Nothing more tedious than buying at different branches of the same store and having them request ther same information from us. Or receiving offers regarding products which we’ve already said we’re not interested in. These are symptoms of the same problem: companies sometimes use systems that are not prepared to manage more than one branch.
Modern dealer management systems have not only overcome this obstacle, but have also detected ways to improve and enhance work among branches.
What should a DMS provide dealerships that want to expand?
Unified information is the first step. However, it is more important to achieve perfect communication between different departments and different branches to maximize sales in each market.
All Information Must Be Shared
Each customer, each vehicle, each current account … all information must be shared in real time between stores to ensure effective management. A system should not allow duplicate information.
Smarter Parts Inventory Inquiries
What happens if you buy a part that appears to be out of stock, but may be in stock another warehouse? It means you will be immobilizing cash. This can have a low impact if you the part happens to have high turnover, but if this situation happens with expensive and low turnover parts the problem is considerable.
To avoid this, modern DMS systems allow balancing between branches according to the activity and the stock of the parts in each warehouse. With this information we can move immobilized or less-sold parts to stores with higher probabilities of selling them.
No Customer Queries Unanswered
Another advantage of working with connected branches is the possibility that the sales staff can quickly know if the vehicle the customer is looking for is available as New or Used, at which branch and at what price.
Centralized Workshop Tracking
For the Service Manager it is easy to know what happens in the branch where they are physically, but with the right tools they can know:
- What jobs are being done in each workshop and which mechanics are in charge
- How many jobs are delayed due to lack of parts or infrastructure problems
- Which mechanics are idle between jobs, in order to assign other tasks and maximize productivity
Contact us to learn more.
