Between cell phones, text messaging, and social networking, it's safe to say that the technology market is only getting bigger, and once you get through the ocean of useless applications out there (like those that allow you to realistically pretend your cell phone is a harmonica or a glass of beer) you'll find some smart, top-quality products aimed specifically at improving your bottom line.

Business management software is faster, more robust, and more precise than conducting transactions by hand or by spreadsheet alone. Being able to track more than the customer’s name and VIN number means copious opportunities for after-sale care and promotional campaigns. And most importantly, the less time spent writing receipts, the more time is freed up for the real reason we all get up in the morning: to sell motorcycles.

The use of industry-specific business management software is on the rise in Canada, which is definitely a plus, says Bob Wagner, Eastern Canadian regional sales manager for ADP Lightspeed. Wagner has accounts in Canada and the U.S. and says the dynamic of dealers in either country is vastly different.

Canadian dealers are ten years behind in terms of the number using technology in their stores,” he says. But there’s a huge shift away from pen and paper toward dealer management systems, especially in Eastern Canada, and dealers are finding big benefits in short order. “They are finding the information they get from the systems incredibly useful. One improvement is in the kind of financial information they get; the other end of it is the improved efficiency they get in the dealership,” says Wagner.

Pen and paper systems don’t allow dealers to look closely and accurately at the individual components of a business or at where costs can be saved by maximizing staff members’ time, says Wagner.

An average sized dealer with five to ten employees is typically able to save the cost of an entire staff position with the installation of ADP’s system, resulting in a one-year ROI. “That beats the stock market,” says Wagner. “It’s money you can save indefinitely, and cutting costs is important these days.”

The company is unique in its customer support with close to 50 employees ready to walk callers to the toll-free support line through anything from how to turn a computer on to how to process complex transactions.

“That’s what really separates us,” says Wagner.

ADP consolidates financial information from dealerships that choose to provide it, and use it to compile a “scorecard” against which other dealers in the same territory can measure their own performance. The software also offers a “parts and major unit” look-up that allows dealers to search all ADP Lightspeed dealers in North America for rare or discontinued parts.

“That way one dealer gets rid of something he never thought he’d sell and another gets their customer on the road that much faster,” says Wagner.

Kevin Schilter, sales and marketing manager for Windward Software, Inc. says using business management software is a function of becoming competitive and staying in business. “It's a logical progression,” he says. “[Dealers] are going to open their doors, buy inventory, and use a pen and paper until becomes a problem. Some begin with accounting software, but eventually become frustrated with the inability to manage inventory control or other business processes.”

Windward's business management solution covers Parts, Sales, and Service; Inventory Control; POS; and Accounting with the objective of assisting dealers through the entire sales process while minimizing preventable losses. Without software, service personnel maybe be writing an invoice and taking a deposit before they even know what they are selling, and this can take away from the bottom line, says Schilter. “Pen and paper guys are also spending a lot of money on bookkeepers to find out their financials at the end of the quarter, when really they should be finding out a few weeks in.”

Software is a sound investment with quick return, says Schilter, noting it isn't uncommon to lose three to four percent of the value of your inventory because of poor tracking, human error, and lack of inventory control. On a $250,000 inventory, that's a $10,000 loss. If technicians fail to bill out as little as 15 minutes a day, that adds up to another $10,000 over 50 weeks. Shop supplies, which generally account for three to four percent on top of labour costs, are also an area that few shops remember to account for.

Opportunities to make more money through better management of inventory, service, and front end sales exist in every business. "When we're in a recession you don't have to accept losing money because you can still bring up a business's profitability by adding controls to business processes,” he says. “Tracking this type of thing can add two to three percent to a store's bottom line.

“In a recession you can't afford untimely financial decisions.”

Windward offers a complete business management solution that pays for itself in the first year—after that it creates a profit that will be there forever. Add-ons to the core components include modules for managing ecommerce and targeted emarketing. Email campaigns and electronic newsletters are just a few features that help tailor marketing campaigns to customers based on their purchasing habits.

“This is where businesses need to go next to keep evolving,” says Schilter.

Like Schilter, Ralph Weaver, program manager for Counterman Software says the profitability of a shop is more important than ever in hard economic times. The company, which focuses primarily on a store's business profit margin, along with an emphasis on customer satisfaction and a strong inventory control, offers dealers several tools within the software to dramatically help in these areas. Counterman also offers payment packages, allowing even the smallest of shops access to these tools at an affordable price. Additional discounts off of the initial startup charges are available during the winter months.

Counterman has always been an inventory control product before an accounting software, says Weaver. “We focus on the customer, which is the motorcycle shop's most valued asset, with a strong emphasis on shop profitability.

“‘Profit margin’ is not the same as ‘mark-up’, although many dealers think that it is,” he adds. “'Profit margin' is the percentage of profit on any given item after you minus the cost. So an item costing you $10, that you sell for $20, equates to a 100 percent mark-up, but a 50 percent profit margin. Tracking any shop's performance requires the tracking on profit margin percentage.

You don't want your customers getting impatient while an employee is searching through mounds of paperwork, or spending too much time searching the computer for questions that come up daily. The software enables quick and easy answers the questions customers often ask, such as, ‘Where is that special order item?’ or ‘How far have you gotten on my repair?’” he adds.

The software keeps shops up-to-date on vendors’ and suppliers’pricing either on CD or download direct, and continues to evolve as a result of user input. A free working demonstration program is also available on request.

An end-to-end solution provides the most efficiency to a dealership, but most companies also offer modules “a la carte” depending on needs and budget. Mike Martin, general manager for Quantech Software says having the whole system streamlines the sales process and gives dealers an edge when the customer decides to upgrade. CRM and lead management software allows compilation of information about customers so after-sale care including follow-up schedule and targeted add-on promotion material is that much easier.

Quantech's Menu Selling module is something Martin says gives dealers a better shot at selling add-on products like extended warranties and pre-paid maintenance. “Menu Selling, from a customer's point of view, is faster and better because they are given the options and left to choose,” says Martin. “From the dealer’s perspective, they are covered when it comes to offering things like liability insurance.”

A la carte systems grant dealers better flexibility and the opportunity to get on the software train on a smaller budget, says Walter Conklin, general manager for Wallace Software Design.

“When people are more conservative with their spending they can start with something that handles inventory and parts look up and add on in the future,” says Conklin. “The core POS and Inventory Control modules also work with vendors so all a dealer has to do is type in a bar code and get the most up-to-date price, which is an advantage because even if you sell two or three parts at a loss, that’s huge.”

Vendor communication is built into the POS module too, meaning a dealer builds the purchase order and the program can submit it to the vendor's website without rekeying it in a different format. Wallace Software Design was the first to release an Event Processing add-on, which automatically sends an email and text message to customers when certain events like the arrival of an ordered part are triggered in the system.

“The mechanic can mark a check box that the work is done and an email goes out with a PDF of the bill, and a text goes to the customer's phone indicating work is done,” says Conklin.

“Just that saves a huge time and money for dealers.” CPT