Why is the automotive industry a key player in data analysis for decision-making? The answer is simple: time and money. Beyond responding to the general trend towards data-based management, BI tools have emerged to change a formula: not only must we analyze data to draw conclusions, but we must use information to generate positive change.
For the past few years, we have been working closely with our DMS customers who use BI to analyze the health of each department and business unit. What we highlight first and foremost is the ease and immediacy with which they can now see the most important information on a single screen, such as sales figures.
Previously, owners and principals had to request information from the individuals responsible for generating reports, exporting them, cross-referencing them, emailing them, or printing them… a whole chain of tasks that took several hours of their time or that of their staff. Time that could have been spent selling more, training, organizing the area, or finding better ways of doing things… but it was wasted on tedious, repetitive, and, above all, automatable tasks. This no longer happens because BI tools reduce all tasks to a single click to view essential information.
This translates to saving countless hours per month on report preparation, hours that could have been used to take action based on those results. By acting a day earlier than usual, you’re already gaining a significant advantage. Furthermore, in many cases, reports were obtained at the end of the month, which meant that they were forced to work on results that could no longer be changed. With a tool that provides data every day, dealers can make decisions during the month to reverse results that were trending downward.
Less Time Spent Compiling Reports, More Time for Decision-Making
The other notable aspect of Autologica BI is its usefulness in generating more sales. How can a data analysis tool generate sales? By displaying the potential of hundreds or thousands of customers on a single screen. A simple example, Autologica BI allows dealers to see which customers bought batteries two years ago so that they can create a call campaign and sell them a replacement.
Dealers can also generate a list of customers who purchased a specific model 3, 4 or 5 years ago to call them and offer them a new vehicle. Dealers can work with data that is not currently being used and that can be quickly obtained without the need to cross-reference reports, export spreadsheets, and so on.
In addition to these two examples which produce direct benefits (in time and money), there are all the actions and decisions that can be made when this information is at hand. From analyzing sales trends by branch, to seeing each salesperson’s metrics, to comparing sales with dealership goals… all this information is easy to obtain and necessary for making more informed decisions than mere experience or intuition.
With Autologica BI, dealers can organize their daily information, make more informed decisions, and sell more by using the data they have but aren’t currently using intelligently.