Shiraz Motors

Iqbal Dawood, Dealer Principal of Shiraz Motors, has no doubt that the ADP Autoline Revision 8.35 dealer management system (DMS) implemented late last year, is enabling them to be more competitive in the market place. “It offers us a good working solution and is well worth the investment,” he says.

Shiraz Motors, a leading General Motors dealership situated in Lenasia south of Johannesburg, has represented General Motors South Africa for the past 20 years and averages 35 new vehicle sales per month, representing the Chevrolet, Opel, Isuzu and Suzuki brands.

Recognising that their previous dealer management system could not cater effectively for the dealership’s growth strategy, Shiraz Motors commenced an evaluation process early in 2007 to determine which system would best suit their business requirements. Drawing on their experience from the Autoline system installed at Shiraz Auto, a sister company to Shiraz Motors, the decision to follow suit was an easy one to make.

Autoline caters for all the aspects of their business, offering modules for Workshop, Parts, Point of Sale, Showroom, Accounts and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The capabilities of the CRM module were particularly appealing to Shiraz Motors as the functionality would enable them to process their CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) information in-house. This process was previously outsourced to a third party and therefore Autoline provided immediate savings in time and money.

The Implementation of the Autoline system took place during August 2007. Iqbal commented, “The installation of the system was very professionally handled by ADP from start to finish.”

Training is a key element in ensuring the success of a project and care was taken to ensure that all 20 users involved were given the appropriate amount of training at the ADP training centre in Randburg. Iqbal explained, “Initially, there were concerns about the change-over amongst the staff, as can be expected in any change scenario. The training resolved most of these issues. Autoline is a bit more complex than our previous system, with a lot more checks and balances and, as the users are getting more and more familiar with it, its benefits are becoming more apparent to the users. Autoline is helping us to run the operation more effectively and is contributing to the success of our business.

Following a three month settling-in period, Shiraz Motors are ready for further training for the staff. “We are at a point now where we need to move to a more advanced stage of proficiency in order to extract maximum benefit from the system for the dealership,” says Iqbal.

Shiraz Motors are particularly excited about the opportunity to improve their customer service by embracing the functionality within the Autoline system. “An outstanding feature is the strong functionality within the CRM module - a very powerful tool for our business. We operate in an increasingly competitive market and capturing as much customer information as possible, and using it well, is a major priority for our dealership”, he said.

Shiraz Motors are convinced that the outsourcing model they chose, was the right way to go for their business. He states, “A big plus offered by ADP is enabling us to outsource the upkeep and maintenance of the hardware equipment to them. This takes a big load off our shoulders and enables us to focus exclusively on our core business. Especially with the precarious position power load shedding is putting the country in, ADP is able to keep us going at all times.”

In conclusion, Iqbal stated, “The ADP Autoline system is a real working solution and I really would have no hesitation to recommend it. The system provides opportunities to stay competitive and be successful into the future.”