Market Scan Information Systems, a provider of financing

software solutions for automotive dealers, has announced a new

version of its Profitcenter. It is designed to be a solution

automotive retailers need to drive accountability, increase profits,

sell more cars in less time, automate contact management, and access

information needed to manage their sales teams and businesses, according to the company.

"For the first time in our business, automotive retailers have the

one tool they need to improve overall profitability by selling more

cars, increasing gross margins on every deal, building lease

penetration, improving sales manager efficiency, managing inventory

and information in real-time and evaluating trades more accurately --

all at the touch of a screen," said Ron Means, CEO, Market Scan.

"Using this one tool from Market Scan, Profitcenter, automotive

retailers have the ability to reduce the time it takes customers to

purchase a vehicle by nearly 50 percent."

According to the company, using either of the newly upgraded main Profitcenter components,

New Vehicles Lease and Retail and Used Vehicles Lease and Retail,

automotive sales teams can access Market Scan's database

of over 192,000 lease and retail finance programs, ensuring they offer

their customers the best retail and lease finance pricing available in

the market. Profitcenter's

management information reporting ensures that sales managers have the

critical information at the touch of a screen. For example, managers

can develop customized reports to monitor their entire inventory by

virtually any measurement -- lot age, equity position, recent auction

value, and more.

The company says these newly designed modules also provide more accurate book outs

by including data from both local and national used vehicle auction

values as well as the Kelly Blue Book, NADA, and the Black Book. In

addition, the enhanced A-B Pencil feature now includes a split screen

display allowing sales reps to view and work both lease and retail

financing simultaneously on every transaction. Using Profitcenter,

automotive retailers can reduce the average time to complete a

transaction from 171 minutes to just under 90 minutes, freeing sales

reps to serve more customers and sell more vehicles.

"One of the best things about the system is the speed," said Pat

Burke, general sales manager at Earl Tindol Ford in North Carolina.

"It used to take anywhere from one and a half to two hours just to get

someone in and out of F&I, now it takes as little as an hour and

fifteen minutes for the entire sales process from start to finish, if

there are only a couple of pencils," he said. "We want the customer in

and out as fast as possible and Market Scan makes it possible ... the

faster we can get a deal in front of them and close, the better things

are."

Sales Force Automation

Also at NADA was Market Scan's Sales Force

Automation which allows dealers to design and implement a customized

sales process, create a follow-up program, and monitor the results in

real-time.

Integrated with Profitcenter, Sales Force Automation

enables sales reps to add customer information immediately into the

deal-making flow, emphasizing selling to the customer on-site as well

as sales follow-up. Using Sales Force Automation, sales reps can

create an up card and send it in real-time to the desk and receive a

quote.

In addition, according to the company, sales teams can use Sales Force Automation to create

personal work plans, manage in-bound prospects and sales leads, and

automate contact management. Customer data is entered via a

Windows-based workstation computer or laptop, or through Market Scan's

Quik Sales Kiosk. Once the data is captured, it remains in the system

allowing sales staff to follow up if a customer doesn't buy

immediately and when the customer returns, to can pick up the sale

where they left off.

The company says Sales Force Automation also provides built-in accountability by

offering sales managers the ability to track information that is

critical to the management of their stores

through fully customizable reports based on virtually any parameter.

Sales managers can track the ratio of closed sales to ups, the number

and type of open leads being followed by each sales person, the

leading sales associate, the number of customers being served at any

given time, how many calculations have been worked up, the status of

deals and much more. All reports and information are available in

real-time either on-site through Profitcenter computers or remotely

via laptops or PCs.

Profitcenter is available immediately as one complete solution

that provides automotive retailers with every feature of this platform, or a la carte as individual modules, allowing dealerships to

custom-configure solutions to meet their business needs. Pricing is

based on the software selected and the number of seats a dealer

purchases.

About Market Scan Information Systems

Founded in 1988, Market Scan Information Systems, Inc. is a financing software solutions company for automotive

dealers. The company's flagship line, Profitcenter(TM), delivers a

wide range of integrated retail and lease financing solutions and

services designed to speed transaction time and to increase profits

and customer satisfaction, according to the company. Market Scan is

headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., and has offices and

training centers in New York, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Tampa, Florida.

Additional information about the company is available through

1.800.MKTSCAN (1.800.658.7226).