Nino Malka, National Sales Director
Nino Malka, National Sales Director
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DMS provider SERTI exhibited in the ATD truck show adjacent to the NADA main show and unveiled new product developments to customers.
The company, which has a head office in Montreal, Que., has kept busy over the past three years consulting with its dealerships and OEMs, and observing both customers and consumers, according to Nino Malka, National Sales Director at SERTI Dealership System (SERTI).
“Our first conclusion is that since everyone is using the Internet — the future lies in the development of mobile and Web applications for smartphones, tablets, etc.” said Malka. “It’s natural now, if you buy goods or if you want to go to the movies or a restaurant, to search online. So we came to the conclusion that DMS users are also wanting to use web applications — in fact, the new generation of users is actually expecting to use mobile and web apps.”
For the last few years, SERTI has started rewriting its solutions and developing new web-based and mobile applications, in order to replace the more traditional DMS systems.
“The second conclusion that we reached is that the dealers want to use one application, one single solution, to do everything that they need,” said Malka. “For instance, they want to provide their consumers with the ability to take a service appointment on their website and they want to send text messages instead of the old-school phone calls. Most of the dealerships have to go through a third-party company to use such functionalities, and our customers expressed the need to have a DMS that is fully integrated with all those tools. So that’s what we have been doing.”
Dealers have also been telling SERTI that if they can do 80 per cent of what third-party companies can do to enhance their experience (and that of their customers), then that’s what they want. “In 2019 we launched several new web and mobile applications, which eliminates the need for the dealer to go to third-party companies,” said Malka.
To-date, SERTI counts more than 1,000 customers, most of them based in Canada with some in the U.S. The company is planning to expand its U.S. growth in 2021. In the meantime, SERTI remain busy working on new applications and planning its third annual User Conference, which will be held in Quebec City this September.
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