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DealerKit is aiming to become the biggest DMS provider on offer to the the motor trade.
That is the verdict of boss Lee Shayler, who says that the firm is wants to have a thousand dealers signed up to the platform within the next two years.
Shaylor, who co-founded DealerKit with business partner Oliver Green in 2021, balances work on the platform with running his own used car dealership.
However, he has promised not to compromise on customer service as the pair look to grow DealerKit over the coming years.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Car Dealer Podcast, Shayler opened up on how the platform first came into being, and how it got to where it is today.
The operation has grown rapidly over the past four years, something which has not always proved easy for Shayler and Green.
Speaking on the podcast, the co-founder said: ‘We’ve got dreams of being the biggest.
‘We’d love to be the biggest, but we don’t want to lose sight of giving good customer service as well for people, because I think that’s been a really unique selling point of us – really going out to customers and making sure we do a physical onboarding, making sure that we give good customer care.
‘If I’m honest with you, that’s been a struggle in the speed that we’ve grown and I’d openly say this with my heart to our dealers: I think there are times where we kind of have slipped up with a bit of support because we’ve been inundated with new clients.
‘We have now put plans in to solve that, that’s our next thing, and we take all feedback like that because we want to be top of the market.
‘We’d love to have a thousand-odd dealers within the next 18 months to two years, and we’ll only get that by looking after people.’
‘People get a bit precious over their data’
Shayler also revealed that his status as an active dealer was initially something of a ‘stumbling block’ for the fledgling DealerKit service.
Other retailers viewed him with suspicion and were hesitant when it came to handing over their business’s key data.
However, the 37-year-old says that his ‘by dealers for dealers’ approach has now began to grow in popularity across the industry.
He added: ‘People get a bit precious over their data.
‘I think it was always a bit of a stumbling block for me in the early days, because they were like, “so you’re a car dealer, and we’re going to give you all of our data?”.
‘I always said to them: “Well, it’s separate from me. I’ve got no interest in looking in your system and seeing what you’re doing. I’ve got so much to do anyway”.
‘I’m looking at a benefit for the market. I love going out to other dealers and improving their processes when they’re doing things right.
‘I think now it’s turned from a bit of a negative initially, especially locally, to a really big selling point – the whole “made by dealers for dealers” thing has been really key for us.’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by Auto Trader, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed can be found here.
You can listen to all episodes of the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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English (US) ·