If you’ve been around long manufacturing and dealers enough, you likely have a set way of doing things. You have a system of handling day-to-day interactions between manufacturing and dealers. It may not be an ideal system, but you’re glad to at least have a system in place.
The problem is, you’re starting to suspect that the systems you’ve set up with dealers or manufacturers are a little outdated. More and more problems arise as customers and clients modernize their expectations. If you sense that any of the following problems are on the rise, it may be time to stop ignoring the signs that your systems are outdated. In fact, it may be time to fix them. Here’s how.
Problem #1: Outdated Communication with Dealers
You use smartphones and you use email, so you don’t feel like your communication system is “outdated.”
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t. Here are a few signs that your communication systems are out of date:
- A disjointed process. Someone calls you. You email them in response. Or they email you, and you call them in response, only to get no answer. If your communication is a mishmash of phones, emails, and other ways of interacting, the process is disjointed and needs a new strategy of centralization so that communication can be reliable and consistent.
- Lack of communication accountability. Where do you record what communications have taken place? Is there any issue tracking, or any system in place to be sure which party has made the last attempt at communication? Without a sufficient system in place, even email and smart phones will give you a tough time at tracking communication.
Problem #2: Inconsistent Ordering
One of the most important ways to facilitate a healthy relationship between dealer and manufacturer is to establish a consistent ordering system. Here are some signs that your ordering system isn’t up to snuff:
- The “mishmash.” Without a singular ordering system—one that provides all the options a dealer needs—a “mishmash” of different ordering procedures develops. This leads to inconsistent tracking and a number of human errors.
- Indirect orders. If dealers are forced to make indirect orders through some fulfillment center—and not the manufacturer themselves—it can lead to a lengthier process. The ideal system is one in which an order placed by the dealer is received directly by the manufacturer, options and all.
- Bad warranty claims. If warranty claims go unchecked, it’s a sure sign that the ordering process is flawed. Keeping things honest between manufacturer and dealer will require that warranty claims are as easy to access as are orders themselves.
The best way to solve all of these problems in a singular way is to utilize software that provides order tracking, warranty tracking, and effective, one-stop communication between manufacturers and dealers. DealersCircle provides all of these features and more in its inventory management and sales/customer tracking software, even offering a free trial so you can give it a whirl and see if the old way of doing things is just that—the old way of doing things.
