Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/422004
FOCUS PSB E-commerce/DMS 16 • December 1, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Dealer Advisory Council for product meets at AIMExpo BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR Though Dominion Powersports has talked about its DX1 dealer management system as being built for dealers by dealers since DX1's inception, the company isn't just touting its staff of former dealership principals. In addi- tion, DX1 is truly being shaped by the dealers who use the product every day. After nearly six months of work, Dominion Powersports transferred its final Ziios DMS customer to the new DX1 system on Oct. 20, and the product dealers see now has been tweaked throughout the process to provide a better system for all users. "The level of engagement with dealers allowed us to take a lot of the feedback that we received and incorporate that into the final fit and finish of the product, and that was a fantastic opportunity for us," Jeff Lit- tlejohn, Dominion Powersports president, told Powersports Business. What makes DX1 different from its compet- itors and even Dominion's previous products is that DX1 offers a variety of functions in one platform, saving dealers time from entering the same data in more than one system. "By moving our customers to the DX1 management platform, it is increasing the functionality of the system that they have to manage all the areas of their dealership within one single technology platform," Littlejohn said. "DX1 has DMS; it has lead management; it has websites; it has marketing function- ality such as social media integration and newsletter integration, and by being this one technology platform, it eliminates the need to manage data across multiple disparate prod- ucts, so that saves them a lot of time within the dealership." It also offers efficiencies such as model drop-down menu, so multiple records don't exist for the same model; a single customer record for each customer throughout the system; and the instant removal of a unit from the dealership's website when the unit is sold. "It really came down to workflow, so while a bunch of the workflow is very similar to what we already had with Ziios — because that tended to be a very efficient and effective workflow process for the dealerships — it was finding additional ways to create efficiency and making the product more intuitive," Littlejohn reported. Though much of the DX1 staff is com- posed of former dealership owners and employees, current dealers have played a large role in DX1's functionality and will con- tinue to impact DX1's future improvements. "It's not just about what the next release or two look like; this level of engagement with the customer is even on conceptual things we're taking into consideration much further down the road because we want to make sure that they have a say in helping us guide the direction that we're going with the product and our business," Littlejohn said. "We don't view our customers as customers. We view them as business partners." DX1 has even gone a step further in this commitment to work with dealers, launch- ing a Dealer Advisory Council at AIMExpo in October. Comprised of dealer princi- pals, parts managers, service managers and other players across a variety of deal- erships, the council is designed to advise Dominion on its products. At AIMExpo, the group met with DX1 product manag- ers, and regional events for the council are planned for the future. DX1 has also committed to sending its team into dealerships frequently to interact directly with customers, and the company also contin- ues to seek feedback from all of its users. DX1, Dominion continue to grow with dealer feedback Jeff Littlejohn, president of Dominion Powersports, talks to dealers at AIMExpo in October. See DX1, Page 17