Lincorp Automotive have been making serious attempts to collect data corporate wide an attempt to keep a tab on orders, and gain a sense of what the "daily position" of the variable operations of the enterprise.

This effort was a collection of Excel Based spreadsheets that were reliant upon each departmental manager submitting data to a central person who then had to work through any issues and collaborate and deploy the results.

We had presented "Behind the Wheel" - BTWonline to them a month or so earlier, illustrating that it was possible to successfully marry in the information collected in the in house system in conjunction with the individual efforts by each manager in updating the system with estimate Grosses and Delivery Dates against stock numbers and Deals.

We were most pleased to hear back from the organisation a little later after the concerted efforts of running the Spreadsheet version of Daily Orders was still problematic.

By adopting BTWonline, Lincorp Automotive have been able to achieve the following.

• The system automatically incorporates and updates in house data to deliver stock and sales information
  
• Every Manager can log in to BTW without worrying about versions or updates.
  
• The results are entered as they are realised, hence the system is now "up to the minute"!
  
• Lincorp are also collaborating Finance, Insurance, Aftermarket and Warranty detail to provide a complete picture at the front end.
  
• The easy to use interface assists Lincorp in Managing their stock and sales by facilitating an intuitive and easy to use interface to
  drill through the data and deliver meaningful information at the click of a few buttons.
  
• Not a single e-mail is required to keep all management informed of what is happening. Each user has an appropriate log in that presents the information in a way that suits them. There is no latency in the system as every member contributes directly into the BTW interface as it is realised.

Most importantly, Lincorp have been impressed with the service we have provided in getting the information reporting as it should, by turning up on site multiple times, and dealing with queries as they have been raised.

We look forward to the ongoing support of Lincorp in this terrific reporting product that is already delivering new and interesting information's to the management team.

For Michael Lane and the team at Lane Toyota everyone is up-to-date at any given time.

What follows are typical depictions of how BTW informs this dealership about all its business activities.

• When Michael turns up at the start of the day, he simply logs into BTW and has an instant and complete picture of what is happening at the front-end of his dealership. He notices that the average used car gross is down and that New Cars seem behind the eight-ball for its deliveries. Finance penetration is on track and Aftermarket seems to be going great guns! The outcomes of last weeks meeting seem to have taken effect. Still, there are some good topics identified that can be discussed at this morning's management meeting.
  
  
  
• For Used Cars, a quick look at BTW in the morning reflects that their department is on track for the month. A quick investigation on a reducing average gross for the month shows that a lot of 90+ day stock has been delivered this month, contributing to the reduced average. A quick reflection of the stock list shows that there are no more +90 day cars and that the balance of the month should not get hit with any more poor performing deals.
  
  
  
• The New Car manager looks at how he is faring for the month and sees that the overall delivery book looks strong. When he makes the distinction between delivered and non delivered cars, the picture does not look so healthy. He swore that there are 10 cars that should be reflected as delivered deals that are not being reported as delivered in BTW. A quick trace of the paper trail shows that Finance took its time sending these deals to admin, and as such took a little longer than usual to make it to admin for processing. They are now there for update this morning. As the estimate grosses are in for these deals, the picture should be close to what BTW represents. That's what I'll tell Michael at this morning's meeting.
  
  
  
• It is close to the end of the month, and the Financial Controller logs into OVU to compare the expectations of New and used cars as far as deals are concerned. There are 10 deals outstanding for new cars. Where are those deals? Okay, we've got them, and they will be in the system in another hour. Also, the dealership has qualified for a volume bonus on Corollas. I'll instruct my department to register that extra income to show an improved result for those "skinny deals" we took a punt on early in the month. We need to get a complete indicative result to Michael later today...

As you can see from the pictures painted above, the entire team works together to ensure the continuous smooth operation of the dealership. With it's simple to use interface, BTW offers all this information at the touch of a few buttons. What does it take to make all of this happen at your dealership? What inefficient methods and time consuming processes are getting in the way of providing you with an instant "big picture".