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ALBANY, N.Y. – June 16th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today the integration of its dealership management system (DMS) with SMI's DriveService and DriveSales solutions. For auto dealers using both solutions, the integration ensures that customer information updated in the DMS will be updated in SMI's customer…

A recent Automotive News article covered the decrease in trained automotive service technicians graduating from vocational schools. Not only are the vocational schools producing fewer graduates in the automotive repair field, but the training they…

Last week, AutoPoint headed to the 16^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition in Atlantic City, NJ. We were very excited to see many new faces that were able to attend the Digital Dealer Conference for the first time as it visited the Northeast. Sessions were all well attended & attendees were very active in the exhibit hall investigating all of…

A recently released white paper based on a collaborative study between Cars.com and GFK, reported that consumers are leaving dealership service in favor of independents due to a lack of trust and price transparency. The lack of price transparency in parts and…

The recently released J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Customer Service Index Study produced some interesting, and very promising, results. The report concluded that customer satisfaction with dealer service has increased across the board with overall CSI increasing from an average score of 846…

A recent interview with former Apple VP of Worldwide Marketing, Allison Johnson, offered up some interesting insights into the legendary businessman Steve Jobs. In her interview, she explained how the two words that Jobs hated most were “branding” and “marketing.” According to Johnson, people equated branding with…

Warranty work is a large part of any service department’s revenue. The recent announcement by the NHTSA mandating manufacturers to use specific labeling on recall notices could prove to be very helpful to dealers; helping them get the work faster and at a lower cost. However, there are challenges associated with this and dealerships need to be prepared to handle them. With…

ALBANY, N.Y. – February 18th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that TimeHighway has completed integration of its service scheduling solution with Auto/mate's Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) dealership management system. Auto dealers using both Auto/Mate's DMS and TimeHighway's service scheduling solution will benefit from real-time data exchange between the two…

In recent articles by both CNET & Automotive News, it’s reported that U.S. regulators are looking to institute…

Since 2003, MPi has been helping dealerships across the United States create more profitable service departments through technology.  Our mission is to help dealerships become more efficient and simplify the service upsell process.   Through the use of the latest technology, photos and video, our interface illustrates service recommendations in such a way that consumers…

Oftentimes, businesses adopt a rewards program to thank their frequent customers and to encourage and increase the likelihood that they will return. While these are both excellent reasons to have a rewards program, a business must carefully consider how to structure the program and what to offer to not only promote engagement with their customer, but to also create…

ALBANY, N.Y. – January 20th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) today introduced a multi-point inspection feature for its mobile service solution, tailored to work on windows-based tablets. With multi-point inspection, service advisors can use tablets to greet the customer, conduct a vehicle inspection, identify potential maintenance items and complete the service write-up process all 'on the go.' Auto dealer fixed ops…

Everyone in the automotive industry is familiar with Tesla’s entry into the automotive retail business, however, not as many realize that they’re simultaneously spotlighting innovative functionalities that any manufacturer could use to make automotive service easier and more convenient for the consumer.

Tesla vehicles are all integrated with an AT&T chip…

ALBANY, N.Y. – December 16th, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that its dealership management system (DMS) is integrated with two of the five modules in MOC1 Solutions' Fixed Ops SDS^TM (Service Drive Suite) technology platform. Auto/Mate has completed full integration with MOC1 Solutions' Track and Schedule products and is in the process of integrating with their three remaining modules…

Most dealerships understand the importance of online reviews, in general, for their stores. Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to research dealerships before selecting one. This includes researching not only sales-related reviews, but also service.  Yet, most dealerships focus most of their attention on gaining reviews from the sales side and leave the…

In July, I wrote an article that was published in Dealer magazine titled “Beam Me Up! How Service May Look In The Future.” In that article, I discussed how the trend of increasing…

When dealerships first started publishing web pages, I remember that many felt that it was not very important. However, as many other dealers were doing it, they felt that they needed to as well. At first they were static, very basic websites, with very little information. Along came the ability to dynamically add inventory updated in real-time. At this point, most dealers…

ALBANY, N.Y. – October 21st, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that Scott Volkswagen, the largest Volkswagen dealership in New England, has saved more than half a million dollars since switching to Auto/Mate's dealership management system (DMS) in 2006. Scott Volkswagen's employees enjoy Auto/Mate's premier customer service while using the DMS system to streamline processes within their dealership; most…

ALBANY, N.Y. – September 3^rd, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that its AMPS Dealership Management System (DMS) is fully integrated with Volkswagen Group of America’s ElsaPro, an electronic workshop manual that dealership service departments use to diagnose and repair vehicles. Volkswagen and Audi dealerships using Auto/Mate’s DMS will greatly increase efficiencies in the service department…

Being different will get you more service business, according to a recent study published by Google. In a study titled “The Road to Winning Drivers: What Drivers Want In the Automotive Aftermarket Service,” Google shared some interesting insights into how service…