Efficiency on the Move: Why Integrated Mobile Apps are the Ultimate Game Changer for Modern Dealers

In the fast paced environment of a busy forecourt or workshop, being tied to a desk is a luxury most independent dealers simply don’t have. Whether you’re at an auction, inspecting a part-exchange, or greeting a customer in the showroom, the ability to manage your business on the move is no longer just a convenience, it’s essential.

By using mobile apps that are fully integrated with your DMS, you can eliminate double entry, reduce errors, and provide a faster, more professional service to your customers.

Speed Up Your Vehicle Appraisals
First impressions are everything, especially when it comes to part exchanges. Using a mobile app to carry out vehicle appraisals allows you to walk around the car with the customer, recording damage, taking photos, and noting specifications instantly.

Because the APPraise app is integrated with the DragonDMS, that data is uploaded to your system immediately, no more scribbling notes on paper only to type them up later, you can generate an accurate valuation and a professional appraisal report in minutes – giving the customer confidence and protecting your profit margins.

Enhance Workshop Transparency with Video
For garages and service departments, mobile integration is revolutionising customer trust. With our Workshop App, technicians can perform Vehicle Health Checks (VHC) and record short videos of required repairs directly from their mobile or tablet.

Sending a video of a worn brake pad or a leaking exhaust to a customer’s smartphone brings a level of transparency that a phone call simply can’t match. It’s a proven way to increase red and amber work conversions, as customers are far more likely to authorise repairs they can see for themselves and understand instantly.

Instant Stock Management
Keeping your digital showroom up to date is vital for capturing online leads. With an integrated app like APPraise, as soon as a new vehicle arrives on site, you can snap high quality photos and upload them directly to your car dealer website and third party advertisers. Updating in real time ensures that your stock is working for you the second it’s ready, reducing the days in stock and helping you turn over your stock faster.

A Paperless, Productive Office
The true value of mobile integration is the reduction of paperwork. From digital signatures to technicians clocking on and off jobs via their devices, the flow of information is seamless. This not only saves time but also ensures that your records are accurate and easily searchable, which is essential for compliance and reporting.

Take Your Dealership With You
The modern motor trade doesn’t stop at the office door. By embracing mobile technology, you’re not just saving time, you’re creating a more agile, responsive, and profitable business.

Ready to mobilise your team?
If you’re still relying on paper pads and multiple separate systems, it’s time to see the difference that mobile integration can make.

Integrating mobile apps into your daily routine doesn’t just make things easier, it changes the speed at which your dealership operates. By removing the need to walk back to a desk to type up notes, you can reclaim hours of productive time every week.

Here is how the Dragon2000 DMS integrated mobile apps approach compares to traditional paper-based methods and separate systems and/or manual entry:

• Vehicle Appraisals
  The vehicle appraisal process traditionally involves taking hand written notes and capturing photos separately on a camera or phone, which must then be manually uploaded back at the office. Using an integrated mobile app streamlines this entirely by allowing both data and photos to be captured on site and synced directly to the DMS in real time. This typically saves around 15–20 minutes per appraisal.
• Workshop Vehicle Health Checks
  For Workshop VHC’s, paper checklists are usually completed by hand, and Service Advisors must phone customers to explain faults and gain approval. With a mobile app, the checklist becomes digital, and technicians can send a Video VHC straight to the customer’s phone, making approvals faster and more transparent. This digital approach can save 30 minutes or more, in addition to speeding up customer decision-making.
• Advertising Vehicles
  The stock advertising process often requires staff to take photos, transfer them to a computer, and manually build adverts across different advertising platforms. A mobile app removes these steps by enabling users to take photos directly within the app and instantly push them to the website and selected portals. This simplifies the process and saves approximately 20–25 minutes per vehicle.
• Workshop Job Clocking
  In job clocking, many workshops still rely on manual timesheets or time cards, followed by additional manual entry into the DMS for invoicing. An integrated app lets technicians clock on and off jobs using a tablet or smartphone, updating labour costs automatically and in real time on the job record. This can save around 10 minutes for each job, while also improving accuracy.
• Digital Signatures
  Finally, if dealers are obtaining customers’ physical signatures, and scanning them back into the system for storage, a mobile app replaces these steps entirely by allowing digital signatures to be captured on screen and stored automatically. This typically saves 10–15 minutes per document.

Work Smarter, Not Harder
For a typical busy dealership, switching to an integrated mobile process can save hours of admin time per day. That is time your team could be spending closing deals or completing more chargeable hours in the workshop.

Dragon2000 have been helping car dealers and garages drive their businesses forward for three decades with our dealer management system, car dealer websites and mobile apps. Speak to our sales team on 01327 222 333 or email sales@dragon2000.co.uk to find out how we can help your business increase profits and reduce costs.