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This is a great question, and is the fundamental question to answer when making a decision on your DMS system for the future.

However, there isn't one answer !   The answer to this question is personal to you as a business and will likely be different to your peers.

There are various things that may affect the answer  

1. Does the system have the features I need ?
2. Does the system solve my problems ?
3. Will the system solve my problems not only today but also in the future ?
4. What is the cost of the Dealer Management System ?

Clearly the more features you need, and the more problems you need to solve the higher the price you will be willing to pay to gain a solution

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Of course, the question about "what features do I need?" can also be phrased as "What features can I have ? ".   Most solutions will have many standard features and many options.  It's important to understand what you *need* as a standard and which options you need.  There is no need to have features you don't need today.

As far as the problems you need to solve, it's good to break down the reason you are reviewing a new Dealer Management System.  Many people are looking for a new system based on "negatives", such as "my existing system is too expensive?" or "can I get a better system before I renew my contract?"  

But, add to this by looking at your business, review the touch points you have with your existing solution - look at where information is entered to and from the system into others.  

Think of "system" in it's widest sense... For example, when you answer the phone, you will gain information from the caller to search for data in the DMS system.  

Wouldn't this be awesome if this could happen automatically based on the callers caller-id ?  

This is one just example of things you can think of!

Once you have your feature-set and problems  you can then compare this with the features that you can gain from the various systems.    

And at the end of the day, it all comes down to cost.  The  best system in the world isn't the best if the cost doesn't make sense.  But even here there are questions.  

Do you want to pay more up front? and have lower monthly payments ?   or maybe pay nothing to change and pay a little more per month ?

How do your payments change over time?   Do you need to recontract every year or two at uncertain pricing  or can you calculate what your price might be in 3/5/7 years time ?

What happens if your business changes ? What if you add an extra dealership? or close one?  or employ more people ?  Will the system you buy be flexible and have predictable pricing  ?

For sure, Navigator isn't for everyone.   But, if you can answer the above questions, you can easily use the tools on our web site to see if it may well be for you!      

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