NeoSynergy Puts a Revolutionary Twist on the Evolution of Dealerships

April 11, 2008 - Isaac Asimov, the famous science fiction writer, said, “The only constant is change.” If you own or work in a dealership, you understand how much pain can lurk behind that statement.

Years ago perhaps the only computerized part of a dealership was an accounting system, and the only access to it was through a dumb terminal. Then along came a rush of new, more comprehensive products called dealer management systems and dealership communication systems. Before dealers knew it, they were locked into long-term vendor contracts. They cobbled or patched or tried to integrate various solutions from these promising vendors to make their departments more efficient. Soon words like “proprietary” and “compatibility” brought new meaning, and sometimes grief, into their lives. And it seemed dealerships were always buying more hardware or software, maybe even something called firmware, not to mention hiring employees who could use, teach or maintain this essential but expensive technology.

Then one day the Internet arrived and everything changed, again. Sound familiar?
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based NeoSynergy, Inc. wants you to consider one more change: a web-based business management, advertising and sales solution suite that works in real-time. Unlike previous investments, this change won’t lock you in to dated technology; will work with your legacy systems and is incredibly affordable. The result is a solution that enables dealerships to extract the most value out of the Internet, painlessly and profitably.

NeoSynergy, Inc.

NeoSynergy LLC was founded in 2002 by several entrepreneurs, including auto dealers, who recognized the need for 21st century software to manage modern auto retail businesses. NeoSynergy LLC created DARWIN XE, a web-based software program designed to handle real-time inventory and transaction data. Motor Alley LLC, formed in 2004, developed a web-based proprietary lead-processing engine that places consumer leads with local car dealers. Motoralley.com was the first new vehicle shopping web site to collect and summarize new vehicle reviews and the lowest dealer-advertised new vehicle specials.

In 2007, NeoSynergy LLC merged with Motor Alley LLC and formed NeoSynergy, Inc. With no apparent direct competition, this new company offers the automotive retailing industry the first business-to-business-to-consumer web solution with its product suite.
“NeoSynergy was created as a company of owners rather than employees,” said company President and CEO David Wassmann. “Passion for your work is more important than formal degrees.” As the lead strategist and chief executive at NeoSynergy, Wassmann believes his firm’s greatest opportunity is to help dealers use the Internet to become more successful.

The technology behind the curtain

NeoSynergy is able to offer leading-edge solutions at a low price because of a business model known as SaaS or “software as a service.” Simply put, under this subscription model, clients download software via the web and run it on their computer. The software is always current, without any required down time or patches for fixes. Because it is web-based, all data activity is done in real-time, and you no longer need to wait for overnight batch updates to see your changes. The SaaS model has shown great success in meeting certain needs, especially for CRM and accounting.

As dealers and business owners, you may not care or need to know a lot about the technology driving the NeoSynergy solution. However, there is one technology distinction between the old way and the new way worth noting: web-enabled systems versus web-based systems.

Previous applications, such as under the application service provider (ASP) model, were web-enabled, which meant there was an additional layer placed over your legacy applications to help them operate online or be accessible via the web. This layer often added cost and complexity to an already overburdened system.

The SaaS model is a web-based architecture, totally designed from the ground up to make the most efficient use of the browser and other web technologies. More recent software development has moved to this web-based architecture.

The SaaS model provides an affordable and practical solution for delivering and updating software. Dealerships do not pay for owning the software itself but rather for using it, a much more practical solution for a store that’s retailing vehicles and not computers. Plus, it can be a cost-effective reprieve for any business owner trying to save resources in a tight economy.

“NeoSynergy has the legacy knowledge, but not the legacy infrastructure,” explained Lance Tebay, chief operating officer and executive vice president. “That means we can provide innovative Internet-based tools for a fraction of the cost that legacy providers charge.”

Bolstered by a solid technology, NeoSynergy has set its sights on pulling off an amazing hat trick: delivering cost-affordable, truly web-based online advertising, online sales and online business management software tools.

Best Deals – Advertise your vehicle specials instantly

Dealers have been advertising their specials in the Sunday newspaper since the beginning of car sales. It’s a sure-fire, proven way to drive traffic to a store. Unfortunately, Sunday is only one day of the week and shoppers are looking for cars every day. In addition, print advertising can take a huge chunk out of your budget.

With the introduction of its Best Deals product, a direct result of the company’s merger with MotorAlley.com, NeoSynergy has found a way to provide dealers a more frequent, cost-effective and targeted approach to promoting their inventory specials: the Internet. According to J.D. Power and Associates, nearly seven out of 10 new-vehicle buyers do some research online before buying a vehicle. Clearly the inventory you want to move must be online and must be up-to-date.

Using Best Deals, you can post and modify your specials on the Internet in real-time, even after prices have been published. Online shoppers see your latest new car and truck specials immediately. And since it’s online, you can list an unlimited amount of inventory, unlike in traditional print publications where ad size often determines how much inventory you can afford to advertise. Plus, you can change your online ads as often as you like – and at no extra cost. What this means is, you can optimize your advertising messages based on what’s working in the current market, such as competitive pricing.

Through a partnership between NeoSynergy and AOL Autos, Best Deals enables you to design your online ad with a few simple mouse clicks, and then post it immediately on AOL Autos, a popular consumer site visited by more than two million unique visitors each week.

“Best Deals is the easiest and most cost-effective way for dealers to promote their sales specials with millions of online shoppers; and in real time,” said Wassmann.

Thanks to the simplicity and immediacy of Best Deals, dealers can promote their vehicle specials daily, even hourly. Early returns indicate this local-to-national solution is clicking with dealers. In the first month alone after the introduction of Best Deals, NeoSynergy announced it had already signed up its 100th dealer client prior to this year’s NADA show; then promptly doubled those dealer sign-up numbers at the show! Consumers benefit as well, since buyers can now compare special offers on new cars from competing dealers, rather than just view MSRPs or request quotes.

Buy Direct – Transact sales the e-commerce way

While Best Deals makes marketing your vehicles online easier and more efficient, NeoSynergy’s Buy Direct product, timed for release in the spring of 2008, plans to bring consumers and dealers much closer together in cyberspace, virtually putting them a single step away from a done deal. Using Buy Direct, consumers will be able to initiate and continue the transaction online, even placing a down payment. At that point, all the buyer has to do is show up at your store and sign the contract. The online process is both secure and efficient.

“Our Buy Direct product is exactly what consumers say they want – a convenient means to shop for the best deals available, without having to drive around town or the state to find them,” said Tebay.

With Buy Direct, dealers will no longer have to pay for unqualified leads, most of which end up going nowhere. Instead, dealers will only pay after the vehicle purchase is completed. It’s designed to fit in with and complement whatever sales process you already have in place. Plus, Buy Direct will integrate with your existing ADP or Reynolds & Reynolds dealer management system.

With the arrival of Buy Direct, consumers nationwide—perhaps for the first time ever—will be able to handle all aspects of a new vehicle sale via the Internet, any time of day or night. For example, they’ll be able to select their exact vehicle from available inventory, as well as their preferred financing method, and even apply for a lease or loan.

It’s a win-win situation that will save both time and money, and pave the way for higher CSI. Savvy online consumers benefit by avoiding the sometimes-awkward in-store negotiation process. Smart dealers benefit by having serious in-market buyers select their vehicle and complete most of their paperwork online.

Minneapolis-based Outsell LLC will provide NeoSynergy with live Internet chat services that enable a consumer to ask questions and secure additional information on new Buy Direct offers after hours.

How big is the sales potential? Huge. Seven years ago only two percent of online shoppers expressed a willingness to purchase a vehicle through the Internet. According to a recent survey by Capgemini, a world leader in technology, today that number stands at 20 percent. Selling vehicles online, not just advertising those vehicles in cyberspace, is a growth market.

Darwin XE – Manage your business in real-time

NeoSynergy’s initial foray into business software was last year with its introduction of Darwin XE, a revolutionary alternative to the traditional DMS for used and new car dealers, and a product custom made for the 21st century.

Darwin XE is a web-based software solution that’s designed to excel in the browser world. It can replace your current legacy DMS and enable you to manage an entire store or dealership group; including sales, office, service, parts, body shop and quick lane from a single platform. This advanced yet affordable tool for managing a store can bring together your enterprise-wide efforts, including CRM, inventory and finance, and help you contain costs while generating more revenue and profit.

The product integrates with multiple factory systems, and includes analytical tools that are helpful in evaluating pricing strategies between dealer and manufacturer. Redundant tasks are eliminated; every data entry is easily tracked.

Clients are already reporting back on some of the benefits of their new system. For example, Darwin XE enables you to add a vehicle’s reconditioning cost immediately to a vehicle, resulting in improved vehicle costing, better deal quotes and sales commission accuracy. Improved purchase order control and repair order write up flexibility are two other benefits often cited. All make and model labor times and a parts master make dealer quick lanes more efficient. CRM is built directly into Darwin XE, enabling dealers to save even more money.

In the words of one Darwin XE user, Harold Kuhn, dealer principal, Park Motor Sales Lincoln Mercury, Detroit, Michigan, “By imposing a process centric system like Darwin designed around dealership best practices, the bad processes stop along with the profit leaks.”

Darwin XE enables dealers to hit the ground running because it can be used by anyone who has worked with a web application. The learning curve is minimal, and since the software is web-based and downloaded, no additional hardware is required and dealers can utilize existing low-cost PCs.

To help ensure deployment success, NeoSynergy entered into strategic partnerships. For example, PEQ Consulting Inc. of Miamisburg, Ohio, is responsible for installation, training and help-desk support. Contingent Network Services of Cincinnati, Ohio, is responsible for optional hardware installation and field engineering support.

Combined with Best Deals for advertising, and Buy Direct for sales, Darwin XE gives dealers a full-service business system that works in real-time to handle their inventory and transaction details.

Grab lightning in a bottle

In commenting on the difference between the right word and the almost right word, Mark Twain said it was the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. Today, dealerships hoping to extend their sales reach, as well as make their business more efficient through the web are wise to remember the difference between web-based and web-enabled.

“NeoSynergy has no direct competitors and has created a unique package of software to help dealers,” summarized Wassmann. “No other company offers a comparable suite of web-based advertising, sales and business management tools.”

NeoSynergy’s web-based systems are built to maximize the benefits of using Internet technology. Their software doesn’t require complex or expensive computers or system upgrades, and is downloaded to your existing computer system via the Internet. Their solutions are designed from the outset to be accessed over the Internet by a web browser, and are built to open, flexible Internet standards. More importantly, they’re designed for the future.

NeoSynergy’s web-based solutions can help you reduce overhead costs and sell cars faster, call 866.972.5372 or visit www.neosyngery.net.

About NeoSynergy
NeoSynergy, Inc. (www.neosynergy.net), based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is a provider of web-based enterprise automotive retail management, advertising and e-commerce software and services to the automotive industry. NeoSynergy's suite of products – Best Deals, Buy Direct and DARWIN XE – enable manufacturers, service providers, dealers and consumers to be linked in real time via the Internet to seamlessly conduct vehicle, parts and service transactions. NeoSynergy's products allow dealers of all sizes to improve operational efficiency, generate revenue and consolidate accounting across multiple locations,
franchises and system services.

David Wassmann
Chief Executive Officer and President
David Wassmann was appointed chief executive officer and president of NeoSynergy, Inc. in November 2007, when his company, MotorAlley.com, merged with NeoSynergy LLC, founded by Charles Shamblee.

Wassmann has in excess of 20 years experience in automotive marketing, advertising and software and product development. He founded MotorAlley.com in 2004. The company developed a highly efficient proprietary lead-processing engine to place consumer leads with local car dealers. MotorAlley.com was the first new vehicle shopping web site to collect and summarize new vehicle reviews and the lowest dealer-advertised new vehicle specials.

Prior to starting his own businesses, Wassmann created marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies for automakers when he held senior positions at ASG Renaissance, BBDO and J. Walter Thompson. He also developed CRM tools for Reynolds and Reynolds.

Wassmann’s transcontinental upbringing helps him to identify talent and shapes his belief in accepting people at face value. He was born in Nicaragua and grew up in Germany and Canada before acquiring his bachelor’s degree at Yale University. He now resides in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and enjoys biking, soccer, swimming and other activities with his two teenage sons.

Patty Cox
Chief Marketing Officer
NeoSynergy’s chief marketer, Patty Cox, joined the NeoSynergy executive team in February 2008. She has 20 years of automotive experience and specializes in online business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing. She most recently served as senior vice president and director of interactive media for Weber Shandwick in Birmingham, Michigan. At Leo Burnett, in Troy, Cox led the agency team responsible for Cadillac’s web-based marketing, including www.cadillac.com, customer relationship management and dealer programs. She also developed Ford dealer online portals as general manager of coolfire.interactive, located in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Cox lives in Ortonville with her husband and three children. She’s a competitive soccer player and has recently taken up competitive horse riding. Cox received her bachelor’s degree from Oakland University and advanced degrees from Wayne State University,
including a law degree with a focus on cyber law and intellectual property.