Issue link: https://resources.dealertrack.com/i/1283831
ARE YOU GETTING THE RIGHT VALUE FOR YOUR INVESTMENT? Dealerships use an average of 6.8 software programs just to run the store. Many of these systems can cost dealerships thousands of dollars in hidden fees every year — and many have overlapping functionality. This leads to redundancy, under-utilization and wasted money. If you're feeling like your tech costs are exceedingly high, you can pinpoint the source of the pain by performing an audit of your current technology vendors: • Review invoices. • Highlight any functionality you're paying for but not using. • Dig into unknown costs or fees. (Are you billed based on usage? Are there integration, security or data access fees? Etc.) ARE YOU GETTING (OR LOOKING AT) THE RIGHT DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS? The ability to have the right insights on hand at the right time to help you make better business decisions, driven by data instead of instinct, is one often-overlooked function your DMS can help you with. If you're feeling like your reporting could be richer, make sure the specific reports you're generating are pulling in the right data to provide the full story: • Identify actionable KPIs and metrics to support your business goals. • Look at the data you already have and find out which sources are providing the most value to you. Home in on the data you want and weed out anything not supporting these goals. • Determine if you have the right tools and tech configuration to configure, collect and visualize that data. It's essential to create a process that is as automated as possible to ensure reporting is accurate and consistent without manual, time-consuming re-work outside of the DMS. PUT YOUR DMS TO THE TEST 1 2 If you're questioning the return on your technology investment, or are simply unsure of its value to your dealership, it's time to assess your DMS. These three questions will guide you to a decision to stay or switch.