But how would the two entities function together?
How would Decisiv’s Service Relationship Management (SRM) platform integrate the unique data sets and practical expertise of the KEA Advisors team? How could KEA’s decades of in-the-field experience be molded into a digitized resource to be accessed by employees across a dealership or dealer network?
The two businesses have been working on answers those questions and more since the transaction was first announced, and in finalizing the purchase last week, Decisiv offered its initial strategy for how KEA’s resources will enhance the Decisiv product line.
In a follow-up conversation with Trucks, Parts, Service this week, Decisiv President and CEO Tim Hardin and Founder of KEA Advisors Keith Ely shared even more about what’s to come.
Hardin says Decisiv has immediately gotten to work further bringing KEA’s solutions into the Decisiv SRM, standing up an integration team focused specifically on embedding KEA’s performance benchmarking and educational tools into daily user workflows. Hardin says an exact timeline isn’t yet known but users will see “more detailed announcements from us on the specific timeline in the coming months as that work comes together.”
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Hardin also notes at this time, the performance capabilities coming out of KEA will be offered as add-ons. That will enable customers to choose the level of benchmarking and advisory support that fits where they are today. For those users intending to utilize the additional resources, detailed training will be offered to ensure maximize operational effectiveness.
“Training and change management aren’t an afterthought here,” says Hardin. “They’re offered as complements to the product itself. As we roll out the combined capabilities, we want dealership teams supported in adopting them, not just handed new tools.”
Ely also notes education and change management are core to the KEA mission and that will remain the case within Decisiv.
“Dealerships don’t get better just because you hand them a new tool,” he says. “They must understand the why behind the tool: what can it do, how does it make the process better, how does it drive better cash flow, profitability, customer experience, employee experience. That’s one of the benefits we’re bringing into this combination.”
The duo also is actively engaged in bringing KEA’s customers and associates into the Decisiv realm. Continuity has been a priority during that process, the pair say.
Hardin says nothing about how KEA on-site consulting and advisory operations have run are being changed as a result of the transaction.
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“Existing KEA Advisors clients keep working with the same team members they’ve always worked with. While everyone at KEA is now part of Decisiv, support and sales contacts don’t change,” he says.
“Every engagement we had running before this deal is still running. Nothing about how KEA works with our clients changes,” adds Ely. “These are relationships we’ve built over years, and that doesn’t change. The KEA team is still the team our clients call. We’re now doing it with additional resources available to us now.”
Beyond Ely reporting to Hardin, the pair say no other organizational changes to KEA’s structure have been made. “The day-to-day for the KEA team and our clients doesn’t change,” Ely says.
Finally, Hardin says Decisiv is excited about how KEA Advisors’ product portfolio will stimulate its progress in bringing AI-driven business performance solutions to dealer operations.
“This isn’t AI for AI’s sake. With Performance as a Platform (PaaP), we’re building products that layer intelligence on top of the service platform,” he says.
“One of the products under development reads every open case each morning and gives service advisors an AI-ranked priority list and a daily shift plan instead of a pile of tickets. Another product scores how well a dealership’s team is using the platform against network benchmarks and flags coaching opportunities. And a product that’s already available and in use at several dealerships, Service Performance Intelligence, benchmarks a dealer’s performance such as days out of service, revenue opportunity, and area-of-service share against the network so ownership can see exactly where to focus next.
Hardin adds, “That’s the throughline from a fault code on the shop floor to a strategic decision in the front office.”
