Consider how you currently monitor and measure dealership performance. You manage information from your DMS, CRM, and third-party software. You likely pull reports once a month and believe you have a good understanding of what's happening in your company.
But there are many questions that you can’t answer in a timely manner. Like how long it takes to get equipment rental ready after it’s returned. Or where your current inventory levels fall on an hourly basis. You might have a general idea of branch health, but your important business decisions typically require a little bit of guesswork.
There are several red flags that signify a company is ready to adopt a business intelligence (BI) and analytics solution. And yes, the above scenarios are just a few examples.
In this blog post, we’ll walk through six of the most common and most concerning signs in the equipment dealership industry.
#1 You’re Regularly Consolidating Reports from Various Data Sources
It’s common practice for equipment dealers to split each department into its own largely autonomous division, each with its own budget and management process. But data must also be combined into a single overview for the Branch Manager and other business leaders.
For many dealers, this involves manually extracting data from the disparate DMS, CRM, and third-party software and compiling a report in Microsoft Excel. This process is time-consuming, tedious, and prone to costly human error. Usually, the IT department handles it exclusively, and employees who need this data can’t retrieve or adjust it when needed.
How BI Can Help
A BI solution automatically pulls information from all available data sources into a data warehouse, where it’s standardized and prepared for sharing via easily digestible dashboards, reports, and analyses. BI users can share knowledge across the organization and control who has access to what data directly in the system. Create one report or dashboard and let the platform automatically tailor it to each individual or department. Rest assured, users see only the information you want them to see.
#2 It Takes Days to Pull a Report
If you’re still pulling reports manually, you know the many steps involved in getting an accurate representation of your data. There’s the process of extracting the data, manually manipulating it based on your or other users’ needs, and validating the data to ensure reports reflect the correct information.
Done this way, it can take days to pull a single report. This is a major problem. If a report or analysis takes this long just to generate, minute market trends and important key performance indicators (KPIs) are not being monitored as they should be. If a deviation occurs, it could take days or even weeks before it’s noticed and corrected.
How BI Can Help
A robust analytics solution automates the reporting process and delivers the results directly to the right users. Plus, analysts can create new reports in as little as one click and a few seconds. With tools like notification agents, the system will automatically monitor all incoming data from your DMS, CRM, and third-party software and notify users when changes occur.
#3 KPIs Are Only Monitored Monthly
You can’t extract much insight from your KPIs if you only look at them once a month. At a minimum, they should be looked at daily. Ideally, they’re monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If it takes days to run a single report, it is simply not possible to make timely decisions based on company data.
How BI Can Help
Informed decisions hinge on accurate, up-to-date insights. That’s why companies use business intelligence solutions to extract data every day, multiple times a day. This ensures employees have a steady finger on the pulse of the company's health and allows users to observe not only the large peaks and valleys, but also any minute changes in the business.
#4 You Have Cloudy Insight into Operations
It’s difficult for the Rental Manager to determine the amount of time it takes from when equipment is returned to when it's ready for rent again. The Sales Manager needs quick insight into forecasts, goals, expenses, and earnings before an impromptu meeting with the C-suite, but only gets that information delivered monthly. The CEO wants to know which pieces of equipment are most popular in a particular branch location, but that level of detail is only available at the regional level. These real-life scenarios plague company decision makers every day.
How BI Can Help
Business intelligence solutions translate data into visualizations that make answers obvious at a glance. Charts and graphs that tell the story in an instant replace complicated spreadsheets. Companies use business intelligence solutions to push numerous reports and analyses out to the entire organization every day, so that everyone in every department has the insight they need to make decisions. This creates an informed environment and inspires employees to reach their goals.
#5 There Are Different Versions of the Truth in Your Data
Data analysts spend an increasing amount of time developing reports for different users, each of whom brings their own requests for new data sources and analyses. With different users manipulating data in various ways, it becomes challenging to maintain a consistent version of the truth throughout the company.
This is especially clear when reports are generated in Excel and manipulations live only in an individual’s own files. Information might then be shared through paper reports, word of mouth, emails, or via the company network, causing further fragmentation and loss of control of data consistency with little to no data governance or oversight.
How BI Can Help
A comprehensive BI solution offers visual data discovery tools, self-service business analytics, reporting, and user-friendly dashboards in a single, integrated platform. Users can share reports and analyses throughout the company, with only relevant data for each individual or department shown automatically. Dashboards can be displayed on slideshows, so each department and team can effortlessly track the progress of their ongoing campaigns.
#6 There’s Restricted Access to Your Data
Data doesn’t do your company much good if decision makers can’t access it in a timely manner. Not only is it vital for equipment dealers to measure and monitor internal data, but they also need to keep a close eye on the relevant data that’s exploding all around them, both inside and outside the company’s database systems.
Due to the complexity of modern data sources and many BI tools on the market today, BI is often exclusively in the hands of the IT department, which is tasked with creating analyses for the rest of the company. This method is time-consuming and complicated. Employees without a degree in computer science aren’t likely to master the system.
How BI Can Help
An advanced business intelligence and analytics solution puts BI in the hands of every decision-maker in the organization, regardless of their level of technical expertise. What's more, it provides built-in data governance to ensure the reliability and security of data. This fosters an environment of experimentation and BI self-sufficiency in which users are empowered to explore data themselves in a secure environment.
Unlock the Potential of a BI and Analytics Solution Designed Exclusively for Dealers
Just one of these red flags is a strong indication that it’s time to consider business intelligence. Once you’ve opened your eyes to BI, you’ll be surprised at the picture that comes into focus.
Request a personalized demo of TARGIT to see how our specialized solution for the equipment industry can help your dealership overcome these common red flags and:
- Centralize reporting across every business system
- Manage daily performance and monitor trends in every department
- Unlock actionable insights that improve efficiency and profitability
Book your free demo today to learn more.
Note: The blog post narration is automatically generated by AI, so there may be errors or mistakes in the spoken content.
