Your Data is Worth More Than You Think

In today’s dealership, data is, without a doubt, the most powerful asset. When you have the ability to regularly access your data, you have instant insight into the heartbeat of your operation and the people you empower to run it. With such powerful insights available, the big question for dealership management these days is “how do I get the data I need to quickly and easily make informed decisions?”

In a free market system, there are always choices to consider for any product or service. In our industry, it will come as no surprise that the competition for our data is fierce. With more and more competitors entering this arena, it’s important for automotive leaders to use caution. This is your data, and you need to make sure you can trust the vendors you allow access to it. The biggest mistake our team sees is well-intentioned individuals try to cut costs by switching to unknown and unproven third-party vendors. They quickly find that their data becomes unusable, cumbersome, or even goes missing.

Get the Most of Your Data

I’ve found a fitting comparison is of that to a commercial airline. Airlines collect and analyze more customer service data than perhaps any other industry, which might seem strange due to the reputation of many major carriers.

The aviation industry has been using data to make critical choices on its customer service. As we speak, major airlines are ranking their passengers for each flight based on data-driven formulas that rank passengers from highest-value clientele to lowest-value clientele. This ensures that their biggest spenders have the most enjoyable experience and continue to do business with them. Why? Because it allows them to maximize their gross! Do you think that a major airline would just hand over their data to a third party because “they are the cheapest option” without a thorough review? No. They would size up all their options and select the one that helps them use their data to produce profits.

Introducing axcessa

As you review your options for reporting tools, I hope you add axcessa to your list. This platform has more than 1,700 customers across the country and is the industry leader in providing access to dealerships’ DMS data.

Dealerships know the challenge of accessing and pulling from your DMS without the help of a dedicated solution. That’s why axcessa is built as a cloud-based platform that allows you, or any member of your management team, to have instant on-demand access to team performance, store performance, an individual associate performance, or even the performance of an entire group of stores. All of this information is available in seconds with just a click of a button. This first-of-its-kind product was conceived by industry leading retail automotive executives and is serviced by your trusted partner, NCM Associates.

axcessa Advantages

With its completive advantages, axcessa makes it difficult to duplicate or exceed everything it has to offer. Now that you know a bit about the software, I want to shed some light on what makes me so passionate about axcessa.

First: Many DMS reporting tools are simply accounting tools.

While this is great, it only scratches the surface of your data potential. As the most cost-effective resource (on a per-user basis) in the industry, axcessa is a whole-dealership tool, averaging 35-75 users per store.  Our team recently spoke with a large auto group and learned that they were currently utilizing a competing product that was created as an accounting tool. The dealer’s feedback was that they only had 5-6 users per store using the system. They were looking for a tool that could not only help accounting, but effectively help everyone in their group benefit from its use. After going through their needs, axcessa turned out to be a perfect fit for their business.

Second: axcessa is incredibly user-friendly.

As someone who has worked in a dealership, I can tell you there is a universal truth about software products in stores: It doesn’t matter how amazing the tools are in your dealership, if the tool is not fast, easy, and user-friendly, your people will not use it.

axcessa is the most user-friendly interface when compared to other products. Not only is the main dashboard very easy to read and navigate, but reports are also available with just a few clicks. Here is one example of the axcessa dashboard:

Third: axcessa offers industry-leading reporting.

Another wonderful advantage of axcessa is a team who provides support and listens to the needs of our dealer-clients, passing along requests for improvements. Some recent examples of software reporting upgrades include:

• First to offer Enterprise Reporting
• Transformed our CIT platform based on industry feedback
• Receivables report separately
• The only data analytics system certified by every major DMS system
• Recent improvements to our Forecast, Wholesale Losses, Inventory Turns, Inventory Aging, Working Capital, Expenses, F&I, and NCM Benchmark integration
• Given the on-demand nature of axcessa, we developed alerts that can be automated to inform management of trends that cannot wait until month end.

The axcessa team is always working to offer our clients the best possible product. This product was created by executives who lived the day-to-day, in-store dealership work life, and made the choice to help make a difference in dealerships nationwide.

Fourth: axcessa offers exceptional customer support.

The axcessa customer support available through NCM Associates can make your team better by creating accountability, transparency, and providing insight to make impactful decisions at the right time.

All clients who sign-up for axcessa are introduced to an NCM Software Specialist who will walk them through every step of the process. After setup and installation, our team works with your team to train and custom-optimize the software for your dealership. No competitor in the industry can offer you the client services that axcessa can. We not only train your staff on how to use the interface, but our Software Specialists constantly monitor your operation for anomalies, areas of growth, and offer additional training at no extra charge for you and your team!

Do Your Homework

As you can tell, I am very passionate about what axcessa can offer to a dealership. But that doesn’t mean it is the perfect fit for every dealership out there. The only way you can figure out what will work best for your organization is to do your homework and take a product demo. Ask the tough questions and get all the information you can. Only then, can you make an informed decision on how you can maximize your data and drive the results you desire.

If you want to know more about axcessa, I am happy to schedule a demo with you and your team. Together, we will take 45 minutes to discuss how axcessa can work for your business. I hope you will take advantage of the offer—those 45 minutes have the power to change the trajectory of your organization.