Post-pandemic supply issues continue to plague most car dealers, causing extreme shortages of inventory across the country. In many cases, cars are completed, but sit on manufacturing lots, waiting for microchips, leaving showroom floors and car lots with little inventory to choose from. Of course, customers could try to custom order a new model, but those weight times are extraordinary, with some brands and models taking up to one year to be delivered to dealers.
Car manufacturers are tackling the problem through the pre-order process and by designing cars that use fewer microchips, allowing them to bring more models to market, faster. However, it is predicted that the inventory supply will continue to stay in the low range, even as the U.S. government passed a bill to proposed to fund American companies producing U.S.-based computer chips.
However, for auto dealerships, ensuring that customer service ratings remain high and that they have the right infrastructure in place to effectively react to further changes in the market is key to success during this shortage. Fortunately, one simple to use tool holds promise for dealerships looking to better manage their shifting inventories: Document management software.
The Impact of Document Management Software on Inventory Control
Overcoming the current car shortage puts auto dealerships in a precarious position — customers are already dismayed by the lack of choice on car lots so any glitches in service are magnified, putting dealers at a disadvantage with the competition. To ensure your dealership can provide the highest level of value and service to your customers, you must build a business process that is agile and dynamic.
Doing this requires an emphasis on data consolidation as well as the automation of repetitive and error-prone manual tasks, both of which document management solutions can tackle easily and cost-effectively. Here’s what they offer:
Real Time Optimization
A document management solution (DMS) consolidates all your data into one hub that is easily customized to meet the specific needs and goals of your dealership. Your management team can choose how to sort and filter data points, decide upon authorizations and access controls for data protection, and create a system that offers every authorized team member instant access to the information they need to perform at their highest level.
Error Free Tracking
Manual data entry is fraught with errors, even when it is double-checked by a quality control team. In fact, one study showed that visual checking for mathematical errors resulted in an incredible 2958% more errors than double entry — which itself turned out to be not much more error-free than single entry. A DMS reduces the chance of inventory errors through automating data control, ensuring that your lot count — and part inventory — is correct.
Effortless Scaling of Sales and Marketing
In this time of uncertain supply and an economy that is constantly in flux, it is critical to your bottom-line health to be able to scale sales and marketing efforts as the situation demands. With data automation through a DMS, you can easily access critical customer information to gain visibility into activities and changes in demand, allowing you to increase — or decrease — customer-centered activities in order to boost our sales numbers or conserve budget monies as your needs dictate.
Blue Technologies Has the Right DMS for Your Dealership’s Needs
At Blue Technologies, we understand that each auto dealership has a unique set of business goals and challenges. For that reason, we provide custom-tailored document management solutions that target these needs, focusing on reducing inefficiencies in business processes so you can run a leaner — and more competitive —operation.
Based on your needs, we offer full-spectrum DMS solutions that include document capture to streamline your data entry process to collaborative automations that help your teams communicate more effectively for higher productivity — and to provide a better experience to your customers. Providing customers with accurate, real-time information regarding your available vehicles, the status of their pre-orders, and availability of necessary parts for currently owned vehicles allows dealerships to foster the loyalty and trust that ensures repeat business.
Weather the ongoing inventory shortage with the competitive advantage of optimized data. Contact a Blue Technologies consultant to learn how our document management solutions can help your dealership thrive in these uncertain times.