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DMS Conversion Nightmares

DMS Conversion Nightmares

The decision to implement a DMS conversion can be the beginning of a long nightmare that can be avoided. A dealer decides it’s time to move from one DMS system to another for cost, or other reasons. A DMS conversion is a complex process. At the core, accounting is simple and straightforward, having accounts with debit or credit balances. What makes it slightly complex is how the dollars move in and out of the various accounts. What makes it very complex is how the dealership needs to operate their store by using that system to move the dollars in and out of the accounts, all while training a team to use the DMS correctly.


If you are a mid-to-large franchise dealer with a well-organized prior accounting system and you make a conversion, odds are higher (notice I didn’t say high) that your conversion will go fairly smooth. The headache will be in the staff learning to use the new system which creates errors that have to be found and fixed.


However, if you are an independent dealer or a mid-to-small franchise dealer the odds are very high that it won’t go quite so smoothly.

“Why is DMS Conversion a nightmare and how do I improve the process?”

The primary reason is no two independent dealerships (or many mid-to-small franchise stores) operate the same and many DMS installers don’t take the time to understand your business before they do the install. Instead, they set up the most common items, the ones they believe you need, based on their other clients, which may not be what you want or need at all.


Don’t expect your DMS to know your finance companies or your agreements with those companies. It will be your responsibility to get each finance company set up correctly. I’ve witnessed a bunch of conversions where the finance companies were not set up properly and the accounting office struggled with ongoing issues in posting to the ledger. In one case, they had used a work-around for five years instead of fixing the problem, simply because they didn’t understand the problem.


The other issue is training. Many dealers pay for a trainer to come to the store, but instead of being prepared to have the trainer instruct what they need to do in order to do business, they rely on the trainer to take the lead in teaching them. This is one of the worst mistakes a dealer can make in my opinion. Before you spend any money on a DMS trainer, you need to create a list of the things each person in the store needs to be able to do in the system. For example, your service department has a Groupon running. How should the system be set up to allow the service team to process RO’s and close them correctly for this transaction? Your sales department has three pack items you would like to see separately in the system. How do you set it up and how do you record it so that it appears in the Business Office/F&I and the accounting office correctly?


The other mistake is thinking a one-time training event with a DMS trainer will do the trick. Most people don’t retain information just because they heard it one time. Some don’t retain audio information at all. Your training needs to address all forms of learning (reading, visual, auditory and kinesthetic) so everyone on staff can learn as quickly as possible. DMS training should not be crammed into a short window. You will need training reinforcement, not a once and done.


Plan ahead. What can your staff learn in advance of the install? Keep in mind how busy they are on a day-to-day basis at the store. Can they watch basic user videos or read basic user instructions in advance so some of the screens and terminology of that DMS provider are familiar to them prior to in-person training?


Once they have done as much pre-onsite training as they can, the second step is to have the actual hands-on training in the dealership, with a side-by-side trainer. This means training for every position in the store that will use the DMS. Recognize that every employee will learn at a different speed, which means a trainer in the store for a few days isn’t likely to be able to address all the training needs of everyone. Who in your store can help bridge the training gap when the DMS trainer leaves?


Now for reinforcement of the training, all users need process cheat sheets for their primary duties as well as those duties they are required to do weekly or monthly. Daily duties will become habits in a few weeks, but those items they only do once per month will be a struggle for an extended period of time without the process cheat sheets.


Regardless of how free your DMS training and support is, there is a cost factor involved in sitting on the phone waiting to get answers. There is also the issue of communication with the DMS support team in making sure they understand the complete issue and what you want to accomplish. I’ve seen two different people in a dealership call about two different but related problems and the fix to one creates yet another problem for the other, all because the entire problem wasn’t addressed.


Another issue I see regularly is a lack of communication in the dealership that adds to the conversion nightmare. If things are coming in to the ledger wrong, oftentimes the accounting office just finds ways to compensate. They make extra entries, undo and redo transactions, or otherwise find a work-around that allows them to get their jobs done. Instead, they should be questioning the root of the problem and finding a permanent solution that doesn’t require a work-around at all. If purchase orders are being posted to the wrong vendor is it because the person issuing doesn’t know how to select the proper vendor, or they don’t have security rights to set up a new vendor properly. Either way it’s an easy issue to fix with basic instruction.


It is possible to minimize the nightmares associated with a DMS conversion, but it takes careful planning – much of which is focused on the process you need in your store and the training of your team. Plan wisely and save yourself a few nightmares or at the very least make them short ones.

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