How We Built Document Management into the DealerBuilt Product Suite

We continue our journey of "building in public" by unveiling the next installment in our series: the DealerBuilt Document Management solution.    

What We Heard 

Our discussions with dealers revealed a clear demand for a more streamlined and secure method of managing documents.  

Complaint 1 – Storing physical documents is painful 

Many dealers expressed frustration over the cumbersome practice of storing physical documents. Rooms, even warehouses, were becoming cluttered with boxes of paper. Searching for a document that was needed was an unwelcome task. Even with good organization, it was time consuming to go to where they are housed and thumb through to find what was needed. But, in the case we saw often where these documents had not been organized or maintained well, it was a nightmare to search for what was needed. In today’s age, customers were sensing there must be a way to do this digitally. 

Complaint 2 – Storing physical documents is risky 

Beyond the pain and inefficiency of looking for physical documents, sometimes the documents they needed weren’t there. Years of different people and different practices had led to a lack of confidence that they even had all the documents they were supposed to have retained. Customers were concerned about the liability they were incurring by storing documents physically, and extra worried about the risk they were taking on since documents could easily be lost or destroyed with no backups.  

Complaint 3 – Too much manual effort 

The manual effort required to scan and archive each document was both time-consuming and error-prone. Many dealerships need to spend significant hours of one or multiple peoples’ time scanning and managing documents. Customers couldn’t help but feel “There must be some way to automate more of this.” 

Complaint 4 – YAV (Yet Another Vendor) 

While there are other digital document management options out there, customers viewed it as more work to be using or taking on another vendor and to be subject to that vendor’s ability in integrating with other systems. When looking at the role the DMS plays in their lives, they felt it would be a lot easier if documents were accessible through the DMS and if they could just deal with one partner to take care of document management rather than two. 

What We Built: DealerBuilt Document Management 

To tackle these challenges, we created a seamlessly integrated document management system within our Lightyear DMS. This integration allows documents to be viewed directly within Lightyear, providing easy access to all versions of a document—essential for sales departments where deals are frequently updated.  

We also focused on several key aspects of the product to directly address dealers' needs when it comes to document management, including: 

Final Thoughts 

At DealerBuilt, we listen to our customers and build based on their feedback. Our new Document Management solution is designed to meet our vision of having one place to go to do the most essential activities to run your dealership.  

With DealerBuilt Document Management, we're excited to help dealers reclaim valuable space, reduce liability associated with physical document storage, and streamline their document management processes. This is just another way we're working to bring more cohesive technology solutions to the forefront of dealership operations. 

Let us help you streamline your document management process - discover how our solution can help your dealership operate more securely and efficiently by visiting our website.