Generic vs Auto Industry Specific Systems (Lesson 17)
Many workshop owners who contact us have tried generic ‘one size fits all’ business software packages in an attempt to manage the operational details of their business.
The trouble with generic software packages is that most workshop owners believe those systems are really all that is available to help them manage their business. When we have a conversation with them about what Autosoft can do for their business, they suddenly realise what they are missing out on compared to an industry-specific system capable of streamlining and transforming daily operations.
I have seen time and time again that workshop owners choose accounting packages, or inferior automotive packages based solely on cost. I’m amazed at the number of people that come back to Autosoft who say something along the lines of… “About a year ago I looked at Autosoft, but I decided to go with XYZ package because it was cheaper. I now realise that I really do need Autosoft, and that the “cheap” package has cost me a lot more than what my initial purchase of Autosoft would have been because its cost me so much time and lost business”. I’d like to share a story of an Autosoft client who went through a similar situation.
Mitchell was keen on Autosoft for his multi-branch sophisticated large workshop. He liked many of the features and thought it was a great system. He had also got a good sales spiel from an Autosoft competitor, who also provided an industry based system, although it was a low-end cheap system. This competitor claimed they could run a multi-branch workshop perfectly well and that the system was just as good as Autosoft.
After weighing up his choices, Mitchell decided to go for the cheap alternative.
18 months later, Mitchell rang Autosoft in a disillusioned state. The purchase of the cheaper alternative had in fact cost him tens of thousands of dollars more in time, effort and loss of productivity, and he needed to cut his losses. He was sick of the false promises. He’d gone through 18 months of hell and wanted Autosoft implemented in his business, NOW!
Autosoft put together a new proposal to run Mitchell’s workshop, and in a short time implemented a system which included our go-live process to get his business on track as soon as possible.
Now, business is going well, everything is systemised, his staff know what they are doing and things are running so much more efficiently.
Had Mitchell made the right decision in the first place, based on value for money, rather than just cost, his business would be far ahead of where it is today. Thankfully, he had the intelligence to cut his losses and implement the right system (I wonder how many other people would have been too proud to contact Autosoft a second time).
As you can see, even industry based systems are not the complete answer: you need to get the best system to streamline your operation.
Have you struggled with inferior systems in the past? What were some problems you had? I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts below…
To your success,
Australia’s #1 Automotive Business Growth Expert
