The Pros and Cons of Dealer Management Systems
The way that consumers interact with car dealerships has rapidly changed with evolving technology. Even the latest in dealer management systems are on the brink of becoming outdated in the world of digital disruption that we live in now.
The need for smart technology is a given when running a successful dealership that exceeds the expectations of today’s consumers. In this article, we look at some of the pros and cons of dealer management systems and what dealerships today can do to improve their processes.
The pros of dealer management systems
Before dealer management systems were introduced, dealerships often operated with several separate software. Team members would need to log onto different software to retrieve customer information, look at service history, view appointment scheduling, and more. This was an inefficient process that would lead to a lot of missed communications and issues falling through the cracks.
As a solution, the dealer management system was created. A DMS is a suite of bundled software that works together to support each area of the business and is essentially an integrated tech stack. With a DMS, team members have access to all information without needing to exit out of one software and logging into another.
Every dealership benefits from a quality dealer management system that provides support for all departments.
Some of the pros of a DMS include:
- Inventory management that allows dealerships to manage and keep track of available vehicles on the lot.
- Service cycle support, including parts management and the ability to report where a vehicle is in the service cycle.
- Customer management provides the ability to look up customer information, pull leads, schedule appointments, and run credit reports efficiently.
The cons of dealer management systems
Although a DMS significantly improved dealership processes, there continues to be a lack of integration and collaboration between departments that supports the workflow. Many dealership management systems have all of the bells and whistles but don’t address what departments actually need – a streamlined way of communicating. So while most DMS available on the market today have robust features and innovative capabilities, there’s no value in them if they’re too cumbersome and complex to use.
A DMS is integral to running a successful business, but some of the pros include:
- A lack of connectivity across departments
- No solution to optimize processes
- No single dashboard for route sheets, quotes, job priority, and SMS communications
- No solution to improve or eliminate bottlenecks in the service cycle
A simple tool that integrates with existing DMS
When software creates more problems within the dealership, team members and managers think a new system overhaul or a complete system replacement is needed. Doing this is costly, time-consuming, and disruptive for dealerships.
Instead, integrating an evolved Production Efficiency Platform like Workflow Solutions 360˚ supports any and all existing dealer management systems. Workflow 360˚ is not another DMS but rather a dealership management service plugin that:
- Allows real-time reporting
- Acts as a birds-eye view to identify bottlenecks
- Improves workflow between departments
- Simplifies communication between departments
- Enhances two-way customer communication
- Populate data into one place for each department to access
- Allows service technicians to place job tasks on hold
- Helps move vehicles through the service bay quicker
By offering the above, dealers naturally see an increase in the efficiency of the service cycle and better customer retention, leading to increased revenue. To experience the advantages that our clients enjoy from the use of our Production Efficiency Platform, get in touch with us. We are ready to answer your questions and improve your dealership’s productivity!
