November’s Leaders Workshop

Dragon2000 hosted its final Leaders Workshop of 2016 last week by welcoming owners, directors and managers from dealers using their Dealer Management System and Car Dealer Websites to its Northamptonshire base.

Open to key personnel from its diverse dealer base, the day is designed to help dealerships and garages understand the full capabilities of DragonDMS and the processes they should be implementing within their businesses to ensure that they can utilise the system to its full potential.

In addition, the free workshop also covers the mobile app Dragon APPraise, which works on both Android and Apple devices, and the benefits of having a Dragon2000 Car Dealer Website that is fully integrated with DragonDMS.

For those that attended it became quickly apparent just how much of an impact DragonDMS could have on their business, with Darren Coles, Director at The Professional Car Agent, particularly interested in the time his business could save when it came to advertising their stock.

He said: “We’ve found the day very useful, it turns out we are probably only using twenty to thirty percent of the actual system. There is so much more to it.

“The thing that impressed us most of all are the feeds through to Twitter, online advertisers and car dealer websites. Being able to upload an item of stock once instead of constantly repeating the process could be a massive time-saver.”

While Darren was keen to ensure his business made better use of the advertising feeds, others, such as Jack Peache, Operations Director at Prestige Cars Kent, were keen to develop on their use of other areas of the system, predominately the Service module in this case.

On his experience of the day, Jack said: “I found the workshop to very insightful. It’s given me plenty of ideas to help us move forward as a business.

“We will be using the service side a lot more now we know exactly what it can be used for.”

While those in attendance were all currently using DragonDMS to differing degrees within their businesses, all seemed to be in agreement that there was much more to the system than they were currently utilising.

Daniel Freeman, Director at Brandon Car Centre, echoed those feelings when he discussed some of the processes that are still in place within his dealership.

He said “The biggest thing is just how much we don’t use the system to its full potential.

“We are quite old-fashioned, so at the moment we are still using things like paper diaries, but after seeing the CRM module we are now in the process of moving it all over to the electronic diary within the system.

Dealer Management System aside, one aspect that dealers always seem to be keen to learn more about is Dragon APPraise, a free mobile app that is designed to help increase sales conversions and upsold work through personalised sales videos, appraisals and vehicle health checks.

Daniel explained how he was planning to introduce the mobile app in to his Suffolk-based business after being introduced to it at the Leaders Workshop.

He said: “I’ve just bought tablets for APPraise after the workshop, so we are going to start using that soon.

“We are planning to use it to send personalised sales videos straight to our customers, and also to carry out appraisals on cars when we pick them up.

As well as being invaluable day for long-standing customers, the Leaders Workshop also provides an opportunity for some of Dragon2000’s more recent customers to develop their knowledge of their software, an exercise that Chipro Car Company Sales Director, Mark Robinson, found to be extremely worthwhile.

On his experience of day, Mark said: “We’ve only been with Dragon2000 for three months, so it was good to get a better understanding of the system.

“Because the system is so easy-to-use, and is good at producing sales invoices etc., you almost become complacent and don’t push things so that you are able learn more about what it does.”

Like many others, Mark was especially keen to start using Dragon APPraise, with the benefits of using it within his Buckinghamshire-based dealership clear for him to see.

He said: “The day has really pushed us to do more, in particular to start sending sales videos through Dragon APPraise.

“We have someone from Chester who is interested in one of our cars so I’m actually going to send my first sales video today, therefore hopefully ensuring it isn’t a wasted trip for him.”

Dragon2000’s popular Leaders Workshop events will resume next year.

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.