6:50 pm, July 3, 2024
From adopting an omnichannel approach to embracing AI, recent years have seen a thoroughly innovative spirit sweeping across the motor trade.
This award aims to honour those that think outside of the box to help dealers and this year it goes to a provider of one of the most important investments a car dealer will ever make – a good DMS.
Despite only being registered with Companies House since 2021, DealerKit has rapidly become one of the go-to firms for a good dealer management system and their innovative offerings have been enough to scoop this award.
The firm’s next generation dealer management system provides sales, service, compliance and management tools to help dealerships take their businesses to the next level.
It is a system which has been adopted by our very own James Baggott, as he’s set up his own used car dealership, the Clever Car Collection, so the Car Dealer team knows for itself just how great the DealerKit service is.
Despite narrowly missing out on our overall DMS award this year, the firm has romped to victory in this special category.
The firm has only been offering its product for around 18 months and co-founder Lee Shayler said the gong is testament to the hard work and dedication of all of the team.
He told Car Dealer: ‘It feels amazing to be honest because we’re such a new business and we’re new in the market.
‘It’s an honour to win it. We’ve put in lots of hard work and lots of effort to get here so it’s really, really good.
‘I think [it’s because of our] customer service, and where we understand dealers maybe slightly better than our competition.
‘Our background has obviously been car dealerships before. I think that’s played a big part in why a dealer can maybe relate to us a little bit more.
‘When it comes to innovation, we know what those dealers are looking for. Innovation doesn’t always have to be the most modern thing going, it can be something quite simple that everyone needs to use, but no one knows how to find.
‘We communicate with our customers and we go to visit them regularly as well to make sure we’re always building things into our software that they all desire.’
This award marks a meteoric rise for one of the most exciting young businesses in the motor trade. However, bosses insist they will not be resting on their laurels and are looking ahead to another year of growth in 2025.
Shayler added: ‘This year has been quite manic really, and very flat out because we’ve only really been selling in the wider market for maybe 18 months or so.
‘We’ve been all over the country, we’ve tried to get into every place we can to see different dealerships.
‘Our growth has been really, really quick and it’s been a bit crazy, but it’s been a lot of fun.
‘I think the next 12 months are going to be about growth but we’re not looking to just get huge really quickly.
‘We want to make sure that everyone’s getting a great service, and that we continue to keep you know, innovating and building our software out so that it’s got something for everyone.’
- W: dealerkit.co.uk
- T: 020 8132 3702
