How moving to Ideal Cloud enabled Triple C Sales to deliver exceptional customer service even in their busiest season

When you take over a business, you are faced with a unique challenge: how do you preserve that special something that has enabled the business to get where it is today, while also making changes that will equip the business to thrive tomorrow?

This is the challenge that business partners Lane Goodman and Travis Clayton faced when they purchased Triple C Sales in 2016. Triple C Sales is an outdoor power equipment and AG dealer based in Conway, Arizona. The dealership was established in 1994 by Bill Brown, who built his business on a specialization in commercial-grade outdoor power equipment and a belief in fair, honest service. When Lane and Travis took over the business, they vowed to carry on Bill’s legacy by continuing the kind of old-school, down-home customer service that people are not used to getting these days.

But Lane and Travis also recognized that for Triple C Sales to live on for decades to come, they needed to make some updates to their technology. So, they started shopping around for a dealer management system that would allow them to make their processes more efficient and secure—particularly, a DMS that offered cloud hosting.

We spoke with Lane Goodman to learn more about how using Ideal Computer Systems and moving from an on-site server to cloud hosting has helped them maintain exceptional customer service in today’s changing market.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

I’m the Owner and Managing Partner. I do everything from accounting, all the way to sweeping the floors. One thing I really enjoy is that I’m not doing the same thing all the time.

How do you offer exceptional service to your customers?

By offering customer service and treating people the way they want to be treated—and marrying that with today’s technology, as far as meeting our customers where they want to be met online. By bringing both of those together, it gives us an advantage.

We use Ideal’s TargetCRM. Our customers love that when a Work Order is done or when parts arrive, we text them. They respond better, it’s less invasive, they don’t have to have a phone go off in a meeting. They can get the information with a glance. That’s been really helpful for us, and it takes less time. I think that as they continue to add more features to Ideal, it’s just going to continue to get better.

Why did you choose Ideal as your dealership management system?

Of the DMS systems we looked at, Ideal’s interface was easy to use and intuitive. We really liked our salesperson and post-sale, we have been pleased that when Ideal said that they’re going to do something, they do it. With all the challenges in the market with COVID-19, hurricanes, and snowstorms, they’re been able to deliver on what they promised.

Ideal Cloud was one of the real selling features for us. The Cloud allows us to know what is going on in our business. Instead of needing to come to work at night, I can sit at home and work on the cloud and get what I need to do, done.

What was your biggest reason for moving from on-site hosting to Ideal Cloud?

I think that over time, we’ll end up saving money—by not having to purchase and manage servers. Previously, when our system was down during our busy season, we would also be down a person because my business partner would need to go deal with that. But now, when our system goes down, we can continue to deal with customers while Ideal handles the backend.

There’s also the cost of equipment. We feel like in the long run, it’s going to save us money.

How has the switch to Ideal Cloud impacted your usage of the system?

We’ve moved our Microsoft Office suite to the Cloud, and QuickBooks. I prefer it. The Cloud gives you access to your business anywhere, at any time, whereas on a server, you would have to be at work. When I’m on vacation, I can pull my end-of-day reports and know what happened that day. I used to come back to the dealership at night to use the server, but now I can work from home and be present for my family.

As far as the usage of Ideal is, it’s basically the same. We didn’t have to learn anything or do anything different. There was no education or re-training needed, which is great.

How do you feel about your data being in the hands of Ideal versus on-premise now?

Ideal can offer a much more secure environment than we could offer. We didn’t have that great a firewall—I didn’t think it would be very difficult for someone to find us and hack into our system. Ideal is offering a more sophisticated security system than we were able to.

What was your experience with Support for Ideal Cloud?

It’s been good. Ideal’s support team generally shows concern and wants to get things fixed quickly and the right way the first time. We deal with the same people a lot of the time, which is nice. It’s not a new support person every time. Ideal’s support people see things through to the end.

Do you have any advice for other dealers who are considering switching to Ideal Cloud?

I would say, why are you still on the server? Switch as quickly as possible. It just gives you so much more flexibility.

The Cloud allows you a new level of access and peace of mind. Business owners, no matter what you’re doing, you’re always going to be thinking about the business. If you take a week-long vacation, you’re always going to be wondering what’s happening. This allows you to take a five-minute glance and know what’s going on.