Management Dashboard Helps McBride Chevrolet Subaru Reduce Advertising Costs

Bill McBride Chevrolet/Subaru in Plattsburgh, New York has reduced advertising costs by 10% using Auto/Mate's Dash/Mate, a management dashboard that helps the dealership drill down into expenses and revenue.

"Dash/Mate gave me the ability to focus in on detailed advertising data and see, across all departments," said Brian McBride, the dealership's general manager. "As a result, I immediately saw areas to trim and more effectively spend my money."

The advertising cost savings was an unexpected benefit of the management dashboard, which McBride installed several months ago to reduce time spent generating Dealership Management System reports.

"The main problem with any DMS is getting information in a timely fashion," said McBride. "Depending on the system you have, you can spend a half hour or more trying to generate a report."

Management dashboards are software applications that lie on top of corporate information systems, such as a DMS. The dashboard pulls information from the company's database, and displays it in easy-to-read visual layouts such as graphs, charts and gauges. It gives executives an at-a-glance overview of business performance metrics in a wide variety of areas including sales, finance and operations.

For years major corporations have used management dashboards to display, view and monitor the key performance indicators (KPI) of their companies. They were typically custom built and usually cost thousands of dollars to develop and install.

It is only recently that management dashboards such as Dash/Mate, which was designed as a special add-on feature for Auto/Mate's Automotive Dealership Management System (AMPS), have made an appearance in the retail automotive industry.

"Within 10 minutes Dash/Mate gives me a graphical view of my daily operating reports and dealership metrics," said McBride. "By getting quick access to my data, I have more time to sell vehicles."

Dash/Mate updates data automatically as the day goes on. According to McBride, because the metrics are so easily accessible, instead of pulling reports once a day, he can update himself on dealership operations multiple times throughout the day.

"Dash/Mate does my legwork for me. With one click, my dashboard pulls all my relevant data together in one strategic view," said McBride. "The greatest surprise was that I could maneuver around within my dealership data like a seasoned office manager!"

About Auto/Mate (www.automate.com)

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems was established 25 years ago with a simple goal: to provide an efficient and reasonably priced computer system to increase dealers' profitability. Designed by former auto dealer executives, AMPS (Automotive Management Productivity Suite) by Auto/Mate offers more than 20 fully integrated modules to suit any size dealership and to address every need, including Sales, F&I, Fixed Operations, Accounting, CRM, Fleet Sales and more. Auto/Mate's success has led to a continuous growth rate of more than 30% per year, with its system currently in use by more than 400 dealers. In three combined surveys conducted by NADA, Auto/Mate has ranked the highest in customer satisfaction over any other dealer system.

AMPS by Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is powerful, scalable and has a unique, graphical interface that makes it familiar and easy to use. AMPS is an open system and will run on most computer hardware that a dealer has in place. When compared to other systems on the market, AMPS offers the most value per dollar, allowing dealerships to operate more efficiently and profitably. For more information, please visit www.automate.com.

Management Dashboard Helps McBride Chevrolet Subaru Reduce Advertising Costs

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Management Dashboard Helps McBride Chevrolet Subaru Reduce Advertising Costs

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