What Is a Dealership Management System?

Last Updated on January 8, 2024 by Umer Malik

A Dealership Management System (DMS) is software specifically designed to run automotive dealerships. The system can be customized to manage all aspects of your dealership, from new and used vehicles to your workshop and warehouse. Depending on your dealership’s size and brand presence, there are different types of DMS systems. Read on to learn more about DMS and why it’s crucial for your business. The DMS can streamline many aspects of your business, including finance, parts, and service.

Identify company needs

Before you invest in a new DMS, you need to consider what it can do for your business. Dealership management systems must support all the processes and functions of a dealership, including CRM, vehicle sales, after-sales management, spare parts management, and other functions. In addition, an exemplary system will offer features and functionality that will make your business run more smoothly. Listed below are some of the things to look for in a DMS.

A good Dealership Management System will address these diverse needs and connect the dealerships, OEMs, and distributors to ensure smooth operations like VinSolutions.com. Automotive customers see the first visit to a dealership as the essential one. Sales personnel play a prominent role during this process. In this case, it is crucial to provide additional information to consumers on their devices. By installing a DMS in your dealership, you can increase sales and customer loyalty while ensuring that your customers are satisfied with their experience.

Determine what the company wants

A DMS should provide a unified, intuitive ‘front end’ and be integrated with other dealership software. This allows for seamless, single-point access without repeatedly switching logins or keys in the same data. Nichola Moore, group marketing manager of Sturgess Motor Group, agrees that such a system is ideal. Unfortunately, no single provider offers such a solution, and dealerships may pay for multiple systems to achieve this.

Most DMS solutions provide similar core features, including inventory management, buy pay here management, and deal structuring. However, some also offer premium features, including online marketing tools and integration with websites. Although these features are usually not accessible, they can improve your bottom line. 

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Dealership Importance in the industry

The U.S. manufacturing sector struggles amid unresolved trade tensions and a weak global economy, but this industry’s gloom has not impacted consumer confidence. According to the ELFF, the ag machinery industry will grow at an average rate of 2.3% annually through 2020, but the outlook for the sector is not bleak. Fortunately, a dealer management system can help the auto industry remain profitable while boosting sales and profitability.

Next-generation dealership management systems should be able to harness the power of data. They should integrate with external systems and social media to help showroom sales executives close deals and service advisors predict future failures. AI-based analytics can help dealers anticipate losses and make proactive decisions to prevent them. In addition, most traditional DMS applications do not have the training and learning management facilities, so Next-Gen solutions should have facilities for sharing training needs and attending evaluations.

Usability of a dealership comprehensive system

For instance, as part of a project for an automotive client, I was tasked with creating a system to manage their vehicle stock. The plan would enable dealers to add, transfer, and sell new and used vehicles. But, first, I needed to understand how dealerships work, so I conducted user research by interviewing dealership personnel and system administrators. During this project, I learned about the usability challenges they face every day. The following is a summary of the findings and recommendations I made.

A comprehensive system must integrate with your existing business tools to be effective. For example, a dealership management system should incorporate sales tools, service tools, and parts management. All of these will ensure optimal profitability. If your system does not include parts management, it is not dealership-specific. Service management is crucial because it increases profits in the service department. It should also integrate with the rest of your business software, such as QuickBooks Online. The main difference between these two is the level of customization and functionality available.