Top five areas where DMS can identify true dealer costs during the recession named by Pinewood

03 April 2009

 

Dealer management systems specialist Pinewood has identified the top five areas where a DMS system can help dealers identify their true operating costs and take action to manage expenditure during recession.

 

The company has completed extensive research across its customer base, all of which use Pinewood's Pinnacle DMS, and says that these are the most common areas where costs can be traced by dealers and action taken to minimise them.

 

Neville Briggs, managing director at Pinewood, said: "If you have a good DMS system then you should be using it to provide clear visibility of the costs being incurred across your dealership; if your DMS doesn't enable you to do this easily, then you should really be questioning its value.

 

"Making full use of the technology available within DMS systems is one of the key ways in which successful dealers are managing costs during the recession and these pointers are a good indication of the reasons why."

 

The top five are:

 

1. Track credit notes to identify your weaknesses

 

Credit notes can be used to indicate the weak areas in your dealership. Do you know why your business is raising credit notes? Your DMS should produce reports that can help you track credit notes, revealing to you processes and even individuals whose errors are causing credit notes to be raised.

 

2. Cut down on re-work repeat visits

 

Having to book in a car for a repeat workshop visit because a technician missed a key task the first time around is time consuming, costly and irritates customers. Your DMS should allow you to identify the technicians and jobs causing this common problem, taking action to make improvements after identifying whether it is a training or a process need.

 

3. Analyse your spending to find savings

 

A good DMS system will allow you to look at reports about your spending across departments or dealerships in all kinds of different ways. A common and easy gain is to consolidate expenditure on a frequently bought item from different parts of your business, allowing you to concentrate spending power.

 

4. Monitor budgeted against actual spending

 

Ensuring that departments within your dealership meet or even undercut their budget is essential during a recession. Your DMS should allow you to easily produce a snapshot of budgeted against actual spend, meaning that you can monitor the situation on a day by day, week by week basis.

 

5. Track purchase ordering in order to forecast profitability

 

A DMS system should allow a highly controlled purchase ordering process to be put in place, reporting forthcoming costs to the business and allowing you to manage financial expectations and anticipate your profitability against plan.

 

 

For further details please contact Simon Wells at
Paperchase Public Relations on 01283 711311
or e-mail simon@paperchasepr.co.uk