In this technology-driven, digital world, there’s an unending quest for dealers to remain competitive, profitable and to meet their customers’ heightened and demanding expectations. The pace of change has certainly quickened over the past decade; it’s inconceivable that there aren’t plenty of more developments to come in the way that vehicles are bought, sold and maintained. Unquestionably, information technology is a major influencer and harnessing its potential is, or should be, a key priority for single site dealers through to multi-franchise groups.
Adapt and prosper
To set the familiar scene, there is of course more vehicle choice than ever, retaining customers and building enduring relationships is increasingly challenging. Every which way, online experiences are playing a significant part in purchasing, with distance much less a barrier to buy than it once was. Well-informed customers can make decisions in an instant without dealer’s knowledge; to say nothing of social media, putting reputations, good or indifferent, on the line like never before. And although manufacturers and dealers share common goals, target/bonus pressures and showroom investment requisites are still prevalent. Compounding the task of controlling costs and delivering sustainable profits are the considerable challenges and inertias of keeping pace with IT.
Simplistically, the need is to identify the closest fit product and IT provider combinations that suit business requirements. In addition to software capabilities – both current and R&D roadmap positions, it’s also essential to establish solid and effective partner relationships.
Time to move IT up a gear
Essentially, the case for dealers to maximise the value of IT - specifically the DMS - is more compelling than ever. In general terms DMSs have long been underutilised, and even with the very best intentions to increase functional adoption, it’s comparatively rare to come across dealers who stretch DMS capabilities to the limits – particularly as a management and reporting tool.
Whereas previously, a series of operational ‘health check’ reports may have been sufficient to run the business – these could be time consuming and technically difficult to produce – more advanced provisions are now required. Many a dealer has reverted to spreadsheet exports to give them greater flexibility and independence from potentially costly IT partner involvement. Spreadsheets are fine in their way and serve a purpose, but are not a super slick management information tool for forward-thinking dealership.
Time for Business Intelligence
Integrated DMS business intelligence (BI) applications can provide many of the answers. Configured to maximise the power of data resources for planning, decision making and performance measurement, BI is becoming a must-have dealership capability. Primed to play centre stage in trading and management operations, BI is an essential platform for dealers to develop a competitive edge – as part of the complete DMS solution. Partner support also has to play an important role – ensuring that set-up requirements, training and in-service consultancy is available and on transparent, agreeable terms.
Ready to make the most of BI power, dealership managers are certainly becoming much more knowledgeable about systems and how to exploit their potential. With the arrival of digital channels, marketing is but one area where the importance of using data resources has increased substantially – there’s a lot of inbound online content to consider.
Savvy and eager to push things forwards, today’s generation of dealership managers also have a greater appreciation about what to look for when choosing systems, particularly for the new generation of applications such as BI. Among other criteria, they also want high performance, intuitive software and system access via mobile devices, not just PCs and laptops. Given the choice, most dealership managers would also like to spend much time looking after customers and driving the business forwards. Much less trying to get the system to give them the information they need. Facts at the finger tips, ‘the answer’s yes, now what’s the question’ capabilities are key.
BI capabilities
Fundamentally, a BI suite should be a holistic part of the DMS. Not an add-on or second tier set of applications, but a fully integrated, functionally-rich facility. Designed using proven, best practice principles, it should be powerful, capable and flexible, pulling together financials, stock, marketing and customer data direct from the DMS automatically. The BI front end will comprise dashboard-style presentations and graphics along with drill-down functions. Actual, historical and trend data should be available, along with decision-making data projections for planning and comparison purposes.
To simplify implementation, a good range of standard pre-set functions should be easily supplemented with customised toolsets to suit specific requirements. A BI suite should certainly not be a one-size fits all solution – dealership styles vary and although best practice will often prevail, there should always be scope for creative individuality. In short, a BI suite should be a cost-effective, fully supported resource which every user feels entirely comfortable with. And with that in place, there’s a much better chance of BI being exploited and the dealership objectives delivered.
Putting BI to work
To get the best results from BI, off-system and on-system processes should be harmonised together and not be allowed to operate in isolation. It’s worth taking time to review how the dealership should function in today’s business environment. Be ready to introduce some new thinking in line with BI requirements and users’ capabilities. Doing so is likely to lead to improved management buy-in and greater control overall.
It’s all too easy for everyone to suffer from information overload – there’s no shortage of inbound material coming in from all angles and distractions are a constant intrusion. Managers may be hungry for data and want results, but they are time poor – hence the need for BI tools that deliver the right combination of push and pull. A well implemented BI platform enables more decision-making to move away from management meetings and board rooms. At a tactical level, BI is about empowering everyone to develop a hands-on pro-active, ideally anticipatory style. There’s fair chance that once BI is in place, there will be a greater sense of fulfilment among staff, as new processes kick in and job roles are enhanced.
In summary
In the same way that IT investment decisions are about making the right choice of partner, BI is about being able to make the right decisions, do more of the right thing and at the right time. Used successfully, BI can help to stack the odds and deliver better results. BI is only a tool to help make the task of managing the dealership easier and more rewarding; people still buy from people. Simplistically, a dealership’s primary purpose is about looking after customers’ automotive needs better than the rest. BI can make a difference in every area and applied successfully, considerable competitive advantages can be secured, along with well-earned financial rewards.
