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Making Gains Through Flexible Software

PFW Software: Working for a Broad Range of Dealerships

PFW Password - Summer 2006 Software. You know that you need it to run your business and compete in your marketplace, but is your software budget being used to its best advantage?

The “business value” of software is relative to such critical factors as the product’s impact on profit margin, as well as how dynamic the system is. It must be determined how well, and at what cost, the product fits or adapts to your needs and those of your marketplace.

You want innovative products that are industry-relevant, and are developed with your needs in mind. PFW knows that consultation—through ongoing product support and our training, via Webinars, workshops and conferences—is invaluable to our creative process. We view that input as critical to our product research and development, and in our efforts to build the best solution for the marketplace.

PFW IntelliDealer: Software that Works with You
PFW’s commitment is to produce software that is more than just relevant. We want you to experience a focused and business-specific system. For software to be of the greatest value, it must provide “best practice” workflows, and must work with you, not against you.

Your “system wish list” may include the ability to control your software’s entry point, how the screen behaves when you conduct a transaction, or how the screen looks and reads. Your ideal software might include configurable reports where a controlled flow of information can be “pushed” to the user. Software that works for you might mean access to a user-created list of links from any screen in the system to instantly call up internal application pages or web addresses. All of these things are currently available in PFW IntelliDealer.

IntelliDealer features a sophisticated company/division/branch hierarchy that allows a myriad of dealerships to control the way they run their business and create data interoperability. Another benefit of this three-part structure is the accommodation of dealerships of any scale and type. While the most common system configuration is that of one company, one division, and multiple locations, dealerships that require an alternate setup find that the PFW system has this capability. This advanced structure is remarkable in that many systems use a single-level architecture, with only multiple branches available. And while it is possible to license systems that feature a multiple-company framework, this is typically accomplished at the cost of maintaining multiple databases.

IntelliDealer Adaptability
IntelliDealer’s flexibility is seen immediately: after login, you can select the screen you need to begin your work session. Choose from one of seventeen—and counting—screens and position your most-used information at the forefront to launch your session where you need to. Chris Lucas, VP of Information Technology at Tractor and Equipment Co. in Birmingham, Alabama, says, “It’s not unusual for our Parts & Service clerks to change their Start Page to Product Support.”

The way in which your system interface functions is critical to your daily software usage. As IntelliDealer capitalizes on the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of a web browser, tabs are integral to the way in which screens are organized and provide easy navigation. Fortunately, IntelliDealer allows for the ordering of screen tabs by user, so the information pertaining to your company or branch is logically and conveniently ordered. This prevents the all-too-frequent and maddening dig for what you need.

Navigation Ease
Software system users generally have a workscreen where they spend the bulk of their time. This is usually dependent on their organizational role. From a navigational point of view, easy access to this application is an ease-of-use benefit. With that principle in mind, IntelliDealer’s Quick Links (Fig. 1), currently in testing, will allow you to use a screen-header-embedded hyperlink to access internal or external bookmarks. This will let you jump quickly to your favorite screen from any screen in IntelliDealer, and provide instant access to relevant information via a mouse click, as opposed to an unwieldy “out and back” navigation. Time is saved, and we believe there is also a cumulative benefit in the positive psychological impact that good software has on its users.

A Customer View
Today, superior customer service requires that you can instantly access key information regarding customer preferences and characteristics. This allows you to provide a tailored and “warm” customer-service experience. IntelliDealer’s Customer Portal gives you the flexibility to open the door you need—and in the way you need to see it—to specific customer and transaction information. Users can create a space that contains the customer information that is most relevant to their position, and can zero in on a customer account to instantly receive precise updates. Customer Portal can be configured to view all possible customer transactions in one view, which eliminates the need to enter multiple applications.

Workflow Mirroring
Traded-in equipment can be supported by IntelliDealer’s Used Equipment Evaluations (UEE), where dealerships can build a complete used equipment review from start to finish, reduce redundant effort by creating an evaluation history, and ensure that a smooth workflow is created for used-unit processing. The system features multiple “areas” or evaluation roles to choose from so that you can perform your own particular setup. UEE can be configured for or according to branch and company policy, with users seeing only those screens and functions that are relevant to their assigned area. This sophistication allows for a correct use of the application, with the most suitable individual performing the appropriate part of the appraisal. The result is a smooth time-and-cost-saving flow of used units through a controlled process—one that matches your company structure and allows you to leverage the potential of trade ins.

Customer Targeting
An organized and active marketing effort is one way dealerships can gain a competitive edge. To this end, IntelliDealer’s Marketing Campaigns allows users to target specific customer groups in order to facilitate a more directed marketing campaign that is cost-effective. If, for example, you would like to market to those customers in a neighboring county that haven’t been called in the last six months, you can quickly generate a call, fax, or mail list in order to accomplish that.

Strong Indicators
IntelliDealer’s Executive Summary gives dealership owners and managers another requisite for today’s competitive dealership: a corporate “dashboard”. Executive Summary provides a central focus area, where powerful dealership “snapshots” give dealer principals a complete panel of relevant metrics, which can then be used to plan strategy. As an example, a “quick-hit” view can be created, where several key indicators can be pushed out in combination so that viewers can either rest assured, or act promptly and accordingly.

Image Flexibility
Import unit-, manufacturer- or customer-specific images from your network or any Internet source in order to aid the sales process. Through the convenience of internal and external image links to product images, the communication between the customer and salesperson is improved.

And More…
WebAdmin – System administrators can configure IntelliDealer’s user-driven security and preferences. For example, subtract the screens that employees don’t need to see and set applications to roll out as per work role.

Keyboard Mapping Plug-in – Download this free plug-in and make your keyboard work the way you need it to. For example, if a parts-counter employee is using the number pad to enter a list of parts numbers, they can change the function of the “+” key to tab, which replaces the “Tab” key on the far-left side of a standard keyboard. This allows users to work as they need, and new employees can assimilate into the system more readily, which reduces training costs.

PFW Laser Form Printing – In combination with your IBM server, configure pre-printed special forms to print directly to a laser printer. The resulting personalized overlays can be easily modified and prevent a stockpile of redundant forms caused by address or phone number changes. As well, invoices can be standardized for “branding” consistency and clarity.

While some may discount the way software looks and feels, we believe that it’s all part of a philosophy of product development that works for your benefit. With IntelliDealer, you can match user interaction with dealership policy and practice, which then provides the potential to create a harmonious melding of the business system with its environment.
Progressive dealerships know that they need an edge, and therefore need software that is malleable, both in terms of immediate configurability and the future development that must occur through a dialogue with the industry. This software “flex” allows for scale changes as business growth occurs, creates adaptability to a changing marketplace, allows for the addition and subtraction of new equipment lines, and can match the introduction of new business sectors such as rental operations.

As shown here, PFW IntelliDealer and its integrated products contain the flexibility to make the system your own, and make it work the way you need it to. IntelliDealer fits your needs now, facilitates future extensions, and is the cumulative product of consultation with your industry.