AndewRoss@indiegarage.ca<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThere\u2019s no question that franchised new car dealers generally have more resources than the average independent Automotive Service Provider (ASP). The businesses are structured differently, and the technology platforms often are too. Still, comparisons are constant \u2014 between the aftermarket and the new car dealer world \u2014 from us, from customers, and from the industry at large.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all done it: looked at the dealers and assumed they\u2019re operating on another level \u2014 bigger, brighter, and maybe better. But in reality, the supposed sophistication often doesn\u2019t match the facts. I remember speaking with an OEM parts manager years ago, assuming they had a complex, data-driven pricing matrix. He laughed. \u201cWe do have one,\u201d he said, \u201cbut mostly, we know we\u2019ve priced something too high when the dealers start screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n
That memory came rushing back when I read the CARTS results.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: dealers struggle to use the technology they already have \u2014 and most don\u2019t come close to tapping its full potential. The research found that satisfaction with dealership tech depends less on feature depth and more on fit and usability. In fact, alignment with dealership needs (37%) and ease of use (21%) account for nearly 60% of overall satisfaction.<\/p>\n
As Darren Slind, Co-Founder and President of Clarify Group Inc., which produced the study for CADA, put it:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe findings expose a critical disconnect in technology ROI. A majority of Canadian dealers admit they\u2019re not using tech solutions to their full potential and struggle with integration challenges. The challenge isn\u2019t finding technology\u2014it\u2019s making it work seamlessly in the daily workflow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sound familiar? It should.<\/p>\n
We all wrestle with the same issue \u2014 making technology work with<\/em> us instead of against<\/em> us. According to the study:<\/p>\n\n- 59%<\/strong> of dealers underutilize their systems.<\/li>\n
- 55%<\/strong> struggle with integration.<\/li>\n
- 41%<\/strong> say training and support remain ongoing gaps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I\u2019d wager the results would look very similar if we surveyed independent shops.<\/p>\n
Technology promises efficiency and insight \u2014 and often delivers both \u2014 but it also brings daily frustration. What worked perfectly yesterday suddenly changes today, and nobody knows why. Still, the lesson isn\u2019t that struggle is failure. It\u2019s that those who adapt faster, train better, and integrate more effectively will win \u2014 with customers, with productivity, and ultimately, with profitability.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t need to be perfect to succeed. You just need to be a bit better than the shop down the street.<\/p>\n
In the end, managing technology isn\u2019t a game of perfect \u2014 it\u2019s like golf: it\u2019s about managing your misses, and setting up the next shot. Do that, and you\u2019ll keep moving closer to the win.<\/p>\n
Check out these stories too!<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.indiegarage.ca \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What the Canadian Automotive Dealers Association (CADA) calls a benchmark study on car dealers and their use of technology is music to my ears \u2014 and it should be to yours too, wherever you sit in the aftermarket service network. The Canadian Automotive Retail Technology Study (CARTS) takes a national look at how franchised auto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2125105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2125104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Why-the-Latest-Study-on-Dealers-and-Technology-is-Music.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2125104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2125106,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125104\/revisions\/2125106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2125105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2125104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2125104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2125104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}