Digital Dealer - October 2019 - 22

D E A L E R OP S & M ANAGEM ENT: Dig ita l In tegr at i on Continued from pg. 21

management should
make sure everyone is
working together - that
is, the vendor has a clear
understanding of how the
dealership works, and
everyone at the dealership
understands what's
expected. Typically, open
communication involves a
series of on-site meetings
and walk-throughs as the
vendor's implementation
team shadows workers in all
departments to understand
how they operate. Many
times, this process can
reveal opportunities to
streamline or standardize
operations across several
stores.

2. DILIGENCE IN
COMPLETING TRAINING.

While the vendor team is
configuring the system, the
dealership team should train
on the new software. Every
vendor has its own method,
but most commonly, this
training is accomplished in
stages. General tutorials
are followed by remote
training that allows workers
to practice entering data in
isolation, without affecting
live operating data. Finally,
on the 'go-live' date and
for a period thereafter, the
vendor should have trainers
on-site to help with the
actual transition.
3. MANAGEMENT TEAM
BUY-IN. It's natural to

expect some resistance to
change, especially among
employees who find their
day-to-day work experiences altered drastically. Soliciting their input early in the
process can help smooth
the way, but the most
critical factor in overcoming

22

OCTOBER 2019

employee resistance is the
attitude of their immediate
supervisors and department
managers. Even managers who have reservations
about the switch should
recognize their obligation
to make sure personnel
complete the required
training. Senior executives
should personally explain
the reasons for the change,
and make sure that mid-level managers and employees
are alerted to the change as
early as possible.

4. PROJECT PLANNING
AND MANAGEMENT. A

detailed project plan -
complete with milestones,

the organization including
sales and service units,
administrative departments,
and IT. Management
should appoint a dedicated
project champion in every
department in every store.
These project champions
should be updated with
regularly scheduled status
calls so they can keep their
coworkers informed on how
the migration is progressing.

DMS. This list often
contains some surprises
for senior executives and
IT teams. All third parties
- from marketing and
CRM providers to parts
vendors and manufacturer
representatives - need
to get notified of the
pending change so that
they update their sign-on
credentials, automatic data
transmissions, inventory
feeds, and other critical
information.

made such a switch. Quite
often, they do not remember
the process involved or the
pitfalls they encountered the
last time.
This lack of organizational
knowledge is a compelling
reason to consider hiring
an experienced transition
consultant to help coordinate the effort. Although
software vendors offer to
help manage the transition,
they often are handling
multiple implementations at
once and have limited resources available for project
management.
Making dealership
personnel responsible for
project management also
can be ineffective because
their primary focus is on
their day-to-day job responsibilities. Managing the
DMS migration would be a
secondary priority at best.
Because expected cost
savings often are a motivating factor, it makes sense
to invest in an experienced
specialist whose sole
focus is on managing the
transition and maximizing
financial benefits.
Implementing a new DMS
is a major step, and a failed
transition can get extremely costly. But with proper
planning, careful evaluation,
system selection, and active
project management, the
effort can provide significant
benefits.

For most dealerships, a
change in DMS is a rare occurrence. Perhaps it's been
20 years or more since they

SALLY LOPEZ is Partner of
Owl Automotive Consulting
LLC. EMAIL: sally@owlautocs.
com. ED REINHARD is
Partner of Crowe LLP. EMAIL:
ed.reinhard@crowe.com

5. THIRD-PARTY
COORDINATION. Another

of the project champions'
duties is to compile an
up-to-date list of all outside
entities that access or
coordinate with the existing

MANY TIMES, THIS
PROCESS CAN REVEAL
OPPORTUNITIES
TO STREAMLINE
OR STANDARDIZE
OPERATIONS ACROSS
SEVERAL STORES."
timelines, and lines of
responsibility - is essential
to a successful transition.
Generally speaking, it
usually is better if all
departments and all
stores make the transition
simultaneously, but in
certain situations, a phasedin approach might be
unavoidable. For example,
a large group might prefer
to beta-test a new system
in one or two areas before
rolling it out to the whole
organization. The dealer
and vendor should agree on
this plan early in the project.
It also is important to form a
core integration team, with
representation from across

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