Multiple Dealer Systems – More of a Hindrance than a Help

These days, dealers are bombarded by technology, online and local companies offering systems to take care of small specific pieces of their business. Often these can be generic solutions rather than ones designed for the motor trade, or fledgling ideas with little support or forward motion – and crucially, they offer no integration with existing systems.

A recent survey carried out by CAP HPI, focusing on the technology being used by motor dealers, revealed that more than one in ten dealership staff are logging into more than 11 systems daily – with a massive 93% saying they spend more than two hours a day in front of a screen using dealership systems. The survey also found that 36% of respondents felt they did not have sufficient training in the use of these multiple systems.

At a guess, these offerings by a wide variety of suppliers in terms of size and longevity, could include tools and systems such as:

Dealer Management Systems / Car Sales Invoicing Tools
Car Dealer Websites
CRM Systems
Email Marketing Tools
Online Advertising Portal Feed Tools
Lead Management Systems
Sales Presentation Video App Systems
Vehicle Health Check App Systems
Service Online Bookings Websites
Parts Inventory Systems
Service Estimating Tools
Vehicle Appraisal App Systems
Accounting Systems / Reporting
Social Media Stock Posting
Workshop Efficiency Tracking Systems

We could go on, but let’s stop at 15!

What invariably happens is that staff end up not having the time to do the jobs they were actually employed to do, because they become bogged down with maintaining all sorts of separate systems and re-keying information – with the risk of lost and inaccurate information also becoming greater with every duplicate entry. Without proper integration between these systems, nothing is shared and it becomes a mammoth task to maintain them, and could result in errors and lost opportunities.

With new data protection regulations being forced upon businesses next year, having customer data spread across multiple systems will cause another headache for dealers in ensuring that they are following the rules within multiple systems – it would be far easier for them to manage all the data and compliance in one place.

Now let’s not forget the financial impact. Though returns could be measured for each area that separate systems can cover, with 10+ supplier invoices landing on the dealers’ doormat every month plus initial up-front set up costs (and hardware costs in some cases), it would make sense for dealers to look for one supplier who understands the motor trade inside out and can take care of their requirements as they grow their businesses in the digital age.

The alternative is trying to achieve this with multitude of systems from providers with varying levels of support and forward development. These disjointed systems require duplicate entry, multiple logins to remember, training, and time and effort, which makes maintaining them all a costly exercise for dealers – with added risks to the business over errors in vehicle pricing and descriptions from one system to another topped with data protection compliance issues with customer data.

In conclusion, the benefits of a single point of data entry with one supplier will be vast – not least in the time and cost savings.

Fifteen to one…

We can take care of managing the areas listed above for car dealers and garages who want the benefits of a complete integrated solution, within our dealer management system, DragonDMS, our Dragon2000 built car dealer websites, and mobile app, APPraise, which includes Sales Presentation Videos, an Appraisal tool and a comprehensive Vehicle Health Check system.

All of our systems were built to fully integrate with each other to give a truly affordable comprehensive solution for today’s digitally minded dealer.

To continually help dealers drive their businesses forward, we also offer free exclusive monthly Leaders Workshops to business directors and senior managers to ensure our dealers are getting the best out of all the integrated products and features, while we also hold weekly online training / demo sessions every Friday.

Dragon2000 have been helping dealers and garages drive their businesses forward since 1995. Talk to our team today on 01327 222 333 or email sales@dragon2000.co.uk to find out how our dealer management system, car dealer websites and mobile apps can help your business increase profits and reduce costs.