Evaluating Dealership Sales & Operations Software: A Comprehensive Checklist
10/23/2024Choosing the right software to manage sales, operations, and customer relationships is one of the most important decisions dealership leaders will make. Your dealership likely has a protocol in place for every process – whether it’s from marketing lead to quote, or trade-in evaluation to resale. Adopting software that doesn’t streamline your processes or fill in operational gaps can lead to frustrated employees, wasted time, and missed opportunities for revenue and market share growth. Therefore, knowing what features to look for in your next big performance software purchase, and taking steps to understand how a given platform will align with your dealership’s needs, will help prepare you for success when it comes time to put your software to work.
In previous articles, we introduced dealer intelligence platforms, examined critical features of dealership software to look for, and surveyed ways to overcome dealership challenges using integrated software. We recommended reading through these articles first to get an idea of how integrated software works and why it is important to connect all your dealership’s customer and business data. Here, we’ll go over what you need to consider before purchasing new sales and operations software and how to ensure that you have checked all the boxes to make an informed decision.
What is software evaluation and why does it matter?
Software evaluation is a critical step for any business deciding whether to invest in new technology or optimize existing systems. It involves a comprehensive analysis of the dealership’s workflows, pain points, and operational challenges to determine if (and which) new software is the best solution. This process also considers key factors like data management, security, scalability, and user experience to assess how well the software can integrate with existing systems.
When evaluating software, it's essential to compare different options, including off-the-shelf solutions, in-house development, and potential software customization. This helps dealerships determine whether purchasing pre-built software is the most suitable approach. Additionally, a thorough evaluation will consider the total cost of ownership (TCO), potential risks, and any specific limitations of the dealership’s current technology infrastructure to gauge readiness for adopting a new system.
An equipment dealership comes with its own unique set of challenges. Managing inventory, purchase order and settlement workflow, customer relationships, and sales processes is complex, and software evaluation helps identify whether a new solution can truly drive efficiency and scale operations. By taking a strategic, step-by-step approach, dealerships can avoid the common pitfalls of implementing technology that fails to get adopted or fully meet their operational needs.
Who should be involved in the software evaluation process?
The software evaluation process is most effective when it involves a diverse group of stakeholders across the organization, ensuring strategic objectives and day-to-day operational needs are considered. Engaging a cross-functional team increases the likelihood of selecting a solution that meets your dealership's unique needs, while ensuring smooth adoption by the primary users.
Consider consulting with the following stakeholders in your software evaluation process:
- Dealership executives: C-suite tends to set the strategic vision, aligning the software choice with business goals, budget constraints, and timelines. Their approval is often the most essential, as it ensures the software fits long-term growth plans.
- Sales and service team members: Frontline employees will be the ones using the software daily, so they should test it for usability and functionality if possible. Their feedback is critical in confirming that the software enhances customer interactions, sales processes, and service workflows.
- Department heads: Managers from sales, service, finance, and parts departments represent their specific operational needs. They ensure the software can support their team’s workflow and address critical challenges within their areas.
- IT managers and technicians: If your dealership has a dedicated IT team or specialist, they can provide invaluable insights into technical aspects such as infrastructure compatibility, security compliance, system integrations, and customization requirements. They will also play a key role in facilitating implementation once the software is selected.
By relying on a core project team, dealerships can ensure a collaborative and transparent evaluation process, coordinate feedback, conduct software demos, and align on selection criteria to ensure adoption of a solution that meets both strategic and operational needs.
Identifying current challenges and gaps
Before you start to assess any specific software, you should fully understand the operational challenges and gaps that exist at your dealership. Performing an audit of all your processes can be an important step in understanding what is running smoothly and what areas could be made more efficient. Read about how integrated software helps overcome operational challenges for an idea of what kinds of issues to look for when analyzing your dealership’s processes.
Key criteria: A dealership software evaluation checklist
Dealerships should consider a few critical criteria when evaluating software to allow for more informed decision-making. Once you have a list of potential software products to choose from, use this “software evaluation template” of what to consider when evaluating different software options.
Capabilities and features
Ensure that the software you choose offers capabilities and features that will meet your specific operational needs. It should enable critical functions like inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM), sales tracking, and service workflows. Your platform should also enhance efficiency in common dealership processes, automate routine tasks, and provide features that address unique challenges in managing inventory, sales, purchase orders, trade assessments, and more. Finally, your software should centralize dealership communication, allowing employees to send text messages to customers to foster engagement, as well as message team members to enhance interdepartmental collaboration.
System integration
For an equipment dealership, adopting software with integrations for existing internal and third-party systems is vital as it connects all your data and creates a reliable and centralized source of truth. The software should seamlessly integrate with your dealership management system (DMS), quote system, OEM-specific databases, and other applications to ensure a connected experience across all departments. A centralized platform reduces manual data entry, eliminates data silos, and provides a unified view of your operations and customer interactions.
Ease of use
Usability is key to smooth software adoption, especially for employees who may not be tech-savvy. Your dealership platform should have an intuitive interface, be easy to use and navigate, and come with reliable implementation support to onboard employees. Following implementation, your dealership teams should be able to navigate and employ the software for their daily tasks without a steep learning curve and without creating additional delays or headaches. Ideally, the software should also be compatible with mobile devices, allowing team members to access it from the dealership or out in the field.
Reporting and analytics
Equipment dealerships can only make informed business decisions when they can discern patterns and trends in their data. Your software should provide analytics that provide actionable insights into key performance metrics, such as sales trends, inventory movement, and customer engagement. Automated reporting tools enable managers to track performance across departments and adjust sales, marketing, and inventory strategies based on data-driven insights, leading to better decision-making and increased profitability.
Cost and ROI
When evaluating dealership software, it's crucial to consider both the total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI). TCO refers to the complete picture of costs associated with the software over its lifespan—not just the initial purchase price. This includes expenses related to purchasing, implementing, using, monitoring, maintaining, and optimizing the software.
For dealerships, understanding TCO helps you anticipate costs beyond the upfront investment, such as ongoing maintenance, upgrades, support, and employee training. By weighing TCO against ROI, you can ensure that the software delivers measurable value through improved efficiency, higher sales, or reduced operational costs. While ROI measures the benefits the software brings, TCO focuses on the true cost of owning and using it over time. A good starting point is to use a software ROI calculator to estimate potential savings and revenue increases.
Scalability with growth
As an equipment dealership grows, its software must scale with it. “Scalable” software means the ability to handle increased workloads, additional users, and expanding data storage requirements without performance issues. Additionally, your software should allow for further configurations tailored to the specific needs of your dealership. When evaluating software, dealerships should ensure it can support future growth, whether that involves adding new locations, serving more customers, or integrating with new technology.
Business partnership and support
Although many dealers might view it as simply a “nice to have,” getting reliable support from your software vendor is critical for smooth implementation and long-term success. Dealerships should prioritize vendors who offer comprehensive support services, including onboarding, training, and ongoing technical and configuration assistance. When a platform doesn’t include customer support in its standard offering, dealership employees can be left high and dry whenever they experience difficulties, and paying for costly third-party technical support will quickly eat up any return on investment made through improvement in efficiencies. In sum, dealerships should consider a vendor’s reputation, industry experience, and commitment to future updates and improvements when choosing their software.
Security
Security is another major consideration, particularly for protecting customer data and financial transactions, so the software needs to include robust security features to safeguard against data breaches and leaks. Confirm that your software complies with industry standards and any OEM rules for authorized vendors, and that it guarantees you full ownership over and access to your dealership data.
Software evaluation form template
Before purchasing new software, dealers need to understand what their operational needs and challenges are, as well as which features to look for in their software so they can meet these needs and overcome these challenges. Use the checklist below as a handy guide to help identify issues with your current processes and ask the right questions to find the dealership software that will create long-term success for your dealership.
Additional considerations about dealership software evaluation
The evaluation tips in this article are intended to point you in the right direction when it comes to evaluating new software. But a comprehensive analysis involves more than simply checking off features or comparing costs — it requires a nuanced approach that addresses both strategic goals and operational realities, and assessment of existing workflows, infrastructure, and process needs takes some time, and a close inspection of the software specs and capabilities is crucial.
Sometimes, strengths in one software area can create challenges in another, such as analytics tools requiring more extensive training or configurations demanding higher upfront costs. A successful evaluation therefore hinges on balancing these trade-offs to find a solution that meets both short- and long-term goals, as well as being open to feedback from end-users (i.e., your on-the-floor employees), which helps identify creative possibilities that align with your dealership’s operations.
Finally, dealers should consider the specific circumstances of their dealership, and even current market conditions (although, investing in software in a down market is still a good decision for dealerships planning for future growth). If your goals demand more streamlined processes to increase efficiency, software that integrates smoothly with existing systems will be weighted over platforms that are easy to use but don’t centralize your data. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach and each dealership must weigh these factors based on its unique strategic goals, operational needs, and resources to make an informed decision.
Make informed decisions with the Anvil Pro dealer intelligence platform
For dealers looking to transform their operations, drive efficiency, and ensure long-term profitability, the Anvil Pro dealer intelligence platform offers an end-to-end, fully integrated solution that connects all your critical systems—inventory management, dealer CRM, service workflows, and more—into a single platform. With seamless system integration, your dealership can eliminate data silos, improve decision-making with real-time analytics, and reduce operational bottlenecks.
Take the first step toward building a fully connected and future-ready operation. Book an Anvil Pro demo today to explore how an integrated platform can help your dealership overcome operational challenges, sync your existing systems, and achieve measurable results for sustained growth.