DealerTrack Blog » DealerTrack DMS

CRM FAQ: How Do I Print Correspondence Letters?

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:00:45 +0000

Correspondence Letters are printed through a software program called LetterSelect. LetterSelect is typically installed when you begin using CRM. The LetterSelect functionality allows you to import batches of letters from the CRM Application into Microsoft Word. Using Mail Merge templates, the letters will practically write themselves. All you need to do is print.

For more information, please see the following guides:

Please keep in mind that you can also generate individual letters through the Email Template functionality. Take option Send Email, choose the desired Template, and use the Merge function. You can then Print the email rather than sending it. As long as you use the Print tool from within the message, the Email header information will not print on the document.

It is best to use LetterSelect to print letter batches. The Send Email feature will only create individual letters.

This and other useful information can also be viewed on the DealerTrack DMS Support Wiki.

DealerTrack DMS CRM Function: What Do the Symbols Mean on my Daily Work Plan?

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:29:21 +0000

– The Blue Circle indicates that the customer is currently in the showroom. When the customer leaves the showroom, click on this icon to remove the notification.
– The Yellow Triangle is for Activity Notification. During CRM setups, the Minutes to Past Due was defined in the Initial Values. The Yellow Triangle indicates that 2/3s of the response time has expired. You must take an action with the prospect, such as Scheduling an Activity or Adding a Note before the notification will be removed.
– The Red Circle with an Exclamation Point is for Activity Notification. During CRM setups, the Minutes to Past Due was defined in the Initial Values. The Red Circle indicates that the response time has expired, and the prospect is considered “Past Due”. You must take an action with the prospect, such as Scheduling an Activity or Adding a Note before the notification will be removed.

All this information and much more can be found on the DealerTrack DMS Support Wiki
More Customer Relationship Management FAQs can be found here.

Announcing New Customer Relationship Management FAQs

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:16:21 +0000

The DealerTrack DMS Support Center and Implementation Teams have worked together to generate a list of the most common CRM questions, which are now available on the DealerTrack DMS Wiki.

Use this valuable resource to help answer common questions with the DealerTrack CRM application. Questions/Answers include LetterSelect, entering Prospect information, recording Prospect activity, and more!

Click Here To View

30 Days on DealerTrack DMS – One Customer’s Experience

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:40:52 +0000

One of DealerTrack new Dealer Management System Customer recently gave DealerTrack 3 thumbs up and stated

I give DealerTrack DMS 3 Thumbs Up!

Their employees attitude, willingness to assist, responsiveness on the phone and overall demeanor show that they are a progressive and good group to depend upon.

Below is the full story from www.DealerRefresh.com.

Thinking of changing DMS providers? If so I want to share with the community our experiences in the first 30 days after going live with Dealer Track DMS (formerly Arkona).

First I will start off by saying it is nice for a change to have a DMS vendor who treats you like a customer and appreciates the opportunity to earn your business.

We have gone from driving an antiquated Cadillac with all the features money could buy in 1991 to an 08 Ford XLT with Carpet delete. I mean to say DealerTrack’s system does not offer butt warmers so to speak.

Sales & Finance Managers: They refer to their desking and sales software as Business Office. It sounds like this may be common for dealers somewhat east of the Mississippi River. The desking screens work and are fairly intuitive. Sometimes it seems you have to back out of a deal and go back in to get things to re-calc. Your limited to 1 pick-up payment (differed down). Contract letter spacing can only be moved in whole points and is sometimes hard to line up perfectly. DMV fees are hand calculated now and require valid information from your Accounting Dept.

In a nutshell we work deals out of DealerTrack’s Dealer Management System (Arkona DMS) and the rest is done with custom programming / CRM, i.e. Invoice Books, Inventory Analysis, vAuto for booking and used management.

If you are like me go with the green screen software over the GUI they are promoting.

Service Manager: The fixed operations teams had some adjustments to make. You can not close out pay types individually, You can close Customer pay but when you close Warranty it closes Internal as well. You are given a new pay type and that is Service Contracts, kinda nice. There is no way to force a Hat Tag# as a required field instead it can be accidentally bypassed. Tech Time and Tech Clocking / Dispatching if you use dispatching is pretty underdeveloped.

Parts Managers: This department will have a difficult time. Finding the invoices can be a total headache. Furthermore when you order parts and they arrive and you bill them out you get a new invoice#. Transactions can get lost and there are about three screens you need to look in to find them. Creating returns is fabulous and works better than any system I have been on before (Not that I like returns). Once again Green Screen software in this department is a must. Other areas to be aware of is the inability to place 0 quantity of a part on an RO (Usually helpful with parts availability and requisition requests.) Lost Sales once registered on an Invoice can not be converted to sales, they have to be deleted and re added.

Business Office / Accounting Department: Hmm. I will report on the business office in the future cause after 30 days they are still spinning. Fortunately we have a very talented and bright staff and they have made tremendous headway, however Payroll seems to be difficult to fine-tune. Factory Financial Statements and reporting all works well and have not had any issues related to getting the factory their data.

Data Exchange: Works well and even an idiot like me can set up automated FTP uploads. Love It.

OpenTrack: We are a signed OpenTrack vendor for our own internal software. The price was right and the team behind the OpenTrack initiative are awesome. For those that are interested OpenTrack is a SOAP based integration service for data exchange. ODBC is being phased out and to my knowledge is no longer available.

I give DealerTrack DMS 3 Thumbs Up!

Their product has room to grow. Especially for multi-line stores. I would not recommend a multi-accounting / multi-GL setup if you can avoid it. However their employees attitude, willingness to assist, responsiveness on the phone and overall demeanor show that they are a progressive and good group to depend upon.

Jarrett

Thanks Jarret and DealerRefresh for posting this. We appreciate your insight and feedback as we continually improve the DealerTrack Dealer Management System.

How Do I Add Customized Lines of Text to My Repair Orders or Counter Tickets?

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:00:31 +0000

You can use Promo Messages for printing user-defined text lines on your Repair Orders or Counter Tickets. Promo Messages can be used for advertising specials, holiday greetings, disclosure notices, or other notes. Once a Promo Message is defined, it can be added to or removed from Repair Orders and Counter Tickets at your discretion.

Promo Messages are set up in the Parts Department Application Environment or Service Department Application Environment. Use function Promo Messages from within a Counter Ticket or Repair Order to add or remove the desired messages.

For more information please visit the DealerTrack DMS Support Wiki: https://www.arkona.com/website_09/support/wiki/index.php/Function_Promo_Messages

My Repair Order is Marked “G/L Error.” Is This Something I Can Resolve on my Own?

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:32 +0000

Repair Orders have a status of “G/L Error” when someone tries to close the Repair Order and the system is unable to locate all of the Accounts necessary to apply the transactions. Until the G/L Error is resolved, the repair order will not close or post into the General Ledger.

Accounts are defined throughout the system. Since so many accounts are necessary to close a Repair Order, the DealerTrack DMs Training Department developed a guide to help you learn how to resolve G/L Errors without needing to call into the Support Center.

Please visit our guide on the DMS Wiki: https://www.arkona.com/website_09/support/wiki/index.php/Repair_Orders_-_G/L_Errors

Is the DealerTrack DMS Integrated with GM Global Warranty?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:37:02 +0000

YES!! The DealerTrack DMS is fully integrated with the new General Motors Global Warranty application for robust submission of Warranty Claims. Currently, the DealerTrack DMS Support Center is in the process of rolling customers from the WINS program to the Global Warranty program. The rollover is done by regions, as determined by General Motors.

For more information on when you will be rolled over to Global Warranty, please contact our Support Center at 877-357-8725 ext 1.

If you would like to learn more about using Global Warranty within the DealerTrack DMS, please visit the DMS Wiki: https://www.arkona.com/website_09/support/wiki/index.php/Warranty_Claims_Global_Warranty_-_General_Motors

Which DealerTrack Products Integrate with the DealerTrack DMS?

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:53:58 +0000

The DealerTrack Product Suite has multiple integration points with the DealerTrack DMS. From within the DealerTrack DMS, you can use BookOut, Chrome, DealerTrack AAX, eContracting, SalesMaker, and Toolkit (DealTransfer).

You may need to pay a subscription fee to take advantage of the DealerTrack/DealerTrack DMS integration points. For more information about these Sales and F&I solutions, please contact DealerTrack at 1-888-600-8760. You can also view more information about the products by visiting DealerTrack’s website.

What is the Task List in DealerTrack DMS?

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:00:07 +0000

The Task List is a checklist defined by the system. Before you can Accept or Cap a deal, you must review the items on the Task List.

To review the Task List, use function Extended Detail Screen (74). The Task List will display. Review the tasks listed on the right side of the screen. If the task does not have the word “Completed” to the side, you will need to complete that task. Check to make sure you have entered the following information:

To Accept a Deal
- Assign Inventory
- Enter Buyer Information
- Enter Trade Information (if applicable_
- Enter PDI Insurance (Proof of Insurance)
To Cap a Deal
- All Requirements to Accept a Deal must be met
- The deal status must be “Accepted”

For a complete guide, please see the following article: https://www.arkona.com/website_09/support/wiki/index.php/Function_Extended_Detail_Screen/Task_List

What Resources are Available to help Print 1099 Forms in DealerTrack’s web based DMS

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:00:57 +0000

The DealerTrack DMS Training Department has developed a series of 1099 Frequently Asked Questions. Topics include printing, entering DBAs, alignment and printer loading, and correcting inaccuracies or omissions.

Please take the following link to view the 1099 FAQs: https://www.arkona.com/website_09/support/wiki/index.php/Year_End_Process_FAQs#1099