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We went through this 'fun adventure' a few years back and I can tell you be sure you touch on all aspects of the dealership and have all your departments really involved. We went from the old EDS/ADP-ARG system and decided on ADP DRIVE. The conversion was a pretty bad experience but after time we have learned to use the system with all its odd things and defects... many defects haha. One of the best things we did do was hire the Gillrie Institue to assist us with our Contract. It was was/is money well spent. It paid for itself with the savings within the first few months. I would not go through a contracting without them again.


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We went through this 'fun adventure' a few years back and I can tell you be sure you touch on all aspects of the dealership and have all your departments really involved. We went from the old EDS/ADP-ARG system and decided on ADP DRIVE. The conversion was a pretty bad experience but after time we have learned to use the system with all its odd things and defects... many defects haha. One of the best things we did do was hire the Gillrie Institue to assist us with our Contract. It was was/is money well spent. It paid for itself with the savings within the first few months. I would not go through a contracting without them again.


Welcome to the Paul Gillrie Institute - The Paul Gillrie Institute
.

I agree!
 
Hey Roger, I answered your question over on the other thread. There is some great advice here. Here are some things we did that I would recommend doing.

Demo - get the managers involved, maybe a writer, f&i, accounting etc. They need to really help make the decision. If you get any feeling you didn't get a good demo, request another with a different person, no shame in that, you are the potential customer.

Go try it - get the DMS to hook you up with one of their best dealers to go see it live in a store and hear from the people there. Request a dealer that also uses your CRM or other main vendors you want the DMS to integrate with.

Get quotes on everything before you sign, such as data transfer, etc. Ask lots of questions, dont let the person doing the demo just skim over.

Good luck!
 
Hey Roger, I answered your question over on the other thread. There is some great advice here. Here are some things we did that I would recommend doing.

Demo - get the managers involved, maybe a writer, f&i, accounting etc. They need to really help make the decision. If you get any feeling you didn't get a good demo, request another with a different person, no shame in that, you are the potential customer.

Go try it - get the DMS to hook you up with one of their best dealers to go see it live in a store and hear from the people there. Request a dealer that also uses your CRM or other main vendors you want the DMS to integrate with.

Get quotes on everything before you sign, such as data transfer, etc. Ask lots of questions, dont let the person doing the demo just skim over.

Good luck!

More great advice Mr. Duke!
 
Strongly advise not to use DT. Currently work in a dealership that has been on it almost a year. I have used 4 different dms R&R ADP Autosoft and Dealertrack. Dealertrack places dead last in every area. From customer service to resolving issues with functionality. For god sake in your parts and service applications take input from someone who has actually worked in dealerships.
 
Strongly advise not to use DT. Currently work in a dealership that has been on it almost a year. I have used 4 different dms R&R ADP Autosoft and Dealertrack. Dealertrack places dead last in every area. From customer service to resolving issues with functionality. For god sake in your parts and service applications take input from someone who has actually worked in dealerships.
As it turned out- after going round and round with R&R, ADP, and DT we ended up choosing Dealertrack, mostly because of the lower cost. I can't say we've been totally happy with DT. Besides what you mentioned one of things that troubles me the most is we have no Dealer Rep for this area to voice concerns to. Our salesman has already left DT so we can't call him. This systems has a lot of shortcomings - it surprises me so many large dealer groups use it and like it.
 
As it turned out- after going round and round with R&R, ADP, and DT we ended up choosing Dealertrack, mostly because of the lower cost. I can't say we've been totally happy with DT. Besides what you mentioned one of things that troubles me the most is we have no Dealer Rep for this area to voice concerns to. Our salesman has already left DT so we can't call him. This systems has a lot of shortcomings - it surprises me so many large dealer groups use it and like it.

They want you to pay extra to have a dedicated person to call for issues, other wise you just call into the normal support line.
 
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