Smart purchasing is the key to running a successful dealership, from knowing what vehicles to stock to keeping the right parts handy for the most common services. It’s also important to maintain thorough customer and purchase records and have access to financial and research tools. If a dealership has more than one location, this can become a challenge. Luckily, dealer management software (DMS) is one tool any dealership can use to help with these responsibilities, so teams can maximize profits and minimize losses.
What Is Dealer Management Software?
Dealer management software is a computer platform that helps ensure businesses stock the right vehicles¹. DMS can help track current inventory and use specific metrics and historical data to help determine what’s worth adding to your inventory.
Knowing which vehicles to acquire based on sales history and consumer trends can help decrease sales turnaround times. Tracking inventory also helps you prevent imbalances, like purchasing more vehicles than you can accommodate or reasonably sell in a specific timeframe. As you acquire new cars, you can even export specifications from the system to your website to quickly generate detailed listings that appeal to buyers.
Not only does DMS help keep track of vehicle inventory, but it also helps you manage the many individual parts for repairs and upgrades. In short, this software is a tool for keeping an accurate count of parts inventory without the hassle of paperwork or the risk of records becoming outdated.
How Using DMS Can Help Your Business
Stay on Top of Market Trends
Market research is essential for any business, and good DMS helps in this area as well. The software can integrate with high-traffic sites customers browse as they prepare for a purchase. DMS pulls from these sites to assist with internal market research. Dealers have access to built-in pricing tools that automatically estimate the value of a particular vehicle so they can establish fair acquisition and sale prices.
The platform also generates enhanced metrics based on dealership performance, such as changes in sales numbers, so you can focus on healthy, sustainable growth2.
Manage Customer Relationships
Customer satisfaction is built on knowing how people interact with your business—and that depends on the quality of your internal records. The good news is that DMS can enhance your customer relationship management. The software enables you to track customer histories, purchases, and repairs in an automated, easy-to-follow format. This saves your sales and service teams time and even helps repeat customers stay on top of their transactions with your dealership3.
Keep Franchises Organized
Dealerships with multiple locations or franchises can benefit greatly from implementing DMS. The knowledge gained through market movements, interactions, and customer transactions allows company leaders to adjust business practices on a more individualized level. A DMS allows information collected at one location to be integrated with all the rest, so you can balance location-driven results with whole-company success.
Additionally, the DMS means your records are stored and shareable in a centralized location for every branch to access. Individual managers can benefit from the data and lessons learned by their peers and leaders in other locations². Cloud-based software also means that information is safe, even if a physical computer goes down.
Help With Financial Planning
If the above benefits aren’t enough, DMS can simplify financial planning beyond inventory purchases. Sales teams can use the system to check buyer credit scores when customers need to be approved for financing. The software can also assist with financial calculations to determine payment plans and trade-in costs. Automating financial processes and keeping uniform records simplifies some of your business’s most important reporting tasks1.
Running a dealership is challenging without needing to worry about keeping track of records, and increasing profit margins is essential to business survival and growth. Dealer management software provides much-needed functionality, from inventory management to up-to-the-minute website listings, allowing you to make informed decisions based on accurate data.
Citations
- Top Features of a Modern Auto Dealer Management System (DMS). Get My Auto. Retrieved on February 27, 2023, from https://dealers.getmyauto.com/blog/top-features-of-a-modern-auto-dealer-management-system/
- 9 Benefits of Dealer Management Software and Why You Need It. DealerSocket. Retrieved on February 27, 2023, from https://dealersocket.com/benefits-dealer-management-software/
- Vehicle Dealership Management System: A Marketer’s Tool. TVI-MarketPro3. Retrieved on February 27, 2023, from https://www.tvi-mp3.com/blog/insights/vehicle-dealership-management-system/
