DIGITAL STRATEGY

5 trends that can help dealerships increase sales, streamline operations and stay competitive

By Tim Berman

Photo credit: © Adobe Stock- Lemonsoup14

There’ s nothing wrong with staying the course. Some dealers are nearing retirement and have no interest in adding new systems or changing how they operate. But for those looking to increase sales, improve efficiency and build long-term profitability, digital tools continue to create new opportunities.

After selling my family’ s dealership seven years ago, I founded what became TargetCRM, the first CRM built specifically for OPE dealerships. Since then, I’ ve worked with thousands of dealers across North America and have seen five digital trends separating growth-minded dealerships from the rest.

When we first built TargetCRM, most dealers weren’ t asking for lead management. They wanted marketing tools to encourage repeat purchases and service visits. As dealerships became more comfortable with CRMs, however, managing incoming leads quickly became one of the biggest opportunities for growth.

Many website inquiries still go unanswered. That isn’ t an indictment of the industry— dealers are busy. But every unanswered lead is a customer who will likely buy from someone else.

Lead management means tracking customers from their first inquiry through the final sale. For handheld equipment and smaller purchases, that process may take only a few hours. Larger purchases, such as mowers or tractors, often require multiple conversations and follow-ups before a customer commits.

As the saying goes, " If you can measure it, you can manage it." A CRM gives dealers visibility into every opportunity, showing where leads are progressing and where they’ re stalling. Instead of guessing whether customers received quotes or callbacks, managers can see exactly where follow-up is needed.

For dealers looking to grow, simply responding consistently to web leads can unlock significant revenue.

Generating more leads starts with a better website. If customers can ' t quickly find what they ' re looking for, they ' ll move on to another dealer. The basics still matter. More than 70 % of website visitors are browsing on their phones. If your site isn ' t easy to navigate on a mobile device, you ' re creating unnecessary friction. Spend a few minutes browsing your own website from your phone. If it ' s difficult to use, your customers probably think so, too.

Another opportunity is pricing. While some dealers worry about competitors seeing their prices, customers increasingly expect transparency. " Call for price " often sends shoppers elsewhere. Dealers who clearly display pricing typically see stronger engagement because customers can immediately decide whether they ' re interested.

Convenient communication is just as important. More dealer websites now offer texting directly from every page, allowing customers to ask questions without making a phone call or filling out a contact form. When I added texting to my own dealership website, leads doubled. While every dealership is different, making it easier for customers to reach you almost always improves conversions.

One of the most common questions I hear is whether it ' s too late to invest in e-commerce. It depends on what a dealer wants to accomplish. Some simply want existing customers to shop online before picking up in-store. Others hope to expand their market beyond their immediate area or even sell nationwide. Most dealership websites fall into one of three categories. The first is the basic " splash page " with little more than contact information and manufacturer logos. These sites offer almost no shopping experience, meaning customers often leave to browse elsewhere.

The second is what I call a lead-generation site. Customers can browse inventory, request quotes or submit financing applications, but they don ' t complete purchases online. This remains the most common model because many customers still want to talk with someone before buying a $ 10,000 mower, and dealers understandably want to avoid the fraud risk and processing costs associated with large online transactions.

The third is full e-commerce, allowing customers to purchase online for pickup or shipping.

While a handful of dealers have built successful online businesses, e-commerce still represents only a small percentage of sales across the OPE industry. That doesn ' t mean the opportunity has disappeared. If anything, it remains largely untapped because relatively few independent dealers have fully embraced it.

Launching an e-commerce operation requires the same commitment as opening another location. It takes dedicated resources, ongoing management and a long-term strategy. But those willing to make that investment may find a meaningful opportunity for future growth.

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As technology becomes a bigger part of dealership operations, integrated software is becoming the standard.

For decades, dealer management systems( DMS) handled inventory while dealership websites operated separately. That often meant updating inventory in multiple places, creating extra work and increasing the chance of inaccurate pricing or availability online.

Today, more dealers are connecting their DMS, CRM and website into a single workflow. Inventory and pricing update automatically. Website inquiries flow directly into the CRM, where they become trackable sales opportunities. Customer information stays connected throughout the buying process instead of living in separate systems.

The biggest benefit isn ' t just convenience— it ' s efficiency. Integrated software reduces duplicate data entry, minimizes errors and gives employees more time to focus on customers instead of paperwork.

As more dealerships modernize, connecting these systems is becoming less of a luxury and more of a competitive advantage.

You may have noticed we made it this far without talking about artificial intelligence. That ' s intentional. AI dominates technology conversations today, but dealers are right to approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism. There are plenty of companies eager to sell the latest shiny object, and not every AI tool solves a real business problem.

That said, AI is already proving valuable in practical ways. Dealers are using it to build website content, create marketing materials and produce social media graphics in a fraction of the time. Tools like Canva and Gemini make it easier for people without design experience to create professional-looking content. The bigger shift may be how customers shop. While Google remains the starting point for most buyers, more consumers are using AI-powered search tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini to research products, compare options and find local businesses.

Major technology companies are also investing heavily in AI-assisted shopping. Initiatives like the Universal Commerce Protocol aim to make it easier for AI agents to help customers research and purchase products directly through conversational interfaces. It ' s still early, but the way people shop online could look very different over the next few years.

That ' s why dealers should begin thinking beyond traditional search engine optimization. Answer engine optimization( AEO) helps ensure your dealership appears when customers ask AI assistants where to buy equipment or schedule service. Agentic optimization( AGO) prepares websites for the next generation of AI shopping experiences.

Most dealerships aren ' t behind because the industry is still in the early stages of adoption. But now is a good time to begin learning about these technologies and working with partners who can separate meaningful innovation from marketing hype.

If you ' ve fallen behind on any of these trends, don ' t be discouraged. They ' re all opportunities to improve your business, and none require reinventing your dealership overnight.

For me, investing in CRM technology transformed the customer experience and helped quadruple our dealership in five years. Every dealership is different, but the common thread is that technology works best when it removes friction, saves time and helps your team focus on serving customers.

It ' s a challenging time to be a dealer, with tighter margins and higher customer expectations than ever before. But it ' s also an exciting time. The right digital tools can automate routine tasks, connect systems and create opportunities that simply didn ' t exist a decade ago.

The goal isn ' t to replace people. It ' s to give them better tools so they can spend more time selling, serving customers and growing the business. That ' s a trend worth investing in.

Tim Berman is the director of OPE product for Ideal and C-Systems Software, provider of connected dealer websites, CRM and DMS. He is obsessed with making things userfriendly and has numerous UX certifications. He has also managed OPE + dealerships for nearly 25 years and uses this unique experience to bring simple and state-of-theart technology to dealers to compete with the Big Box Stores and Amazon.