Iowa RV Dealership Prospers as a Small RV Dealership with IDS SMS

Established in 1972 by Don Goedken, Sun & Fun RV (Iowa RV dealership) has come a long way to develop into the thriving RV business it is today. When Don’s son Chad took over the dealership, he knew the key to increased success was computerization. After trying QuickBooks, Chad turned to IDS’s web-based solution for full integration and departmentalization.

Download Sun and Fun RV Success Story in PDF

Watch a 2-minute video to find out Sun and Fun RV’s key to success:

Business Challenge For Iowa RV Dealership: Find a Cost-Effective SMS Solution to Replace QuickBooks

Given the size of their dealership and their limited budget, Chad chose QuickBooks for dealership management. He quickly determined it wasn’t providing the industry-specific data he needed to be successful, so he needed to find a cost-effective solution that could support their RV business needs.

“It didn’t take long for me to realize QuickBooks was not an appropriate software system to handle a business of this nature,” said Chad. “It really didn’t departmentalize anything and it didn’t have the reports that I needed to make the right decisions for the business.  I was still doing a lot of things on spreadsheets that we were doing prior to QuickBooks. It basically increased my work load rather than reduced it. I knew we needed a better solution.”

Solution: IDS SMS Web-Based Software

Chad knew it was time to start researching affordable RV-specific dealer management systems and determined IDS SMS was the most suitable for the dealership.

“I looked at several different programs,” said Chad. “In talking to other friends in the industry and the software companies, we narrowed it down to Systems2000 and IDS. After the online product demonstrations of both, IDS’s web-based solution proved to be the best software for our business.”

Results: Cost-Effective Premium Level Software

Since IDS SMS is financed at a monthly subscription rate with no additional add-on costs, Chad and his dealership is finding they can utilize everything that is available in the Astra G2 software that’s used by some of the world’s largest RV dealerships, at a price that’s affordable for the business.

“IDS SMS being web-based was a big factor in making our decision because I didn’t have to worry about the upfront costs associated with purchasing additional hardware and software,” said Chad. “For a small business, it’s a good way to control your upfront costs and expenses. The added cost involved in hosting a system in-house just wasn’t feasible for our size of dealership. Having a web-based solution reduced the cost of implementing a powerful tool like IDS. Another huge advantage is that our data is safe at an offsite location.”

Full Departmentalization:

Perhaps the biggest benefit Chad has seen since implementing IDS SMS is how departmentalized the dealership has become. Having data from each department integrated into one system allows for Chad to analyze his entire business, review reports and forecast which areas are doing well and which areas need immediate attention.

“Now that we’re departmentalized, I can analyze all the data and narrow down what needs our attention so that we can correct the issue and improve our business,” said Chad.

Reduced Double-Entry of Business Processes:

Chad and his staff are also able to save time thanks to the full integration IDS SMS offers. Each aspect of the business data is tied together through each department, eliminating the need for double-entry and additional software.

“A lot of double entries have been eliminated in all departments. When we receive service calls we can pull up existing customer information to put on the work order and also track all work orders based on the customer number. There’s no more digging through file cabinets or boxes for previous work orders.  It’s great being able to keep the whole sales process in one system from quote to a finalized deal.  The parts processing has been great. Being able to go through the whole process from receiving the part to the integration between the service and the parts department for the parts associated with ROs saves time.”

“The F&I features have also been great,” added Chad. “We can go in and print off the purchase agreement, trade documentation, and the entire contract with our clients. Having all of this in one place and not needing additional software is time-saving and money-saving.”

Now that Chad and his staff have grown accustomed to utilizing IDS SMS for all of their business management needs, the dealership can now focus on ways to expand the business.

“Obviously our goal is to grow the business and provide a great atmosphere for our customers and employees. IDS will be a big part of that with the many different reports to give us accurate information to analyze.”

Download Sun and Fun RV Success Story in PDF