T L Darby

Autoline - the natural choice

Early in 2008, the decision was made by T L Darby to replace their existing dealer management system. As part of the selection process, they researched systems from four providers. There were a variety of factors for finally choosing Autoline.

Chris Rendell, the Aftersales Manager for T L Darby explains, “When we were reviewing potential systems, Autoline was a natural choice because of its reputation as the market leader and in the current market, the fact that ADP is a financially secure organisation. With our current solution, we had been running a ‘standalone’ payroll system, which was costly and had limited reporting functionality. Also, the visibility across departments was lacking, resulting in time wasted searching for information. Therefore, one of the leading factors in finally deciding on Autoline was the complete integration of all the key business areas, with aftersales, parts, showroom, accounts, workshop and telephony all in the one system and with strong management reporting functionality throughout."

Proven hosted solution - a risk-free option

Chris continued, “We opted for a fully hosted system. This solution was very attractive when you take into account the financial costs and resources of managing an in-house equivalent. Knowing that our data is fully managed by ADP removes the responsibility from an individual dealership, reducing the business risk." ADP has been offering system hosting for the retail automotive industry for over ten years. It was this proven track record that particularly impressed T L Darby. By opting for a hosted solution, T L Darby were able to eliminate the burden of an upfront capital expenditure on costly servers. Chris continued, “With predictable costs based on the number of users, the IT costs can be planned and budgeted for more easily. This was a definite plus point."

Integrated telephony makes business sense

T L Darby were also impressed with the integrated telephony offering from ADP and as a result placed an order. This solution provides a wide range of inbound and outbound call facilities including caller identification through screen-popping, click-to-dial and call centre scripting to help drive greater sales.

The Solution from ADP

The Autoline system went live at T L Darby in December 2008 and its functionality has been having a positive effect on the business with strong operational efficiencies. The department managers are actively using the reporting facilities and use the information relating to daily operations such as repairs and aftersales to help make informed business decisions.

Chris stated, “The Autoline system is relatively simple to use compared to some other systems on the market. User-friendly interfaces and the structured nature of Autoline made training staff easier. The only consideration is that staff should have some prior experience in using IT systems."

Chris explains, “With Autoline, we are now able to access and review job records on a daily basis, whereas we used to wait until month end to review all completed work. The system allows us to record more information, which in turn helps us to manage the business more accurately. The aftersales module of Autoline has given us greater visibility of current stocking levels, which means the replenishment process is simpler and daily stock orders are easily completed."

The solution from ADP was well received by the staff of T L Darby, with a number of training sessions being held locally and off-site to ensure staff knew how to best use the system. As a firm believer in embracing new ideas or technology when it will add value to the business, T L Darby recognised the importance of establishing ‘best practice’ in their use of Autoline to give them a competitive advantage in today’s challenging trading conditions.

CRM functionality to drive increased sales

During the transition from old system to new, a great deal of data cleansing was carried out to enhance T L Darby’s ability to run more targeted and effective marketing campaigns. Using the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module within Autoline, the organisation is able to send out tailored letters, emails and SMS communications to customers and prospective customers and also have the ability to carry out customer satisfaction surveys using the system. Chris commented, “The CRM element is useful and what it does for the business is very valuable. Some dealers don’t yet have a strong CRM requirement but over the next few years, CRM will play a larger part in running a successful dealership."

Asked whether the current economic downturn has had a negative impact on sales, Chris responded positively, stating, “The strong reputation of the Volkswagen brand has protected us to a certain extent. However, the importance of customer loyalty is vital and the use of the marketing tools within Autoline is helping to strengthen it."

The Future

As part of the phased roll out of the system, T L Darby will soon start using the showroom (sales) application within Autoline. When up and running, the showroom module will help control the sales process and generate additional sales. A customer’s vehicle choice can be quickly created and additional items such as car mats or car kits can easily be added to a vehicle order. If the customer changes their mind, it is easy to make changes to an order whilst the customer is still present. Easy to understand documentation is produced for the customer for every sale. Chris stated that for T L Darby one of the major benefits of the showroom module will be in helping the sales team to progress deals more quickly.

A final question posed to Chris Rendell was whether they would have still made the decision to invest in a new system had they known of the tough economic times ahead. The answer was a resounding ‘yes’. Chris said this was because of the anticipated return on investment that the system will help them generate over the coming months and years.