you analyze your dealership process try to identify areas where you can gain more gross, more net and/or more sales.  Yes, everyone will say “I would like more” or “I could always do better” in all categories but the reality of it is you are far better off to walk then run.  Running to fast may mean a wasting money.  As a dealership establish what you need to do to hit your business objective and see if a vendor can help with that.
2. Present Status – After you know your need or objective analyze what you currently have in place in terms of people, products and process.   So often dealers already have a vendor that can offer a solution but they are just unaware.  Many times, when I am with a dealer we realize that they already have a tool that no one is actually utilizing.  Then we ask are you not utilizing it because you don’t have the personal or the process or both?  The point is that before adding expense and buying the dream you are being sold analyze how to achieve your objectives and approach it like you couldn’t spend money on another product and see what you come up with.  You may be surprised.
3. A Plan – So if you have determined that you have a need for a product before you sign on the dotted line develop a plan.  Make sure you decide who will be accountable to make sure the product is being used effectively.  Make sure you have a process.  Many times the vendor can give you insight into best practices and then you can combine that knowledge with what you know about the inner workings of your staff and dealership.  Another good idea is to have the staff assist you with developing the plan.  Finally define what a success with the product and vendor will look like at the end of the day.  It isn’t always as simple as more sales.  Sometimes using a new vendor is more about creating time savers or saving money. 
4. Evaluate -  After you define what success will look like set up a way to measure the product.  Be consistent in your measurement and be constant.

While working in a dealership we found that we had a unique opportunity to create business out of the service drive.  We hooked up with a vendor to evaluate equity of service drive visits.  We had a process, a person and part of a service to use to execute.  After we didn’t see an increase in sales we dug into why we weren’t getting what we expected and what we were promised.  What we learned is that one of the people in the process just wasn’t doing the job we expected and the other was that the product wasn’t successful because we weren’t using it to its full capabilities.  Since management didn’t want to spend more money on it and we didn’t have the person we need we ultimately decided that although we still believed there were untapped sales opportunities we weren’t set up to succeed and therefore it was just spending money. 

Another time we tried to implement video walk arounds on vehicles.  Again, the process was set up and we had the people.  However, it ultimately failed.  Not because the idea wasn’t good but because we found that the personal didn’t have time to do the videos on a consistent basis.

I have never been afraid to walk away from a vendor.  No one has the golden ticket sort of speak.  No matter how great the sales person or the presentation it really is up to the dealership and management to capitalize on any product or service you employ.  Yes, there are bad products out there, but there are good ones that dealerships just can’t make work for them.  Be honest with yourself. 

When I look for new solutions they typically have to accomplish one or more of the following:

• Save time for employees
• Save money for the dealership
• Answer a business objective