Being a solutions provider for dealer and aftermarket operations is tireless work.
In an industry where users increasingly view technology as a crucial driver of business efficiency and effectiveness, solutions providers can never be satisfied with their innovation. The next problem in need of a solution is always coming, always one customer conversation away.
But making the best software in 2026 isn’t solely about understanding customer demands.
Collaboration matters too. Today’s vendors recognize the value of their products are increasingly evaluated not just by their internal features but also their external capabilities. Being able to integrate with other resources valued by a dealer, distributor or shop owner is essential to sales growth and customer satisfaction.
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Here are four keys solutions providers say are vital to ensuring a product integration between digital entities provides maximum user value and operational performance.
Prioritize customer-driven solutions
No one has a better understanding of what a technology platform can and can’t do than someone who uses it every day, which is why developers cherish customer input that points them toward their greatest needs.
This is doubly true for potential integrations. Once a user identifies a need to go outside of a solution to access a resource available elsewhere, their satisfaction with the first tool slips.
Arcadium Technologies is a CRM provider that integrates with Procede Software, Karmak and CDK Global’s dealer management systems, data companies such as Fusable (parent company of Trucks, Parts, Service) and more. Tim Cline, Arcadium’s CEO and founder, says his team encourages customers to share workflow speed bumps immediately when discovered so Arcadium can evaluate solutions.
Not every customer request requires an integration with another solution, Cline says, but the quicker Arcadium knows exactly what a user’s trying to do the quicker it can determine how to move forward.
“If somebody brings something to us, we have to look at what value it’s going to provide and how many dealers would actually use it,” he says. Arcadium will build a tool for any user, Cline says, but an idea that brings value to the entire user base earns priority on the worklist. “You want to bring in tools that everyone will appreciate.”
In many cases, customers will even suggest an integration during workflow discussions.
“Our customers tell us what they need. The vast majority of integrations start with a dealer saying, ‘I use this tool, can you connect it?’” says John Cowan, Karmak senior vice president of business solutions. “That demand signal is the best filter there is.”
But technology providers also recognize some users can be too busy to even pause for a minute and ask for help. Like other solutions, Procede urges its users for feedback, but also works to anticipate where challenges arise and integrations make sense.
“Dealers are under constant pressure: tighter margins, higher customer expectations and more complex OEM programs,” the company states. “If the platform does not keep evolving, customers end up stitching together manual workarounds.”
Constantly validate integration performance
Though product integration timelines can vary substantially depending on the complexity of data transferred, each requires testing and validation to ensure performance.
Procede treats any new integration as a product launch and uses an implementation checklist to bring the tool online. Understanding the user’s need is step one of many.
“A basic (application programming interface, or API) connection can be delivered in weeks, while a deep workflow integration that touches multiple modules, security requirements and real production edge cases can take multiple months,” the company says.
It’s a similar timeline at Pluss Corporation, says Michelle Santagate, vertical marketing director, auto repair. “Development timelines vary based on complexity,” she says, “followed by thorough testing before release.”
And testing is a multi-faceted process, first focused on making sure data flows properly through an API into a platform, then working with developers and users to make sure its actionable in a way the latter prefers.
“A tool is only useful if it gets adopted,” says Voze, a CRM provider that also has integrations with Karmak, Procede, Fusable and others. “We’re hands-on, not hands-off. Our Customer Success team walks through new features in the context of what that specific customer is trying to accomplish.”
Adds Cowan, “Data that lives in silos is just overhead. Data that flows through a connected system becomes intelligence.”
Testing also builds confidence. The tech platforms leveraged by dealer and aftermarket operations house delicate, proprietary fiscal and customer information. They must be secure and functional. Consistent testing and validation ensures users they can adopt a new solution without hesitation.
“When data flows seamlessly, it strengthens trust, supports more accurate decision‑making and enables dealers to maintain the productive, high‑performing relationships they expect from their technology partners,” says Brian Miller, senior product marketer for Data and Fortellis at CDK Global.
Find the right users
In today’s market, solutions providers are building integrations constantly. But every new feature isn’t for every new customer. Different products require different workflow tools, as do users across multiple departments.
As Voze puts it, “Not each new feature is right for every team at any moment. A sales team still getting comfortable with basic note-taking probably shouldn’t jump into advanced analytics. For Voze, the goal is adoption that sticks, not checkbox feature usage.”
Cowan expands on that by referencing how every user’s development request for Karmak varies based on their role and responsibilities. “User expectations are evolving,” he says. “The DMS has to be the connective tissue for all of that.”
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What matters most, Miller says, is users who can benefit from an integration do so.
“Users who choose not to leverage new tools risk missing out on efficiencies and capabilities that help them keep pace with the evolving needs of our shared dealer customers,” he says.
“Staying current with tools is essential because this industry is always innovating,” adds Santagate.
Procede says the best way to ensure a user maximizes a new integration is to embed it directly into their workflow. That way the user is immediately alerted to it and knows the vendor built a resource of value. Procede says training quickly follows, so adoption grows and the company is able to confirm the tool is producing the outcomes desired.
“Everything has to happen automatically,” adds Cline. “The whole premise of Arcadium is we provide a one-stop-shop so all of this data is available that you can do in all of these other locations, but we bring it all together so that it’s happening in one place and [the user] never has to go anywhere else.”
Constantly showcasing ease of use benefits also ensures users are observant of the next useful integration.
Voze encourages users to stay curious. “When Voze adds something new — especially data integrations like Fusable provides — it’s worth asking, ‘Would this help my team sell smarter?’” the company says. “If the answer is yes, lean in. If the answer is ‘not right now,’ that’s fine, too. The tools will be ready when the team is.”
More training, more value
Vendors also note building an integration is only half the battle. Dedicating time and resources to build a tool but failing to convey its advantages to users is a developer’s worst nightmare. This is where training becomes essential.
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Santagate says Pluss offers multiple training modules based on a user’s needs and availability to learn. The company has a library of short instructional videos designed to cover single topics, as well as digital resources where product experts offer direct one-on-one training for users. She says the training is “much more than ‘how to use the software.’ It’s about creating better business practices and more profitable margin management.”
It is “designed to help you and your people evolve into better business operators who know how to get the most out of their resources.”
That specialized focus to training is used by Voze as well.
“Training isn’t a one-time webinar link. It’s ongoing conversations about what’s working for similar teams and how a new tool fits into what a team is already doing,” the company says, adding a truck dealer focused on fleet account business will receive different training than another trying to grow their service operation.
Vendors also cite the advantages of collaborative training with integration partners.
Cowan says Karmak’s partners train users within their own applications while the DMS provider is trained on how the integration is supported and data moves between the systems. He says this enables Karmak to support customers with guidance and questions on their end while also creating a “clean line of ownership” for training across both tools.
Finally, Cline states the importance of specialized training for complex integrations, or situations where a workflow is altered. He says Arcadium has many integrations where data or resources from other vendors are routed directly into the CRM and users leverage the tools automatically. But it in other instances, where the CRM is augmented to provide a new advantage, users must be briefed on how the tool works so they integrate it into their routines.
“You want to keep them within the product,” Cline says. “Think of something like data. It’s not that they can’t get it, but if you’re forcing them to go elsewhere, what happens with their train of thought, or distractions? The fewer times the customer has to deviate from the product, the better off they are.”
