How American Pride Power Equipment Streamlined Inventory and Customer Communication with Ideal

Background

With over 12 years in the dealership industry and three and a half years at American Pride Power, Brian Novotny, Parts Manager, has witnessed firsthand how the right Dealer Management System (DMS) can transform operations.

American Pride Power, a single-location dealership, has been serving its community since 1996. Despite being an hour away from the nearest big city, the dealership moves a significant number of tractors and serves a loyal customer base.

Implementation of Ideal’s DMS

When Brian joined American Pride Power, Ideal had already been in place, having been upgraded from an older product. Brian found Ideal to be highly intuitive, making it easy for both seasoned and new employees to adapt quickly. The simplicity of Ideal’s setup meant minimal training was required, a stark contrast to other DMS systems that often demand extensive training.

The people that we’ve brought on and hired since then, they’ve really taken to it easily because it makes sense how it’s set up.” Brian explained.

Powerful Reporting Tools

One of Ideal’s standout features for Brian is its robust reporting module. As a Parts Manager, he frequently deals with large volumes of inventory data and needs to ensure that the right parts are always on the shelf. The reporting capabilities allow him to view the necessary data from multiple angles, providing comprehensive insights that are critical for maintaining optimal inventory levels.

The reporting is great. You can run your reports 10 different ways and you still haven’t scratched the surface in how you can find the numbers that you need.” Brian explained.

This flexibility in reporting allowed Brian to make informed decisions that helped optimize inventory management and ensure that the right parts were always available when customers needed them.

Another critical component of Ideal was TargetCRM, which allows Brian to notify customers about parts arrivals or repair completions quickly via text messaging.

TargetCRM has really been able to help us communicate with our customers the best way, the quickest way, especially in the way that they would like to be communicated with.” Brian noted.

The ability to send notifications via email or text allowed the dealership to inform customers about parts availability and repair status more efficiently, leading to quicker turnaround times and happier customers.

Advice for Other Dealerships

For dealerships considering a new DMS, Brian can’t imagine operating without such a system like Ideal, particularly given its advantages in inventory management, customer communication, and overall operational efficiency.

I love being able to go and look into what we have, what our history is, what we should have, what we shouldn’t have.” Brian said, emphasizing the importance of accurate and accessible data in modern dealership operations.