You can feel it subconsciously — your alarm is about to signal that it's time to start the day. But wait... something isn't right. You jerk awake. Oh no! The alarm you thought you set didn't go off. Or did you hit snooze? You can't recall. Either way, you've got five minutes until you're supposed to be out the door. You get ready as fast as possible and spend the rest of the day playing catch-up.

A similar scenario could be happening at your dealership every day. Maybe an employee forgets a tedious manual step or your systems don't work together seamlessly. That missed step sets off a major chain of reactions, creating inefficiencies and frustrating bottlenecks across your entire business.

Once your disconnected systems start to impact productivity and profitability, that's when you know it's time to upgrade. Here are three signs this might be happening at your dealership:

1. Unreliable Data and Recordkeeping

If you consistently find duplicate, conflicting, or missing information, take a moment to evaluate your current record-keeping systems: 

• Are you juggling multiple spreadsheets at a time?  

• Is your team required to manually input every piece of information? 

• Are these systems manageable for your current business needs? 

• Could this process be inadvertently preventing business growth? 

We live in a connected world. Digitization makes our lives easier and more efficient, and it can do the same for your business processes. When you manually record and store your dealership data, you increase the risk of human error and operational inefficiency. On the other hand, by embracing digital tools and automation, your team will spend less time fixing input errors or searching for the correct records and more time advancing larger initiatives. 

In addition, as more customers and dealers adopt digital shopping experiences, the standards for quick service will only increase. To continue meeting customers’ evolving expectations, you won’t have room for setbacks due to manual tasks. 

2. Lack of Interdepartmental Connectivity

An efficient dealer operation depends on dealership-wide collaboration. If your dealership operates with siloed departments and disconnected systems, this means interdepartmental connectivity is not fully optimized. 

For example, suppose your sales team doesn’t always have access to the most up-to-date parts and service information. In that case, they’re more likely to incorrectly inform a customer about the availability of a certain part, potentially causing delays and leading to future remediation. If your employees aren’t on the same page, it’s worth adapting your systems to jumpstart that change. 

3. Suffering Employee Retention

Your dealership’s systems and processes play a direct role not only in customer experience, but also employee fulfillment and job satisfaction.  

Take the manual data entry mentioned before, for example. If your dealership requires employees to manage vast amounts of customer information, it can be overwhelming for them to input and organize everything by hand. Company morale and retention suffer if staff members feel heavy stress, pressure, or guilt when handling large volumes of information, missing an entry, making a minor mistake, or accidentally deleting data.

In fact, they may begin to experience job burnout, which can negatively impact employee retention and overall workplace productivity. Equipping your team with tools that streamline dealership responsibilities maximizes productivity and performance without overburdening staff with tedious yet essential tasks.  

How Should You Upgrade Your Current Systems?

To upgrade your dealership’s systems, aim to minimize the number of systems you have in place. You can do this by using a comprehensive dealer management system, which consolidates all your business needs into a single platform. For example, the system can store all your data, make it easy to search for records, track every customer interaction, automate follow-ups, provide standardized internal communication, and much more. You can accomplish more with less, reduce inefficiencies, and prevent lost or conflicting information.  

No More Missed Alarms

Waking up late throws off your entire day, just like inefficient systems interrupt your dealership’s momentum. By upgrading your various systems to one powerful solution, you can avoid unnecessary operational delays and work toward scalable business success.