Dealers are losing customers and tens of thousands of pounds by not exploiting their dealer management systems.

Those who are using technology which is more than five years old or which requires staff to input data more than once are wasting time and money.

Modern DMS systems can store customers’ details in one document and incorporate email and text functions.

The information is easily transferable from one document to another, saving time and effort from re-keying.

Dealers can also filter out particular customers who may be looking for a certain model of car or create alerts to highlight an impending service.

Typically dealers don’t have an IT background. They need the technology, but don’t like investing in it.

On average, most dealers change their systems every seven years. Those who leave it longer run the risk of using slower, less efficient equipment.