Intelligent management of sales files at car dealerships

Purchasing a car is a happy moment for most people. This also applies to the car dealer itself, because a new customer has been added or an existing relationship is being continued. What makes account managers and internal sales less happy, however, is the increasing number of documents that must be present in the sales files. In many cases, maintaining them has become a time-consuming affair. 

But there are Dealer Management Systems, right?

Although Dealer Management Systems (DMS) are often seen as a solution, in many cases they appear to fall short in fully managing sales files. These often imposed complex ERP systems of car brands (usually to get a grip on sales figures) do not always appear to deliver the desired results. This becomes especially apparent for car dealer organizations that represent multiple brands, resulting in the use of various DMS systems. This in turn leads to manual actions to complete sales files – the well-known “Oh yeah, I have to…”

Daily document challenges

The road to a shiny new car, or used car, is paved with paperwork. Fortunately, things can be done differently. But let’s take a deep dive into the document challenges of car dealerships that should all come together in a central sales file:

• Quotations: a tailor-made quotation describing options, financing options and other conditions.
• Test drive forms: if a customer takes a test drive, a signature will often be required, but a test drive form can also contribute to customer experiences.
• Signed agreements: describing prices, payment terms and guarantees.
• Financing applications: these are required for Financial or Private Lease to assess creditworthiness. 
• Identification and personal data: data that must comply with privacy legislation (GDPR).
• Transfer documents: upon trade-in, ownership of the old vehicle must be transferred, but an RDW registration code is also required for the new car.
• Insurance documents: The vehicle must be insured prior to transfer by the new owner, but the existing insurance from the car dealer must be canceled.
• Customer information after the purchase: consider documents in which customer feedback is given about the purchasing process, communication preferences or future plans.

Recognizable? Undoubtedly, these are challenges that currently cost you a lot of time every day.

Mitigating Document-Related Challenges

Managing documents is rarely a sales professional’s favorite activity, but it is something that has become indispensable. With our automated solution to manage sales files, commercial managers no longer have to think about this. A set of rules determines which documents must be present in a sales file. This depends on certain parameters such as status, type of sale, trade-in or not, etc. The system then shows the missing documents. It also recognizes documents and places them intelligently in the correct file. Finally, an account manager no longer has to forget anything: he/she automatically receives a notification if a file is incomplete for the long term. The result is even more satisfied customers. Read all about DocBase for Automotive here.

Why automating sales files can be even more urgent

Good salespeople are also scarce in the automotive industry. If one of them disappears temporarily or for a long period of time, major problems often arise. Having to do more with fewer people is especially successful if account managers can dedicate themselves even more to what they were hired for: selling!