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Chemo RV’s Road to Growth: Tracking, Transparency, and Trust with IDS
Industry:
RV
Company Size:
3 Locations
Number of Employees:
30+ Employees
Location:
British Columbia
Founded in 1976, Chemo RV has grown from a family-run dealership into a trusted three-location business serving the Cariboo region of British Columbia.
Guided by values of integrity, excellence, teamwork, and community, the company is known for doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. After the 2017 wildfires, Chemo RV donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to local charities, strengthening its deep community ties.
Today, IDS helps Chemo RV live its values and deliver the fast service customers expect.
Meet Jason Bell
As General Manager of Chemo RV’s 150 Mile House location, Jason Bell is often the first to arrive and the last to leave. His role spans every part of the dealership, from overseeing major transactions and handling F&I deals to supporting service, parts, and sales.
No matter the task, Jason leads by example, doing whatever it takes to keep operations smooth, and his team supported.
Upgrading to IDS
In 2018, after fifteen years of steady growth, the team at Chemo RV knew it was time to invest in a dealership management system that could support their operations.
Their three main goals were:
- Centralizing and improving the accuracy of their transactions
- Improving communication across all locations
- Strengthening relationships with customers
Jason Bell: “You start to get to a profitability level where you need to do a better job of tracking details. As your business grows, you have multiple people in departments where you can’t quite keep your finger on the pulse all the time. Being that we had multiple locations on top of it, it made it even more difficult because we can’t be in two places at once. Switching to a software system was pretty crucial.”
When it came to deciding which DMS provider to go with, they reached out to their friends at other dealerships for their recommendations.
Jason Bell: “Talking to our peers, the majority of them were using IDS. We trust these people. They’re successful individuals. They said that IDS was the best, so we just took that plunge.”
One system, accurate transactions across every department
Sales and F&I“As long as the team buys into the process, you have much more accurate transactions. Before, someone might have promised, ‘Oh, I’ll include this option,’ but it wouldn’t appear on any of the signed paperwork or in any of the quotes. Now, there's less mistakes being made, versus before where it was handwritten on a piece of paper.” | Service“When it comes to parts and service, you're not missing parts going on to work orders, especially special orders. Once a technician closes a work order and finalizes his job line, your service team gets a notification. There's not this lost time of going back and forth where the tech needs to talk to a service admin person. That service admin person gets that e-mail instantaneously.” |
Parts and Inventory“I don't have to call a store to ask them if they have this part. I can just go on the IDS. Nine times out of 10, I don't need to bother someone and take them away from what they're doing to get the information I require.” | Accounting“The reports are unbelievable. You can pull reports on pretty much any department in the dealership and get your information within seconds instead of having to ask.” |
Improving communication across locations
Jason Bell: “Tracking and reporting allows for stronger communication between our stores, customers and employees.
We send an update e-mail at the end of every day amongst the three General Managers and my Controller, sort of like a snapshot of the day. Part of it is ‘what was your feel of the day’ and part of it is actual raw data out of IDS.
For example, we pull the parts gross profit report daily, and then we also do the list of daily payments report in AR. So, you’re getting factual data in that e-mail, which is great.
At any point, I can go in and look at a P&L of any of the stores and be like, ‘OK, why are these numbers down or up or what’s going on here?’ I don’t have to just trust my gut. You can see if that store is struggling or if that store is thriving because the numbers tell you everything you need to know.”
Strengthening relationships with customers
Today’s RV buyers have higher expectations than ever. When the market slows, word-of-mouth is critical. Dealers need to do more goodwill work and focus on customer satisfaction, and they need to leverage their DMS to stay maintain frequent communication with customers throughout the sales and service cycles.
Jason Bell: “If the promise date is six days out, in the old system you might have forgotten that you promised it back in six days and thought you had 10. With this system, I can put in today’s date, they drop it off, and I know I have four or five days to complete the work.
It even ties in with parts POS, so we use statuses a lot—for example, POO, parts here, in shop, or out back. It’s so much easier as long as people update statuses. It works great because you don’t have to bug anyone or second-guess yourself, wondering, ‘What did I tell them again?’”
A relationship built on trust and respect
IDS takes a uniquely consultative approach to customer relationships. We’re not just a software provider—we’re a strategic partner invested in your dealership’s success. In today’s competitive market, it’s more important than ever for dealers and their DMS providers to collaborate closely to overcome challenges and find solutions.
Jason Bell: “When I have reached out to IDS for support, there hasn’t been hesitation, which I find remarkable. They get back to you quickly and there’s good banter there, too. That speaks volumes to IDS as an organization; they care about their jobs.”
Jason’s tips for anyone considering switching to IDS
Jason Bell: “I would say if you got a dealer buddy that’s within proximity to you, go spend a couple of days with them in their store and watch how the staff works with IDS. You can even bring some of your key staff. I can tell you from where we started to where we are now—when you start it’s like drinking from a fire hose and now it’s like sipping tea.”
Want to learn more about how IDS can be your dealership’s growth partner?
Get in touch with our dealership experts.