Although most of the industries of today are transforming digitally, some skeptics do exist when it comes to investing in an automotive dealership management software. There could be many reasons behind it. They could either be too busy trying to meet the sales targets for the month. Or probably, the ‘Buy here pay here’ dealerships are cheaper as compared to their big box store counterparts.

Whether you are a newly-fangled automotive dealer or someone having a small business, you need to understand that investing in the right Dealership Management System can make a huge impact on the efficiency of your dealership. A dealership management system that is cost-effective, intuitive and user-friendly can help you boost profits and minimize expenses. Let’s find out how:

Boosting Profits through Dealership Management Solutions

Google the term ‘Dealership Management Solutions’ and you will find several options available in the market. But the question is, do they all come with the features and functionalities that can be customized according to the ever-dynamic and technologically transforming automotive market scenario? That being asked, do they help auto dealers boost their profits?

Certain sales and marketing related functionalities of DMS, if used correctly, can help to implement productive tasks leading to profits. Take a look at some of them given below:

• Increased Lead Workflow

Sales information right from customer notes and inventory to communication records is a must when it comes to running sales and marketing activities smoothly. An eagle-eye view of these aspects through a dashboard or a mobile app can help sales executives to find the information they were looking for. Not just that, it also helps them conduct functionalities that go beyond general dealership agendas. 

• Keep Track of Your Leads

An ideal sales pipeline should work like a well-oiled machine. With well-crafted features of a DMS, your sales executives can go from one lead to another without waiting for the manager’s order to move to the next assignment. Not just that, salespeople can also track email performances and eliminate poor performers to get qualified leads, ultimately boosting sales efforts.

•  Spend Less Time on Redundant Tasks

Sending follow-up emails time and again can take up a lot of your time and effort. Moreover, a task like this when repeated every few days can get redundant and monotonous. By having a system in place, the sales team can schedule targeted emails and create customized templates to send personalized emails. Once a car buyer is happy with a certain dealership, there are more chances of retaining them. It is said that 70% of customers are more likely to make a purchase and 5% of the increase in dealership retention can boost profits by 25%

• Customize Your Workflow

By customizing the workflow, sales executives can focus more on leads with high-probability. Moreover, the sales managers can keep a track of the sales team and their performance in real-time ensuring that they work to the best of that potential.

 Minimizing Expenses through a Dealership Management Systems

• Save on Office Supply Costs

As activities like making inventory lists and scanning licenses/VIN takes place with the help of a mobile app available with Automotive Dealer solutions, it saves the money spent on office supply. Scanning of documents like license also keeps human errors and discrepancies at bay.

•  Conduct Efficient Marketing Campaigns

With the help of communication tools, the dealers can drive effective sales campaigns via emails; eliminating the usage of paper-based mailer campaigns conducted via third-party vendors.

•  Render Quality Outputs

Using automation tools, managers and sales executives of Automotive dealers can execute multiple deals without compromising on the quality of output. DMS helps to curb the payroll costs, makes your existing sales team stronger, and eliminates the need to hire extra sales staff.

In a Nutshell…

For any dealership management to be successful, it must be designed in a way that meets the expectations of end-customers. Ensure that you invest in a Dealership Management Solution that helps you create long-lasting bonds with your customers. We wish you the best!

“There’s a bumper sticker on my Range Rover which says “Blow a horn if car parts fall off.” This new sticker is the replacement of a previous sticker which said: “Each part that falls out of this car is of superior European quality”. I am done dealing with airflow sensors, head gaskets, coil pack and heaters that ask for the removal of the entire dashboard. The revisits at auto dealers are not fun. And I forget my checkbook each time!”

This is what a rant from a customer done dealing with obsolete automotive dealers sounds like.

Whether you already own an automotive dealership or you are about to start a new one, you need to take care of several aspects and stay on top of them. If your data is an amalgamation of details scattered all over the place including CRM, emails, ERP, local files and manual documents, there’s bad news! You will not be able to cope with the expectations of modern customers.

What you need is a comprehensive, robust, and reliable car dealership management system that makes the process of dealing with customers streamlined, time-saving and stress-free. So, what are some of its major features and what makes them so important for the automotive industry? Let’s find out:

Dealership Management System and Features You Must Know About

Dealership management involves taking care of record-keeping and day to day operations in several areas including finance, sales, inventory, vehicle pricing, parts ordering, administration, warranty claims, creating credit reports and more. A perfect dealership management system is the one that takes care of all of the above-mentioned aspects and more:

Take a look at some of the dealer management system features that are a must-have for today’s times:

• A flexible system that can evolve with a rapidly changing market needs
• Features that help you to design and run marketing campaigns
• Facility to monitor and record customer satisfaction trends
• Functionality that helps in running and managing after sales activities
• Brings customer satisfaction
• Functions that enhance revenue and utilization

Now that you’ve known about the features and functionalities of a DMS, let’s understand how it can benefit you and your organization.

Marketing

A good quality dealer management solution helps campaign managers to design the right automotive retail experience for the current and potential customers. They can ensure customer loyalty by rolling out rewards and benefits program for their loyal customer base resulting into more customer retention.

Sales 

Think about this. A system that is intuitive enough to give you tangible inputs and data about the traffic on your website so that your sales executives can book a test drive with customers. A survey functionality that motivates customers to participate in a survey so that you can improve your services based on the customer feedback. 

And last but not the least, a feature that offers visibility to sales professionals do that they can arrange for a demo with their customers and review cars to smoothen customer experience. 

After Sales 

The umbrella of aftersales is huge. Managing after sales activities asks for a lot of modernized functionalities. Take a look at some features that can help you ace at after sales activities.

Customer Delight

Modern dealership management systems come with a web portal or a mobile app using which the B2B and B2C customers can handle their aftersales journey with dealerships digitally. Not just that, they can also track service appointments through online status updates. Through smart and interactive kiosks, you can encourage self-service and enhance customer engagement with your brand.

• Perks of Integrating a Dealer Management System

• Get rid of extensive paperwork and boost work efficiency

• Handle appointments smoothly leading to more deal closures
• Access your cloud-based DMS from anywhere, at any time, on any device
• Enable smooth communication between your departments
• Be available for your customers 24/7 using an SMS or chat system in your DMS

• Know about the percentage of profitability dealership and performance trends through graphs and charts

Automotive Dealer Management systems are continually evolving. AutoFacets plays a major role in making automotive platforms that are feasible, scalable, and profitable. Why not get in touch with us and know about our offerings in detail? Drop an email to us on info@autofacets.com now!

“You can innovate your brains out and get a great product. But it is hard to sell cars. It is a hard business.” — Mark Reuss, Executive Vice President, General Motors.

Automotive dealers thriving in the technology-driven world are often overwhelmed with technology. Especially, the old school ones. The ones that are reluctant to change. On the other hand, car freaks are already fantasizing about the digital versions of their choice, make, and model. Also, they do not want to rent or lease cars by visiting automotive dealers. They want the car to be delivered at their doorstep. In a scenario like this one, there arises a dire need to invest in a technologically advanced dealer management system.

But the question is, what should a modern dealer management solution entail? And how is it likely to change the customer experiences? Let’s take a drive down the trail of future of automotive dealerships:

VR Test Drives & Remote Purchasing

A survey conducted by Auto Trader in the year 2017 proved that nearly 42% car buyers make use of multiple devices to search for a new vehicle. And 68% of auto dealers customers hold a negative impression of the brand when the websites of automotive dealers are not responsive. Last year, 60% of the people chose to buy car online as compared to the 20% who visited dealerships.

Although there are individuals who prefer an on-hand car driving experience, there are several inclined towards taking a virtual test drive of the car of their choice before they visit the showroom. Or, they might not.

As an Automotive dealer, you must think about the ways in which you can deliver value to your customers. It is also possible to acquaint your customers with the look and feel of car interiors by offering a 360-degree experience, by leveraging the potential of virtual reality. The next thing you know; your customer places an order remotely! Auto dealers can also lease and rent vehicles on the website after making financial approvals online. Now, although every automotive dealer doesn’t offer this kind of service, it is certainly possible to do that through a streamlined and user-friendly system.

                                    AutoFacets | www.autofacets.com | All Rights Reserved

Digital Disruption in the Automotive Industry

Most of the customers today ask for personalized treatment from automotive dealers and expect to get value out of car buying experience. Also, for customers, OEMs and dealers are no different. Their expectations are built based on the experiences built by their interaction with disrupted industries. Most of the Netherland car dealers understand the importance of ever-increasing customer expectations and have installed a dealer management system that enables smooth transactions with their clients.

However, it is important to change the perception of going digital and think of it as a means to render a personalized, engaging, and seamless experience rather than thinking of it as being an end.

Driving the Future…

Whether it is a retail industry or an automotive one, customer interactions are of paramount importance. Also, these interactions have to be driven by continuous engagement with customers and providing them with technologies that save time, offer convenience, and above all, luxury.

As autonomous driving and connected cars are becoming common, one must think about embracing voice-enabled services, 3rd generation kiosks, virtual showrooms and providing 360-degree customer experience. This holistic and collaborative approach between OEM, auto dealers and customers is sure to bring about a paradigm shift in the way that the automotive industry works.

If you have specific requirements, we would be more than happy to hear them out and customize our solution for you. Why not drop us an email about the dealer management issues you face? We would be more than happy to help!