I hate to say it like this, but my favorite desking tool (just for pure desking) is a spread sheet one of our GM's created. This spread sheet is so advanced it pulls down information from outside databases! It is completely customizable - obviously, so it costs deals out and creates commission sheets while you're working the deal. It even pulls in the most recent residuals and terms from BMW, MINI, Audi, and Porsche. We only use it at our luxury stores because it is highly balloon focused - something we should all be looking at again in these times. Our volume stores are using iMagicLab for retail deals, but get upset with it due to the speed - which isn't iMagicLab's fault, it is due to old computers that are due to be replaced this year. Once iMagicLab can get a $0 down lease to roll backwards they'll start using it for leasing too....soon I'm sure
We originally got hooked on the 9 payments per payment type worksheet (yes, that would be 27 payments on a purchase, lease, and balloon presentation) because of ePencil. For its time, that program was off the charts. I think it finally has some real competition in the market today, so it isn't off the charts anymore. I'd love to see it go completely online...or a hybrid online/software packet on a desktop like DealerSocket does it. But at the end of the day, there is no fantastic desking tool - they're all just desking 1.0 right now and there are some issues to get past before we ever see 2.0.
I don't think there is an end-all be-all penciling solution. The reasons:
- it is too difficult to code for someone who worked on a desk (see the next point)
- desk managers are really simple people - most don't think beyond the deal that is in front of them
- GM's don't have time to mess with it
- Coders might have sold cars at one time, but never worked a desk
- CRM companies hire good people from the car-sales side of the industry and never let them go near development
- CRM companies code it as it should "technically" be, but that isn't how it works in the real world. Then too much development time is put into it and they don't want to go back.
- It is difficult to get a deal to push to the DMS 100% accurately 100% of the time.
I could be way off, or I could just be looking at this microcosm that I've worked in without regard for the rest of the world. Anyway, that's how I've seen things go down.
There are answers and most of those begin in the mirror for us dealers:
- Hire people who can use a computer
- If you're going to put someone on the desk just because he can close a deal, you better make his partner a big nerd
- Start doing business based on the numbers, and not from the gut
- Partner with your CRM company and create a position that is primarily focused on CRM usage - then, through this position, help the CRM design a desking solution that fits your needs
- If the DMS companies are going to be funny about data integration....who cares....key the deal twice. If you have the oldest of old dinosaurs behind your desk then you're looking at 10 minutes extra per deal. Let's say he does 10 deals in a day (you probably have another sales manger anyway) then he would be spending almost 2 hours per day transferring information from the desking tool to the CRM - fie him! I guarantee your next salesmanager won't have that same problem.
Desking tools don't sell more cars - they generate more gross. They force a sales manager to slow down to consider the deal more and maybe point out some numbers they may not have considered. Then it provides the reporting necessary to scrutinize each deal based on where things were started and where they ended up. We dealers try to put more into it than that and view it as something that is going to speed things up. That's why I say we need to look into a mirror first, before judging a desking tool.