My dealer group has been a customer/partner with VinSolutions for a little over 3 years now. We experienced some of the same issues in the beginning of our relationship that have been voiced in this thread, ie support wait times, ticket updates etc. I think they have done a great job of admitting that they were wrong in those instances that were probably fueled by the rapid growth of the company. But we worked through those issues, both at our level and on their side of the phone also. Their new customer portal that is built into the sytem for contacting support, submitting tickets, and ideas for new processes is a big plus.
There was another thread on the forum the other day titled "He gets It" I reference that thread because in our dealer group there are those of us that "get it" and we have embraced the technology and benefits that the tools that Vin provides to us and our dealerships. Unfortunately there are a few stores in our group that view, not just Vin, but any tool that they are given as just a place to log floor and phone traffic, send a few emails etc and are nowhere near enjoying the benefits of the system that the rest of us are. We "get it" and are enjoying the benefits.
I was talking with another vendor friend of mine just the other day and we were talking about systems and technologies that dealerships are buying. The more succesful dealerships are those that embrace the new technolgy that they are stroking a check for each month, and have formed a partnership relationship with their vendor. I feel sometimes from what I read about some dealers displeasure with a vendors product are one of 2 things: 1 - they havent taken the time to learn how to use it effectively 2 - they havent really formed a solid relationship with the vendor to get the most out of the product. VinSolutions is no different. Their system and any system that we buy and put into our dealerships take work and effort to get the most out of them. They are not set it and forget it autopilot technologies. Those of us in our dealer group who are active in their training, attending their top notch training meetings are reaping the benefits of having their product.
I had a real treat the weekend prior to Digital Dealer. I was invited to sit in on the VinSolutions Dealer Advisory Board meeting. It was great to meet a lot of successful dealers from all over the country, that are leaders in their markets for their brands, who have also embraced the tools that Vin provides and doing a great job. It was a combination training meeting, and updating us on new features that are coming down the road. The most impressive part to me though is when they asked for our input and ideas of what they could do better. The open mindedness and being willing to listen to us, their customer, and agree to put some of our suggestions into play was pretty impressive to me. Some of the larger groups in attendance, and hope I'm not speaking out of turn here, are named Penske, Wyler, Harnish, Crossley, just to name a few. All of those guys "get it" also and doing a great job.
I hope this post answers the question of how a VinSolutions dealer feels about the product. I approached the answer more from a training/relationship standpoint. If there are specifics about the system and how it operates that you would like feedback on, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer. Another thread recently encouraged me to quit being a "lurker" on here and start writing input more. Didnt mean to write a book for my first post!
