Before choosing a DMS, it’s essential to understand its primary features. DMSs offer a variety of functionality, from deal structuring to customer management and contract printing. More advanced systems offer online marketing tools and integrated dealership websites, and specialized techniques for different types of businesses. Deal management helps dealers structure deals, including sales processes, pricing, and data collection. In addition, deal management tools can help dealers track the progress of individual deals.
Features
A DMS dealer track management system offers comprehensive functionality for a dealership’s needs. Advanced features boost profitability and give dealers access to data from anywhere. In addition, dealerships need dealer management systems to help them keep up with the ever-changing car buying process. These systems include sales tools, parts management, and service management. Various systems offer different features. Core features include inventory management, customer management, deal structuring, and contract printing. More advanced systems offer online marketing tools, integrated dealership websites, and specialized systems for specific types of businesses. For example, deal management can help you optimize the best possible deals. Some systems also help you connect with lenders for financing. These features can make the difference between success and failure for a dealership. However, the suitable DMS should provide all of these features and more.
Benefits
A Dealer Management System (DMS) combines all the dealership’s tools on one platform. This streamlines daily operations and eliminates logging into different solutions for every transaction. The benefits of a DMS are numerous. They include: tracking inventory and sales, creating CRM databases, managing invoices for points of sale, and keeping track of leads and service histories. However, if you’re in the market for a new DMS, you should start with the basics.
Another benefit is that a DMS can help keep track of costs over time. For example, if you’re using variable pricing, you can’t give every customer the same price. A DMS will automatically generate a quote based on pre-defined logic. And it can also be used by business heads to approve contracts and upload prices. It can even store past costs, making tracking changes easier and optimizing future sales.
Costs
Investing in a dealer management system is a great way to increase store efficiencies and profits while freeing employees to focus on more profitable tasks. You may want to look for tools that increase unit sales and F&I penetration rates or promote higher closing ratios and margins. While ROI figures are helpful, they do not capture the full benefits of a dealer management system. It’s better to have a standardized software setup than many different systems, which can confuse users.
Besides the upfront cost of a DMS, dealers may have hidden costs associated with the software. The average dealership uses 6.8 software integrations. Many DMS providers restrict the amount of data they can access and use from third-party sources. As a result, integration fees can add up fast. Even if you only use a few of these integrations, they add up fast. To avoid such expenses, it’s best to purchase a DMS system with extensive features.
Implementation
The benefits of implementing a dealer management system are apparent. It will streamline and standardize business processes at the head of the dealership, increasing profitability and revenues. It will also improve employee productivity and focus on more profitable tasks. The system should help dealers boost unit sales and increase F&I penetration rates while increasing closing ratios and margins. It should also allow dealerships to forecast sales numbers for five to 15 years into the future.
The key to implementing a Dealer Management System is to have complete buy-in from everyone on your team. If a dealership isn’t 100% on board, it’s likely to fail. A successful implementation begins with a commitment to complete all deliverables on time. While some dealers may not be able to afford such a project, others may be able to afford it. If your dealership is ready to invest, consider implementing a system that will support your business goals.
