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From the
CEO
Is the worst of the
downturn
behind us?
“Financiers more discerning” was the sobering
headline that followed the decision by GE and GMAC to withdraw from
the Australian and New Zealand market. Since then some well known
dealerships have closed their doors and hundreds of dealership staff
are faced with the bleak prospect of Xmas without a job.
The gloomy headlines continue: “Battered Car Industry”, “Car Sales
Slide”, “Crunch Hits Dealers”. We are indeed living in interesting
times but despite the fact that profits are down, life goes on and
the cycle of boom and gloom will ever define business life in this
fortunate country.
Why the need for the Australian markets to so closely mirror the
Dow? Unlike America we have four of the twenty top rated banks on
the world stage, and a quarry in our back yard capable of meeting
the manufacturing needs of our close neighbours, China and India,
for many years to come.
In its latest update on the Chinese economy, the World Bank forecast
a 2009 gross domestic product growth of 7.5 percent and whilst this
would represent the first single digit growth rate for China in more
than a decade, it’s hardly the end of the world for a country so
admirably placed when it comes to supplying much of the raw
materials needed to fuel this amazing rate of growth.
So in this writer’s opinion, we have plumbed the depths. The markets
have already been in decline for twelve months, and confidence will
begin to return well before the end of the financial year as
interest rates continue to ease and consumer confidence is restored.
The Year That Was
Auto-I.T. is in the business of supplying retail Dealer Management
Systems to two niche markets. These are the retail Automotive
industry and the retail Agricultural, Trucking, and Construction
Equipment Industries. Our very existence depends on the continued referencability of our products and services by our clients and to
obtain this we need to demonstrate our ability to deliver to their
most demanding expectations. Auto-I.T. clients are entitled to expect
us to remain innovative in our product offerings, to provide value
for money, and to remain in financial health, as a substantial and
long term supplier in all markets we choose to participate in.
In this regard I am pleased to affirm that Auto-I.T. has a strong
balance sheet, we continually look for new initiatives to improve
the products we offer to our clients, and the growth of new client
licenses sold in Australia, New Zealand, and overseas over the past
12 months has been substantial.
In short, Auto-I.T. has been supplying products and services to its
dealer clients now for twenty eight years, our customers have never
been more supportive, and our future has never looked brighter.
Season’s Greetings
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Auto-I.T.
trades on its core values and ethics and prides itself
on providing value for money products and services.
If you know of another dealership that’s doing it tough
and not getting value for money or feeling that their
DMS supplier is taking them for granted please let us
know and we’ll be more than happy to help. |
Once again it is nearly time to embark on the holiday season. I hope
you share my optimism that 2009 will bring with it a return of
consumer confidence, and a deeper understanding by our political and
business leaders that there is no room in the future for the
excesses of the past.
Once again I reaffirm that in lieu of sending Xmas cards to our
valued clients and associates, Auto-I.T. continues to support
underprivileged children through the World Vision program, Saley
Mahamat, an eight year old boy from Chad and Kana Mondol, a little 7
year old girl from Bangladesh.
Please accept our good wishes for the Christmas season, Auto-I.T.’s
thanks for your continued support and our wishes that 2009 will
bring with it health and happiness to your families and loved ones.
Ken W Fife | Chief Executive Office | Auto-I.T. Australia Pty
Ltd |
kenfife@auto-it.com.au
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Major Mexican
Implementation of EQUIP™
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"The system has enabled us to keep our fingers on the pulse
and when required, to act more promptly - especially
important in today’s economic situation (something that was
lacking on the previous system)."
Spec Woodley
G & J East |
Auto-I.T. Australia Pty Ltd has struck
a deal to install its retail dealer management software system in
all John Deere agricultural equipment dealerships in Mexico. To
organise the implementation, JDIS and the Mexican Team attended a
conference at Auto-I.T..
The deal follows the sale earlier this year of Auto-I.T.’s
proprietary software system to John Deere Information Systems (JDIS),
a supplier of software to all John Deere dealers in North America.
Ken Fife, Auto-I.T.’s Chief Executive Officer said the deal with
JDIS made in January had paved the way for sales into other
international markets which are potentially estimated to be worth in
excess of A$1.5B. Mexico represents the first successful entrée into
new markets since endorsement of the product by JDIS.
“JDIS exercised an option, which was available to it in an agreement
struck in 2003, to purchase the source code for Auto-I.T.’s EQUIP™
software,” Mr Fife said. “This means JDIS effectively became a
fully-fledged reseller of our software in the agricultural and
construction equipment markets in the United States and Canada.”
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Meanwhile in India...
Auto-I.T.'s
Development Manager, Luan Tran recently visited the John
Deere Technology Centre in Pune, India.
He is pictured with Julie Abdel-Fattah, PMP Project
Manager, EQUIP JDIS and Malek Abdel-Fattah,
Technology Architect - Collaboration Project Area,
Advanced IT Architecture. |
“However, Auto-I.T. retained the right to sell EQUIP™ and its other
software systems into all markets internationally, including John
Deere dealerships worldwide, as well as into non-agricultural,
forestry and construction dealerships in North America,” he
explained.
According to Mr Fife, currently Auto-I.T. has a presence in Australia,
New Zealand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji and South Africa but
is planning for rapid growth into at least two new countries each
year.
“The installation of our software into John Deere Mexico is the
first in our international push into Latin America, and requires the
software to be translated into Spanish. This gives us an even
greater foothold in other international markets,” he said.
EQUIP™ is a fully integrated software system, which is designed
specifically for retail dealerships in the agriculture, construction
and trucking industries. The system is intended to be rolled out to
34 dealer groups in 115 locations in the John Deere network in
Mexico over the next three years.
John Deere Mexico’s IT Manager Mr Mario Garcia said, “Auto-I.T.’s
EQUIP™ dealer management system is endorsed and ratified by JDIS,
which gave us great confidence in the system’s ability to
handle our technical, managerial and reporting requirements. We
expect the roll-out of EQUIP™ in all John Deere dealerships will
improve each dealership’s interface with head office, while boosting
dealer efficiency and profitability.”
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CRM - Top 5
Tips for EQUIP™
Users
Michael Cross, International Man of
Mystery & Business Development Manager at Auto-I.T., lists the top
four Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ideas he has
recently encountered.
Idea 1 - Support Your Most Loyal
Customers
Identify your most loyal customers, those that have purchased
equipment and returned to the dealership over a three year
period. Look to thank them formally in some way. Also look at
their current finance arrangement i.e. what is the estimated
payout value compared to the market value? Perhaps you can
finance them into new equipment for much the same repayments?
EQUIP™ supports this style of
marketing activity.
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"The team
at Auto-I.T./Equip have always been helpful and have an
excellent understanding of our business requirements and
I would highly recommend this system to anyone looking
at upgrading their business systems."
Matt Wittholz
Operations Manager
Gawler Farm Machinery |
Idea 2 - Try a Different Medium
Why not perform a video walk-around
presentation of used equipment and email it to an interested
customer? The marketplace is changing - customers are more savvy
and using technology such as the internet to research and
purchase goods, including equipment. By preparing a personalised
video walk around presentation for a customer and then emailing
it to them, we are communicating in a format that they prefer to
use. It could be personalised by using the customers name and
pointing out features that the customer has mentioned as
important to them.
Dealerships can also take generic
videos and attach them to used equipment stock numbers. Sending
a customer a video presentation can save them time coming into
the dealership, particularly if they live a long way away. It is
also less threatening and has a point of difference.
Idea 3 - Monitor Business Communications
All communications inbound and outbound should go through a
business communication centre so all incoming enquiries can be
analysed to determine things such as advertising effectiveness,
where the leads are coming from, what customers are interested
in etc. Equipment dealers are big advertising spenders so we
need a process to measure effectiveness.
EQUIP™ has inbuilt functionality to
support this initiative.
Idea 4 - Measure Lost sales
Most dealerships capture information on customers who have
purchased equipment. Few actually capture lost sale information
to enable follow up to find out why they missed an opportunity
or what we could have done better. Customers will usually tell
you. This information may be used to coach staff or improve
processes to avoid missing the opportunity in the future. The
information could also be useful for manufacturers to understand
why customers are bypassing their products.
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Tough Times
Lead to Better Practices
We know that many dealerships are doing it tough and many
want to get more from their marketing. We are here to help. Speak to
your Account Manager and ask them how our marketing features can
help your business.
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"We settled into the software very quickly and it is a
pleasure to use a business system that is basically
faultless from a performance point of view.”
Brad Ramsey
Ramsey Brothers |
For example, we have recently signed an ‘industry first’
agreement with Sensis to link our products to the Sensis White Pages®
database. If you are going to market to your database it may as well
use accurate and up-to-date information. We can also show you how to
more effectively use our text messaging and email marketing campaign
functions and services.
At the end of the day, if business isn't walking in the door and
general advertising is not picking up new customers, then targeting
clients that have already used your services and products is
probably the way to go.
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New Interfaces
Auto-IT has and will continue to write all available Factory
Interfaces. Many of these interfaces can assist in making
your business more efficient and effective. Don't miss out
on giving your business a competitive edge! To find out more
about how these interfaces can benefit your business and how
to set these interfaces up please speak to your Account
Manager or Aaran Newman on
anewman@autoit.com.au
or 0418 253 368.
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CASE New Holland |
Status |
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Parts Stock Order and
Receipting software |
Available |
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Daily Parts Price
updates |
Available |
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John Deere |
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Electronic Parts Receipting |
Available |
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PMPro Pick List into DMS |
Available |
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Parts Locator |
Available |
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Parts Electronic Ordering |
Available |
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Marketing Service Times |
Available |
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Financial Reporting Interface |
Available |
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Hino |
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Hino Stock Receipt
Invoice |
Available |
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Hino Purchase Order
Extract |
Available |
*For more
information and pricing please contact your regional Account
Manager.
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White Pages®
Customer Check
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"We found the
on-site training provided by Auto-I.T. staff to be invaluable
in overcoming any uncertainty that was sure to come with any
significant software migration such as this."
John
Vandersee
Vanderfield Pty Ltd |
In these tough times its more important than ever to market
effectively to your existing clients within your database!
But what if your database is invalid or out of date? Did you
know that approximately 17%
of the population or 4 million
people in Australia change address on a yearly basis?
Checking the validity of your database is impossible without
using an external list source and what better source is
there other than Sensis White Pages®?
Otherwise a good direct marketing idea might turn out to be
costly with little return and with material not reaching its
anticipated destination or going to non-existent clients.
Auto-I.T., in conjunction with Telstra's subsidiary Sensis
White Pages®,
have built a ‘Dealer Industry First’ LIVE Link into the
Sensis White Pages®
database for accurate entry of client details as well as a
"BATCH" matching system to help cleanse your existing
database!
BEFORE you start your marketing campaign get your database
in order. Click on to the link below and speak to your
Account Manager today for more information.
Download CustomerCheck Brochure
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New Clients
We would like
to welcome the following dealerships as Auto-I.T. clients.
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Farmpower
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O'Hallaran
Motors |
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John Page
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Tasmania Farm
Equipment |
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WD Lewis
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Greenline Ag
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Howard
Machinery |
Cunninghams |
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Twincity
Trucks |
Wickham Flower |
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Beaconsfield
Tractors |
Phillips Farm
Machinery |
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MJ & MA
Charltons |
Barossa
Machinery |
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Booleroo
Agencies |
General
Transport Equipment |
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WB Truck n
Trailer |
Independent
Storage Systems |
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Tech Tips
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"I have no hesitation
in recommending the system to prospective clients."
Spec Woodley
G & J East |
For users accessing EQUIP™ via Terminal Services you may
sometimes come across an error message saying that you
cannot connect to the remote computer due to an error in the
licensing protocol.
Unfortunately this is a Microsoft bug which they have still
not fixed after all these years. The solution, however, is
rather quick and easy. Simply click on the “Start” menu and
select “Run”. Type in “reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\MSLICENSING
/F” and click OK. You should now be able to connect to the
Terminal Server as per usual.
Stuart
James - Technical Services
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FAQs
Trade Debtors
Reconciliation
Question:
What do I need to do if the Debtor’s Subsidiary Ledger is
out of balance with the General Ledger balance, when I print
the GL Reconciliation Report?
Answer:
Run the ‘Restore Debtor Master’ from the Transaction program
for all debtors, to update the outstanding balances. This
will keep the balances in line with the transactions posted
to the debtor’s accounts.
If the balance is still out, run the ‘Rebuild GL Master’
from the Transaction File program, for the trade debtors
General Ledger account. This will keep the balances in line
with the transactions posted to the debtors General Ledger
account.
If the balance continues to be out, produce the reports
‘Aged Debtor’ and ‘General Ledger Account Scheduling’ for
the trade debtors control, General Ledger account. Compare
the balance of each debtor account number to the same
reference number value in the General Ledger. Once you have
identified which side requires adjustment, contact Support
at Auto-I.T.
Trade
Creditors Reconciliation
Question:
What do I need to do if the Creditor’s Subsidiary Ledger
is out of balance with the General Ledger balance, when I
print the GL Reconciliation Report?
Answer:
Run the ‘Rebuild GL Master’ from the Transaction File
program for the trade creditors General Ledger account. This
will keep the balances in line with the transactions posted
to the creditors General Ledger account.
If the balance continues to be out, produce the ‘Creditors
Aging Detail Report’ and ‘General Ledger Account Scheduling’
for the Trade Creditors control, General Ledger account.
Compare the balance of each creditor account number to the
same reference number value in the General Ledger. Once you
have identified which side requires adjustment, contact
Support at Auto-I.T.
Closing
Accounting Periods
Question:
How do I close the accounting period to prevent accounting
transactions from being posted to previous periods in error?
Answer:
To prevent accounting transactions from being posted to a
previous period in error, it is advisable to enter a Closed
Year End Date and Period Number. By doing this, you ensure
no-one can enter transactions dated within the defined
Closed Period.
To close the account period, you first need to select the
Company Maintenance Program as follows:
Then from the following screen, simply enter the Closed Year
End Date and select the period number you need to close.
Then Save and Close.
Contributed by Kelvin Gilbert – Auto I.T. Support Team
Member
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Auto-I.T. Australia Pty Ltd
ABN: 57 091 383 854
Suite 2 / Level 1, 333 Drummond St,
Carlton VIC 3053,
Australia
Ph: (03) 9349 3062 :: Fax: (03) 9349 3067
www.auto-it.com.au
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