Two dealer-centric events and another one coming up later this month all are giving DealerSocket chief executive officer Jonathan Ord plenty of opportunities to interact with current dealership clients as well as prospects.

Along with four primary wants, Ord shared the two main strands of questions he’s received as the leader of the company that’s made four significant acquisitions since the start of the year.

Ord recollected during a recent phone conversation with Auto Remarketing that, “The real interesting question for the whole industry’s perspective is and what gets asked of me quite frequently is, ‘What are you guys doing?’

“Sometimes it’s with the wonderful smile on their face and them saying, ‘I’m glad you’re doing what doing. I’m glad you’re providing these wonderful services for the dealerships,’” he continued. “Other times, it’s ‘Hey, are you trying to control all of my data? Are you going to raise the fees on everything I’m currently doing today? Are you going to make like difficult on me long term?’”

While it’s plausible an executive could consider the latter questions a bit hostile in light of DealerSocket adding DealerFire, FEX DMS, AutoStar Solutions and Dealertrack’s Inventory+ business, Ord took the opposite approach last month as the company hosted a special event ahead of the Texas Independent Automobile Dealers Association annual convention as well as its annual User Summit.

Ord and the DealerSocket team will have yet another intimate go-round with dealers beginning on Sept. 20 in Fort Worth, Texas, during Innovate: The Independent Dealer Industry Conference.

“I love the fact that they ask those questions on either side,” Ord said of the company’s dealer client base with is already approaching 10,000. “In one sense, they’re very positive and excited that we’re doing more in the space. And on the other side, I can allay some fears and destroy some rumors about why we’re doing what we’re doing.

“I love the vocal dealers because they’re the ones who teach us and the ones who also help us to figure out how to get through in the space in a way that makes a lot of sense. It lets them know we’re here for them,” he added.

And DealerSocket is out to fill the needs Ord indicated he keeps hearing from store owners and managers such as:

— Improved used-vehicle acquisitions to enhance inventory

— Upgraded access to valuation data

— Compliance guidance to navigate regulatory demands

— Customer experience assistance to make it more mobile friendly

DealerSocket’s business approach

During the wide-ranging conversation with Auto Remarketing, Ord acknowledged that dealership owners concerns are valid as more consolidation happens. Part of the reason DealerSocket was able to acquire the Dealertrack tool stemmed from regulatory concerns as Cox Automotive moved to bring Dealertrack into its portfolio that already includes properties such as Manheim, Kelley Blue Book, Autotrader and vAuto.

“Dealers are rightly in fear because they see a lot of things happening in both the new-car and the used-car space that are concerning,” Ord said. “The big players in the new-car space are optimizing on EBITA and really are financially motivated and trying to figure out how to return more dollars to their investors and really putting a blind eye to innovation and the progression that happens when we as technology companies invest money and aren’t solely focused on financial metrics.

“One of the biggest things that I tell our dealers in the education we try to get out in the space is that we optimize on innovation,” he continued. “We optimize on creativity. We believe that profitability and success follow innovation and hard work wherever it goes. We really believe in the dealer both independent and (franchised). We believe in their value to the consumer. What we try to do is create better products and solutions that allow them to do what they do best.”

Ord mentioned how DealerSocket is able to accomplish these tasks because of its financial relationship with Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm with more than $14 billion in committed capital focused on investments in software and technology-enabled services companies. That alliance first materialized last May “to accelerate growth.”

The DealerSocket boss highlighted that growth has come while the company still is turning a profit in the “high single digits” with an eye toward much loftier figures. And Ord pointed out DealerSocket isn’t just hoarding cash.

“We’re investing a ton into our R&D department, a ton into our support departments, a ton of money into the increase abilities of companies like Finance Express, AutoStar, AAX and DealerFire,” he said. “We’re giving them more access to resources and ability to create and be innovative. We’re excited about that because we feel like if we keep the dealer at the heart of everything we do and try to innovate and create a boatload of value, the business side will work itself out long term. We don’t need to optimize and pleasing investors when we should be worried about our customers.”

Next dealer interaction opportunity

DealerSocket is putting the finishing touches on its plans for Innovate, which is set to include more than 80 in-depth classes that will dive deep into compliance, collections, finance, accounting, operations, marketing, sales and more. Conference hosts expect more than 600 attendees at this year’s event, including more than 50 major exhibitors and financial institutions that were hand-picked through an invitation-only sponsor selection process.

“We are beyond excited to welcome one of the auto industry’s most admired brands into our growing Innovate family,” DealerSocket chief marketing and sales officer Matt Redden said. “We’ve enjoyed a longstanding partnership with Cars.com on the franchise side of DealerSocket’s business for more than a decade. Their new investment in Innovate will further promote our shared commitment to the independent dealer market.”

Innovate will take place at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

“Today’s franchise dealers are enticing more consumers than ever before with sophisticated digital marketing practices,” said Greg McGivney, Cars.com’s vice president of strategy and business development. “It’s time for the independent industry to level the playing field with their own world-class solutions. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with DealerSocket and the independent market.”

What might be next

Ord hesitated to share with Auto Remarketing the exact ingredients of DealerSocket’s “secret sauce,” but he did state the company remains in acquisition mode. And reportedly its partner Vista Equity is, too.

An online report from Bloomberg indicated Vista Equity is in the running to acquire Solera Holdings, which earlier this year purchased DMEautomotive, a Florida-based company that provides risk and asset management software and services to the automotive and property marketplace.

“Combining DMEa’s proprietary technologies with Solera’s existing portfolio will enable Solera’s customers to increase customer retention and drive loyalty through tailored and frequent digital contact across the entire automotive ownership lifecycle,” Solera said in an Auto Remarketing report back in April.

No matter how many more properties are collected in the portfolio, Ord pledged that DealerSocket would work to make all the parts fit together into a single solution offering that benefits all kinds of dealerships.

“It’s not an easy job to integrate companies,” Ord said. “It’s not an easy job to take disparate groups of people who have been working in silos for years and wrangle them into one solid vision around the dealer and how their products and services fit into an overall platform landscape that can really transform and disrupt the way dealers do business today. That’s our goal and that’s what we’re doing.

“Contrary to how acquisitions have been done in our space for a long time, we are trying to roll these acquisitions together from the git-go,” he continued. “We’re not leaving them as separate companies. Our goal is fundamentally different.”

So when the leaves begin to fall in autumn of next year, where might DealerSocket stand?

“One of our big culture statements internally is it’s all about the relationship and the progression and enhancement that happens to individuals as they interact with each other. That’s the reason why we exist. It’s on our walls at our offices,” Ord said.

“It’s not so much about business or financial metrics. It’s about we progress with the relationships we have with our customers, with our partners and most often with our internal employees as we grow and learn together,” he continued.

Ord later added, “Next year, I would hope there is tremendous buzz in the space that DealerSocket not only acquired these great companies but that they also made it work really well for dealers.”