I've worked with many different DMS vendors in the past: Reynolds, UCS, ADP, and PBS. When we first moved to ERA-IGNITE, I was a bit nervous about how it would work because some of our systems in the past have not worked very well. I was afraid that ERA-IGNITE was going to be the same but I've been pleasantly surprised - I use it all the time.

We have ERA-IGNITE throughout our entire dealership. The platform is far more consolidated and user-friendly. It is easier to work with because it is more centralized and the navigation is simpler. Our experience with ADP's Websuite was that the system was slow because of updates and click times. You could click on something and it would take it a long time to open because the application needed updates. It would commonly take 30-45 seconds to open a new window. ERA-IGNITE doesn't have any lag time when you want to open an application - you just click on it and it pops up. Even the updates are fast because the whole system is done at once. When I click on something in ERA-IGNITE, it takes less than 2 seconds for it to open.

Cash Receipts is an excellent screen within ERA-IGNITE. It's much better than what I've used with other systems. With one system I used, I couldn't add more than 10 entries on one receipt. On ERA-IGNITE, I can do as many lines on my receipt that I need. It's very user-friendly because it's so consolidated. I like the fact that every ERA-IGNITE screen comes up in Search mode. It will even show me the last 10-12 entries that I've entered in a screen so I can very easily go back to something that I recently did.

User-defined Reports is easier for me to use than Report Generator. Reports can be sorted by name or the file they're in. I no longer have to scroll through lists because now I can sort through every column. My purchase orders are much easier now as well. I can search by name, date, and vendor, which makes finding what I need so much easier. I can even sort by dollar amount if I'm looking for a specific check.

Once you start using ERA-IGNITE, you'll realize how much easier it is. There are no screen numbers to memorize and the screens are consolidated in one place. I have been pleased with the system so far and I'm anxiously awaiting the new features I've heard about.

Our dealership has been working with ERA-IGNITE for just a few months and we've already found aspects that we love. I can get answers to my questions about the dealership faster because there are fewer keystrokes. Reynolds really did reduce the number of screens you have to work in. Cask Receipts is at least 50% quicker because I can do everything on one screen now instead of three!

The time-saving aspects of ERA-IGNITE are my favorite part. I love the way you can access several account numbers while searching for a specific control number using Schedule Inquiry. Using the Retail Management Intelligence reporting, our 6910 reports are downloaded into Excel with fewer steps. Even setting up the reports is easier. I just love working off of a Windows-based system. Everything we do now is in Windows so it just makes sense that ERA should be too. It's easier for new employees to learn and you can drill down to find exactly what you need.

I'm excited to see the next release for ERA-IGNITE. It's already on the right track. The system is very user friendly and I think the new releases will help our dealership even more.

I wanted to take the opportunity to write a letter to you and any potential dealerships who are interested in changing their current DMS. Many of your potential clients may have felt similar feelings to us; reluctant, nervous, fearful and stressed over the "unknown" that is associated with switching an entire dealer management system.

Our dealer management transitioned from Arkona to the Reynolds and Reynolds ERA-IGNITE System in November of 2011, after a long relationship with Arkona DealerTrack of more than 12 years. We began the search for a new DMS relationship primarily based on the fact that we were utilizing more than eight (8) applications to manage customer information throughout our organization. Systems in addition to Arkona such as, DealerSocket CRM, HomeNet, Motorweb services, X-Time Service Scheduling, and many other fragmented systems that did not communicate with each other. We discovered that this fragmented approach is becoming much more common within our industry.

Shamefully, we appeared clumsy at best when communicating with customers. Information would fall through the cracks and customer relationships were jeopardized. As our dealership continued to grow we began to inherit cumbersome accounting practices, exhaustive payroll procedures and back office nightmares. In short, we knew something had to change.

We invited several DMS vendors to come into the dealership. However, Mike Suarez from Reynolds was noticeably different. Rather than immediately tell us what his product could do; he listened to our needs, took careful notes and helped us to consider additional areas within the dealership that needed attention to help us be more profitable! More importantly, Mike personally insured that every promise he made during the sales process was fulfilled to our complete satisfaction. To this day, he has maintained excellent relationships with myself, and other key managers at the dealership. We consider Mike and his team at Reynolds and Reynolds our strategic business partners.

Our dealership is a little short of 6 months into our new relationship with Reynolds and Reynolds. The fear and anxiety associated with the conversion was quickly put to rest as the implementation and training literally took over our dealership. We had specialized, onsite, department specific trainers weeks before our "go live" date. One of my primary concerns was the learning curve associated with employees that have been with the dealership for more than 30 years. The training team provided one-on-one support to slower learning employees; while adapting the training pace to employees who were comfortable with windows based systems.

It is impossible for me to explain in this short letter the impeccable and professional support a Reynolds and Reynolds dealer receives. Such as, no hold time for customer support (don't take my word for it, call them now, 1-800-767-0080, you are connected immediately to knowledgeable, well trained staff, who understand our industry). Need to find specific information within your accounting system, service or parts? Simply call your support team and you will have a customized reports generated within minutes that can be used over and over again.

Before I finish this letter, I want to talk about price. It was a big concern for us. We are a small dealership with growing pains. A DMS is an obvious "expense" to the dealership. However, we now perceive this as an "asset" to our organization. The cost savings and customer profit related to our operational efficiencies already outweigh the monthly license fees. The intangible benefit that our customer's and back office personnel receive is invaluable. Do not overlook this highly competitive benefit simply based on a comparison of DMS monthly fees. With Reynolds the old adage holds true - "you get what you pay for"!

We currently implement the following Reynolds and Reynolds systems:

• ERA-IGNITE / ERA Access
• ERA-IGNITE Desking
• Customer Contact Management
• Special Pricing Service Guide
• Service Scheduling
• Service Dispatching
• Payroll and Accounting
• Reynolds Online Website Hosting and Inventory Management

And the best part is - it is all in ONE system and supported by ONE team!

I am so excited about the new ERA-IGNITE! I've been a Reynolds user since 1982 and our dealership has been a Reynolds customer since the 1940's, this is by far the best enhancement I've ever seen. We recently completed our free trial "test drive" and decided to officially sign our dealership up for ERA-IGNITE.

We are discovering new things everyday about the new software and what all it will do for us. It makes our jobs exciting after years of doing our jobs the same old way. The Computer Assisted Instruction courses available in the system make it so easy to train the entire staff. Instead of me having to make sure each department knows what is new, and train employees myself, they are able to launch the classes themselves saving me lots of time. In the past, we hired new employees, they couldn't grasp the concept of a menu driven system with ERA, but now with the Windows based ERA-IGNITE it makes it much easier for a new employee to become productive quickly.

I love the way ERA-IGNITE has organized the name file making it easy to see an entire customer's history just by tabbing to the correct area. The old 6910 Report Generator reports, now known as the User-defined reports, can be edited much more quickly, sorting the information like we are used to in Excel. The Dashboard is amazing! Each manager has set up a dashboard organizing the information they need to manage their departments all on one page. The ability to click on an item in a report and drill down to get more information is invaluable. I'm not sure I can express how much time this saves us all.

ERA-IGNITE is the best thing Reynolds has done in over 100 years. The whole dealership has embraced it and we are looking forward to each new release.

Our dealership has been a Reynolds DMS customer since 2008. We previously used a different DMS and before that we used good old-fashioned pencil and paper. For what I need, I believe Reynolds ERA-IGNITE far exceeds our previous DMS in terms of what I get.

Overall, ERA-IGNITE is great. One of the biggest differences between Reynolds and the other DMS is how the system was built. It was clear to me that when the other DMS moved to a graphical interface, they took their old screens and wrote code on top of it just to make it look better. The GUI screens look exactly the same as their old screens did. The screens were prettier, but slower after that wrapper was put over it. In fact, we had several instances where our system would have an error, then force us back into the old DOS screens without batting an eye. I refused to use it for payroll; I would get so far ahead of it the system would lose my keystrokes. That lag time doesn't exist in ERA-IGNITE.

I can tell Reynolds is actually rewriting the system and consolidating screens. Retail Management Intelligence reporting is a big deal. I like that there are predefined reports available to get me started. I can see everything from my 10 oldest units, to cash balance, to open repair orders, you name it. User-defined reports lets me search for something without knowing the exact name of a field. I can add and delete the lines I want and exporting into Excel is easy. I also like using Cash Receipts and Journal entries. When posting a deal, we can see deposit and COD accounts. This makes the integrity of the data greater because we can see the schedule balance on the posting screen.

I'm a big fan of the reporting capabilities in ERA-IGNITE. I never understood why our previous DMS's payroll application wasn't great. It purged data - once you closed something, kiss that data goodbye. Their employee file is maintained outside of the system as well, so if I want to add an employee, I have to add them to each module individually. With Reynolds hand, if I want to see numbers from years ago, I can create a report to do so. It's easier to add an employee because all of the steps I need are contained within the same screen.

With our previous DMS, it took more time to get through our daily processes. You had better have a solid knowledge of accounting, otherwise you're in trouble. I eventually hired more people to help me get through it. To support our two stores I needed 1-2 additional people at any given time. Reynolds does a good job of making accounting functions more digestible. It's easier to take a cashier and show them how to receipt money, plug vehicles into the system, etc. Reynolds will run circles around other DMS's any day.

Bill Harris Dealerships was one of the first dealerships to adopt ERA-IGNITE. We liked it when it first came out but we really started using it after these latest enhancements. Adding the Labor Time Guide and Service Price Guide functionality was key for our dealership.

Having a Windows^® based GUI system is more appealing, more attractive, and easier to use. We like that the system is point-and-click and that we no longer have to use all capitals or remember numbers and codes. ERA-IGNITE also saves us time because we can easily access all of the information we need. One of my favorite items is the flexibility that it allows us to have. In ERA, a few screens looked very similar so we would often find ourselves accidentally using one screen when we should have been using the other. Once we realized this, we would have to end the job and start all over again in the right screen. ERA-IGNITE has solved this problem. It actually lets me change the function of the screen with just a click. These types of issues occur on the service drive on a daily basis and are time consuming to fix. ERA-IGNITE has completely corrected these types of issues and it's so effortless to use.

I really like the setup of my Dashboard as well. I have multiple stores so I'm able to see and compare information readily. ERA-IGNITE even lets me drill down directly into something to find more information. For example, I can now monitor my carry-overs. If I see that I have 23 carry-overs, I can click right on the number 23, look through them all, and open any of the ones I want to see more information. I can see assigned advisor and why the car is on hold. The point-and-click gives me a lot of information making it simple for me to follow up. Creating and printing my reports is much better, too. As functions like "greater than" or "less than" are on the screen for me to choose --I don't have to remember to type them in. Things like this make the reports painless to create and to read. In fact the big picture is plain to see.

Viewing my open RO's is less burdensome with ERA-IGNITE compared to the old ERA 3617 screen. Locating the information I need is quick and precise. I can even click directly on the RO to drill down into the document. I couldn't do that with ERA - I used to have to change screens and go into more steps. ERA-IGNITE even makes our forced-march processes smoother. We have it programmed so our advisors can't fully open an RO unless certain steps are taken. ERA-IGNITE will prompt them for any step that was missed or skipped.

The bottom line is change is always scary, especially if you've been on the same system for a long time. Many people can run ERA with their eyes closed and it works very well for them so it's intimidating to throw something completely new into the picture. But with ERA-IGNITE, once you get in and use it, it's actually not scary at all. In this case, this product is cool and it makes your job faster and more efficient. I actually raced one of my advisors on ERA vs. ERA-IGNITE. We both entered the same jobs for the same car and ERA-IGNITE won, hands down. It's already exceeding my expectations and increasing our productivity.

We've been with Reynolds and have been using ERA for over 20 years. I was reluctant to try ERA-IGNITE at first, but once I started using it, I never looked back.

ERA-IGNITE has been great for our F&I department because the point-and-click interface puts everything at our fingertips, instantly. Everything in our department works; everything is clicking together. Our old process was time consuming but this is very quick. I love the swiftness of preparing a deal and figuring payments. It's so easy to access a customer that's already in the database because it saves the last 20 deals that I worked on so those are right at my fingertips without having to do a search. The multiple payment scenarios help sell because it allows us to give our customers more options. The bottom line is that ERA-IGNITE makes us earn more money.

The younger guy that works in my office picked up on ERA-IGNITE so quickly and that's made training a lot easier. It's sped up our F&I process because it doesn't take as long to complete a deal. In our world, time is money so getting the customers through F&I quickly is essential. Even the customers have noticed a difference in our F&I department. There's so much paperwork in this state that we have to go through, but ERA-IGNITE populates the screen for forms and all I have to do is select the forms that I want to print. Speaking of which, this 8480 printer is also the greatest printer that I've ever worked with. I can just put the paper in and it aligns automatically so I don't have to worry. It will even fix itself if I put a form in crooked! When I first heard that, I didn't believe it, but it really does work.

All in all, I'm pleased because ERA-IGNITE has put a lot of money in my pocket over the last six months. I would recommend it to any dealership who wants to make more money and make it quickly. This is the product that will allow that to be done because it's so simple to operate. It was obviously developed by people who know the F&I process because it really makes this office tick. Just point, click, and you're done. It's the best thing since Post Toasties!

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about our move from ERA to ERA-IGNITE. We haven't been using ERA-IGNITE for long, but I'm already seeing the benefits.

The transition from one system to the other was surprisingly smooth. The hardest thing to learn was looking in different areas for things you're used to, but it was really easy because ERA-IGNITE is so intuitive. You can use the system like a regular person, instead of having to think like a programmer.

I like that ERA-IGNITE lets us stay in the same Windows-type environment instead of entering the blue screens for all tasks. Now we just use tabs to get to the information we need. With the old text screens, people always had to ask around if they couldn't find the information they needed. ERA-IGNITE uses the environment that people are used to so it's easy to navigate on your own. Entering and updating warranty information is also so much easier and is a real time saver.

The reporting functions are superb. I love that I can see the reserve and aftermarket generated. I can see exactly how much gross our entire department has generated, or I can break it down and see it by individual. This kind of data is fantastic because it comes to me real time.

Using ERA-IGNITE has already save me time in my job. Our dealership averages four deals per day and IGNITE easily saves me 5-10 minutes for deal. That kind of time really adds up in the F&I office. If another dealership is thinking about switching to ERA-IGNITE, I would tell them to do it yesterday - if not sooner.

When Reynolds first came to us and said they had a Windows-looking product, we were excited. The younger generation coming into the business is familiar with a Windows look and feel, and we knew going forward it was going to make our processes and our training so much easier. We've been using ERA-IGNITE for over a year now and I'm happy to report we were right.

Our training has absolutely been improved. The vast majority of society has used a Windows-based computer program at some point in their life and ERA-IGNITE copies that interface well. The toolbars and drop down menus are intuitive and make training simple.

When you first move away from the blue screens, it is a bit of a shock to see the big differences. But thankfully, it doesn't take long to get comfortable with ERA-IGNITE. It's so much more logical and makes more sense. ERA-IGNITE is so easy to navigate, that if you asked me to go back into the blue screens and perform a task, I think I would have a hard time doing it!

Adding jobs within ERA-IGNITE is very easy. Being able to make adjustments on the fly was one of the "biggest" things that our dealership noticed right away. The point and click environment makes it faster and easier to make changes and correct mistakes as you go. Instead of spending 90 seconds reviewing a document, it now takes me 45. All in all, this adds up to a faster and more efficient service advisor.

It sounds little, but the greatest thing in the world is the text wrapping. I get better write-ups from my service advisors because the program will now capture all of their comments. Before, if the service advisor wasn't aware that they'd run out of room to type, oftentimes the wouldn't go back and fix it so we would miss out on important details.

Basically, if you love using a mouse instead of the keyboard, you'll love ERA-IGNITE. You can do everything with the mouse if you want to. If another dealership were to call me asking about switching IGNITE, I would tell them to do it. If you were on an ADP system, I think the change would be very easy. Switching from ERA blue screens would be a harder transition, but only because you would have to convince yourself to go outside of your comfort zone. Really, ERA-IGNITE is easy to learn and much easier to use. It has enormous untapped potential and we can't wait to see where it will be in five years.

I wanted to take a moment to tell you how happy I am with ERA-IGNITE. Our dealership has only been on it for a few weeks but I am already excited about the functionality and how much time it is saving me.

ERA-IGNITE is so intuitive and easy to learn. I was up and running on it after an hour's training on the phone with our awesome trainer, Allison. Every day that I use it I learn more. The Computer Assisted Instruction classes are very easy to use and have also been extremely helpful with learning the system.

My favorite part of ERA-IGNITE is how much time it saves me because it's so easy. I constantly look at Accounts Receivables and Warranty Schedules to see what is outstanding for my service department. I no longer have to print a huge schedule file to find a piece of information! I can view the file on screen, click on what I need, and drill down to find each item. This easily saves me at least an hour a day going through my schedules!

With the Service Process, I like that I don't have to go to a separate screen for each individual job. Instead, I can see all the jobs at the same time from one screen. I can finish each job from that screen without jumping around to close each job. Having the text and numbers for each job in one place saves me a lot of time. I was so excited to see that feature in my training that I couldn't wait to start using it. It saves me five minutes per RO, easily.

It also makes my life easier with Purchase Orders. Sometimes, I'll get sent 20 PO's at the same time, then somebody will need me to look up a small piece of information. Before, I had to look up the PO, look up the RO, find the stock number or VIN number... it took forever. Now, I just open up the PO and drill down directly to the piece of information I want.

In today's economy and dealership environment, everyone has downsized so dealerships have a smaller staff handling a large workload. ERA-IGNITE is essential to making the dealership more efficient because of all the features it has to offer. This is the way of the future. It's just an unbelievable system and I'm excited to learn more about it every day.

I wanted to let you know how pleased I am so far with ERA-IGNITE. Our dealership has 20 users on ERA-IGNITE now, including some of our employees that aren't great with a computer.

I like that I don't have to remember programs or screen numbers. The system is point and click so it's very user-friendly. As long as I have a customer name, phone number, or partial VIN, I can look up what I need and get where I need to go. The system is very intuitive because its Windows based and practically everyone has experience with Windows. Even one of my employees - for whom the computer is usually his worst enemy - does really well with ERA-IGNITE. The old blue screens were fine, but it wasn't the kind of system that you could tell a new employee to just go and write up an RO, or go and find something. ERA-IGNITE is that kind of system since i's so intuitive - even our new employees can use it quickly.

Pulling up ROs is fast and easy. I can page up and page down to get to any screen I need and don't have to think about what I'm doing. The screen isn't too busy to use and I don't have to bounce from screen to screen to flag an RO. I feel that I'm making better decisions now because information is more readily available to me and it takes fewer steps to find what I'm looking for. I love that I can search a customer's service history easily with only a few clicks. I've also got our Service Price Guides dialed in very well. I liked Service Price Guides before but they're even better with ERA-IGNITE because it takes less steps to find operation and build a quote. The Computer Assisted Instruction courses have been great too. I'm learning shortcuts that are helping me become even more efficient.

ERA-IGNITE is definitely the way for a dealership to go.

We're using ERA-IGNITE in multiple areas of our dealership. So far, we have found that our sales process is much easier to track since all of the products work together seamlessly. Dashboard Reporting has especially made my life easier. As a sales manager, I can watch when the F&I office finalizes a deal I've been working on and as soon as the deal is complete I can post my new monthly totals and see the front-end and back-end gross. I can even compare it to the previous month.

With Vehicle Management, I can see all of our new and used vehicles by stock number and a simple click gives me all the information I need on a car. I can see odometer, book value, list price, cost, status, if the car is certified, and days in stock - it's amazing. Everything I need is on one screen right there in front of me.

The Desking portion is just fantastic. It's so easy to use and we really like the proposal print outs. It's so much more professional to be able to give a nice print out to a customer and that's important to our dealership. Using the multiple scenarios makes us more efficient and the customers like that they have options. We also really like the Roll to Payments. Now using Roll to Payment is very easy and it's done in a few clicks.

ERA-IGNITE has made our processes easier, especially since we have the whole package working together. It's easier to track our processes and important metrics like gross profit. We're completing our tasks faster and we look more professional in front of the customer.

We've been using ERA-IGNITE since October and I already prefer to use it for most of my job tasks. Working with general purchases and posting is now a lot easier. It allows me to run a split screen so I can keep my accounting screen up at all times on one side and Vehicle Management or another screen on the other side. I often have to look up stock numbers, RO numbers, VINs, or parts tickets, and the split screen allows me to cross reference without having to constantly get in and out of a blue screen to find the information.

Now, I keep each of my departments open and color-coded at the bottom of the screen. This makes doing my research faster because I can skip steps that I previously had to go through. I used to have to get out of my accounting screen, research the situation, then go back into my accounting screen to post the correct information. Since the majority of my day involved posting, ERA-IGNITE saves me a massive amount of time every day.

Creating reports in ERA-IGNITE is also much easier. User-Defined reports lets me organize columns and see exactly what I want. Before, it was time consuming to decide which columns to include. Now, ERA-IGNITE lets me search by a word and it will pop up with my options - I don't have to go through the alphabet for every field.

In General Purchases, I love that I can see my 10 most recently posted items at all times. I constantly get interrupted though the day and I used to have to go back into the screen to see if I had finalized a post or not. Now, I can just glance at my recent posts and see it immediately.

I can already tell its going to be much easier to train people on ERA-IGNITE. Explaining the system is simple because everyone understands point-and-click. Getting help is easy on any screen with the F1 Help button. Teaching the blue screen was harder as most people weren't used to that type on navigation. ERA-IGNITE is nice because you can use the keyboard shortcuts. The Computer Assisted Instruction courses are nice too because they're not designed to make you fail. They're helpful and designed to help you pass and learn the system.