2017 marks 25 years of Gillrie Institute. Since our inception in 1992 we have helped over 7,000 car and truck dealers to ‘negotiate with confidence’ for their next automotive technology agreement. As the nation’s leading technology consultant and advocate for automobile and truck dealers we are determined to get the right solutions for the best possible price and terms.
Gillrie Institute Leadership and Values
Paul Gillrie and his leadership team have been instrumental in paving the way forward for automotive technology negotiations. Every day we are driven by our Values to:
- Lead by setting the highest standards
- Share our knowledge and market insights gathered over the years
- Deliver results by focusing solely on the needs of our dealers
- Care by staying by our client’s side to offer after-service support
In 1992, when Paul Gillrie started the Gillrie Institute, technology was still in its infancy. Technology didn’t drive the business. Dealers were using disconnected legacy systems, and most business operations were done manually. 25 years later, not only is automotive retailing on its way to automation in the different departments, but also shifting towards a digital business model. Technology is no longer a luxury, but necessity.
Gillrie Benchmarks to Start Negotiations
While 25 years ago assisting dealers in their technology negotiations required us to stay in the background, nowadays we are much more involved with the vendor negotiations to prepare the foundation for the dealer’s decision. Of course, if the dealer prefers we stay in the background, we are happy to do that too.
Every negotiation starts with a pricing review of each individual item on a proposal. We are successful because we are the only independent consultant in the industry that can tell dealers exactly what others pay for technology. We track pricing of over 13,000 items from 300+ technology vendors. Hundreds of real-life transactions every week feed our database and enable us to provide fair-market value benchmarks. That guarantees the most accurate recommendations.
DMS + CRM + Phones + Third Parties = $$$
As dealers move away from simply using a Dealership Management System (DMS) towards operating on a complex business suite of mostly 12-15 additional applications, we have expanded our expertise and benchmarks from just DMS vendors to over 300 vendors across dealer technology spaces. That includes Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM), Phones, and many other 3rd Party vendors. Our extensive research allows us also to offer insights about dealer decision making points per application or satisfaction ratings per application and vendor. For example, we surveyed our dealers on their satisfaction and usage of dealership telephone systems, and applications for the Service Drive. That allows dealers to calibrate their selection and decision making process by looking at independent data and research. Not only dealers, but also OEMs and technology investors are seeking our insights in make key strategic decisions.
