Dealerships with multiple locations have found an additional advantage. They download the inventory from all their locations into PalmPilots, and when a customer asks for a certain model or color, the salesperson can search for cars that match the customer's request. "This is a wonderful, wonderful tool for salespeople," says dealer Ray Sparling of Sunset Chevrolet in Sumner, Washington. "This is the easiest thing that we have ever used to know what's in stock. We plan to expand to a building across the street and those employees will be able to use this to know what we have in stock at both lots."

How does it work?
SalesLink runs a query of the inventory from the dealership's in-house inventory database system during the night. It can also be set to run every 10 minutes during the day. The data is automatically extracted and put into an Access database. This database is then synchronized with individual PalmPilots when each user performs a HotSync. The PalmPilot displays a list, shown in Figure A, which includes make, model, color, and price information.

FIGURE A

The list view displays a quick listing of each vehicle's important attributes.

When a record is selected from the list, the detail view shown in Figure B appears with more information. Categories and category information for the records are defined in the import file when it is extracted from the in-house system.

FIGURE B

The detail view gives additional information about a vehicle. Note the in-stock check box.

In addition to the fixed fields available in the application, the dealer also has four custom fields with customizable labels, as shown in Figure C. This screen is only displayed if there is custom data defined for the record.

FIGURE C

This screen on the PalmPilot shows the custom fields and labels.

The application is fully searchable from the PalmPilot's built-in Find function. One of the benefits of using PalmPilots for this solution, of course, is that dealer personnel can also use the built-in applications of the PalmPilot to track customers, meetings, and tasks.

Other solutions
Auto Inventory also has a useful business management application for dealers taking a physical inventory. Pam Ruggles, controller of Sunset Chevrolet, used to send a clerk out every week with a yellow legal pad to take inventory. With Auto Inventory, the clerk is able to check the "in stock" box, then come back into the dealership and print a list of the units that are missing. This saves them three or four hours of reconciliation time a week.

Future directions
JS&A is exploring other customized PalmPilot applications to make their customer's jobs easier. They are working on a system that allows the dealer to view financial data on a PalmPilot. This will enable dealers to discuss the number of open repair orders or repair order averages while in the service department and gross profit averages when visiting the sales department.

They're also working with a research company to provide marketing analysis on the PalmPilot. A dealer will be able to view market research information such as consumer buying patterns and regional demand for each vehicle. This will help a dealer at auction or during lot reviews determine if the dealership should hold onto the vehicle or accept a quick sale to turn over a slow mover.