Do not immediately cut out every duplicative resource. Make sure any tool you decide to remove from your stack can be sufficiently replaced. Consider how much longer you have on individual product contracts. It may be financially beneficial to wait before ending your relationship with one or more of them. • Tie The Value of Each Vendor to Historical Revenue Some software in your dealership may play a significant role in the success of your business, and others may have less of an impact. If you find some tools fall into the latter category, you may want to consider eliminating them. Beyond expense control at your dealership, consider why a particular tool is not benefitting your business. Is it not doing its intended job, or has your business changed in ways that make the tool no longer a good fit? This is a great opportunity to involve your staff by discussing their usage of the software and how well they like it. If the general purpose of the software is valuable, but the current product does not provide a good experience for your staff, consider replacing the software with another vendor rather than removing it altogether. Replacing a key tool that the staff does not value with a better one could increase your revenue. • Consider How Efficiently the Software Works Together Dealership software should be integrated in a way that can share data efficiently. Data typically flows through the DMS, so consider this during your evaluation. If your tools are not communicating with each other, that means some of your staff may need to log into different interfaces and move data manually. It could also mean you are not getting the complete picture of what is happening in your dealership. Your staff may be spending more time dealing with the tools and less time bringing in revenue. Putting a focus on the integration of your software with your DMS can increase the efficiency of your dealership and offset costs. • Reduce Your Software Costs but Not the Value Now that you have evaluated your software stack, chosen what software can be removed, and have a better picture of how your tools tie to overall revenue, it is time to take action. Talk to selected software vendors about finishing but not renewing contracts. Make sure your chosen tools integrate well with your DMS. This should not only reduce costs but make the combination of your chosen tools more valuable to the dealership. Consider what you can do with these savings to benefit your dealership even further. Can you upgrade any software that would increase productivity? Perhaps somewhere else in the dealership needs an increase in budget. Can these savings go towards increasing customer satisfaction? These are all possibilities that may not have been an option before. Good luck reducing your costs and increasing your profits! 3 Beyond expense control at your dealership, consider why a particular tool is not benefitting your business. Is it not doing its intended job, or has your business changed in ways that make the tool no longer a good fit? 23
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