Retention is a key focus in car retailing right now. Products such as PCPs and service plans represent key retention tools, but frequently key operational technology in dealerships is built upon internal processes and the bottom line, not the customer. Attending to their needs is central to retention and such technology needs to embrace the customer.

With a raft of technology-based new entrants entering the car retailing market, often on a price-led basis, dealers should be looking to their technology to help enhance their own business model and address a rapidly shifting trading environment. This is the view of Pentana Solutions, whose distinctive Dealer Management System and Business intelligent technology sees it dominate the Australasian & Asia Pacific dealer technology market and now see it achieve a growing footprint across Europe.

Pentana’s Vice President and UK General Manager, Mike Gadd notes: “Classically, Dealer Management Systems centre upon financial control with their heritage often in accounting software. Typically, profitability and productivity are the key themes. Unquestionably, these two attributes are central to the long-term health of any dealership. However, both are ‘inward’ measures’ in a trading environment where the wider operating model is rapidly turning to embrace an ‘outward’ facing approach that focuses upon the customer and their needs.”

Financial regulation is one driver of change with the FCA directing that dealers deliver a ‘good consumer outcome,’ placing “customers at the heart of their business model.” However, more than this, it seems that increasingly customers are seizing their own good outcome for themselves. The rapid shift to mobile devices and an array of apps and easily accessed digital tools and data are shaping customer expectations in the selection of their chosen vehicle purchase, after sales, added value services and purchase experience Itself.

Pentana’s Dealer Management System origins, 40 years ago, came from a customer retention software perspective, integrating financial insight and control. It is subtle but important difference to accounting based technology, placing customers at the heart of everything. This is evident both in the way that the customer is the central focus and the ‘open’ technology ethos. There is no fixed technology approach at dealer level and integration of third party applications is welcomed positively.

Mike Gadd concludes; “We can all see the rate of development in the digital market. Dealers need to prepare themselves to keep pace with this change. It starts culturally and must be supported by scalable customer centric technology that can quickly integrate the plug-in innovations that can help shape a better long-term customer experience that supports sustained dealer profitability.”