Troublesome Times for the DMS Industry

This week, we saw a jump in the number of dealerships reaching out to Autosoft. Apparently, one of the “Big Two” providers sent a letter to every customer on a month-to-month arrangement or whose contract recently expired, informing them that they have until mid-December to sign a two-, three-, or five-year contract or else their service will be terminated. This announcement comes, conveniently, at a busy time of year for dealerships and with very little time for them to research, find, and install a new DMS before the deadline.

Talk about a dealership under pressure! And the demands are coming from a company that is currently in the process of acquiring another DMS provider in a deal that may not be completed for another 6-12 months and that’s leaving dealers with many concerns.

These dealers are asking themselves, “What am I signing up for? What system will I be forced to use? How much control will I have over the third-party vendors I want to use and how will I keep add-on fees under control?”

When we talk with these dealers, they seem to have lost trust and faith in ALL their technology providers. And can you blame them? There are at least 3 class action lawsuits against their current provider that are making their way through the courts right now, from: Authenticom, MVSC, and now Teterboro CJDR.

Dealerships are asking question after question, but sadly, not about the benefits DMS technology will create for their dealership. No. Instead, they are seeking to uncover all the ways a DMS provider might stick it to them, including:

Huge upfront fees and high training costs
Long-term contracts that mysteriously extend themselves
Limited choices for integration with third-party partners and high integration fees
Poor customer support

It is an unfortunate time in our industry that we have reached this point.

We’d like dealerships to know, however, that there are alternative DMS providers, including Autosoft, who can step in and not only help you gain control over your current situation, but enable you to improve customer satisfaction and dealership profits as well.

If you are only casually familiar with Autosoft, you may be surprised to find that we are the fourth-largest DMS provider in the U.S. We are a second-generation company that has been in business for 30 years with plans to remain independent going forward.

Autosoft has also been named the Highest Rated DMS by DrivingSales for three years in a row, and we are the Most Recommended DMS since the program began. We continue to innovate our product based on the evolution of the automotive retail industry and the needs our customers.

We are currently in the middle of rolling out an “all-in-one” DMS platform built with modern technology, with one login, and one database. We are excited to be implementing a business plan that allows us to help both the smallest and largest dealerships become more profitable.

If you are being pressured to make a deal you might regret, I encourage you to contact us. Time is of the essence as deadlines are looming. You can reach us here.