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Datapen makes millions

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Time 7:57 am, October 23, 2008

A system designed to drive repair revenues has made dealers £7.5 million so far this year.

FGA Computer Systems’ Dealer Datapen allows staff to identify additional work that can be upsold to customers – via a ‘digital paper’ system that’s immediately sent to the service desk.

This can range from tyres and wiper blades, to more major mechanical work. And has, so far in 2008, achieved a near-50 per cent conversion rate.


FGA MD Tim McGing said: ‘The Datapen is proving to be a prime tool for dealers in fighting the credit crunch by helping them to increase their yield from existing customers.

‘In a workshop environment, a PC with a mouse and keyboard, or even a PDA, is not the ideal means of recording information – the digital pen is much more natural and easy-to-use and, because of this, technicians are happier using it and, crucially, more likely to complete the checks in the first place.

‘It is interesting to note that dealers who have been using the pen for a little while have been actually increasing their upsell rate in recent months. This trend is even more pronounced among prestige dealers.’


Launched in mid-2007, Datapen’s now used by 14 franchises, in over 50 dealers. The accompanying Digital Vehicle Health Check software also allows technician efficiency and upsell skills to be monitored, and can also use web-based software to seek approval from customers more rapidly.

The information recorded using the Datapen can also be transferred into almost any other dealer IT system.

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