In our September survey, we received an excellent response rate of 16 out of 21 members, providing valuable insights across three key areas: Customer Connect features, Transport Management and Planning, and Construction Industry Scheme and Domestic Reverse Charge VAT handling. Below are the key insights gathered from the responses.
Customer Connect – New Feature Prioritisation
As part of our initiative to enhance the Customer Connect platform, respondents were asked to rank potential new features in order of priority. These features were aimed at improving transparency, accessibility, and overall user experience for dealership customers.
🔍These were the top 5 selections:
- View, Download and Print Statements – helps with customer self-service and reduces admin.
- Payment Integration – enables faster payments, reduces overdue accounts.
- Customer Dashboard (late payments, actions etc.) – provides customers with a real-time view of financial status and alerts.
- eSignature Integration – need for quicker approvals and reduced paperwork.
- Customer Notifications – customers want timely updates (e.g., job status, service reminders).
💡What this tells us: There’s a clear priority on features that enhance financial clarity. Self-service functionality is in high-demand – both for booking jobs and accessing documents. This feedback has helped shape the Customer Connect roadmap and we’re excited to share that development on Statements will begin this month.
Transport Management and Planning
Whether it’s service appointments or wholegoods delivery, transport is often the bridge between teams and customers. We asked our members questions on how transport for machinery delivery, collection, and recovery is currently managed within their organisations.
🔍Insights
- The majority of respondents (75%) operate their own fleet, ranging from single lorries to over 150 mixed vehicles (cars, vans, trucks). Most (63%) also use external contractors for delivery, collection and recovery.
- Who Manages It? Transport coordination responsibilities are often spread across a few roles including Service Managers (38%), Sales Managers (28%), or a central team (24%).
- Charging for Transport: Nearly all businesses charge for delivery, collection, or recovery services, but the methods vary widely. These include flat mileage rates, radius-based pricing, WSJ charges and more. The inconsistency suggests a need for a standardised, trackable method of charging that integrates seamlessly into job workflows.
- Method of Management: 38% of respondents indicated that they didn’t have a system or process in place. 31% still rely on manual processes (paper logs, excel sheets, or booking diaries). Only a small minority (19%) reported using a Transport Management System and most of these were either basic or internally developed.
- Transport management can involve anywhere from 1 to 10 staff members, with 6–8 being a common range. This highlights the labour intensity of the current process, particularly in the absence of automation.
- Very few businesses regularly update machinery locations in Gold during transport. It’s mostly updated only on arrival at depots or customer sites. One respondent said, “We are very poor at this and need a better process”.
- How difficult do respondents find managing transport? It varies, with scores ranging from 3 to 10 (where higher scores indicate greater difficulty). The average difficulty score was 6 out of 10, suggesting moderate level of challenge.
- 69% would be interested in a module to manage transport requests and planning. 69% expressed interest in an app for drivers to see their workload, update status of work and capture proof of delivery. Most respondents are open to discussing their processes further, signalling a strong desire for improvement and collaboration.
💡What this tells us: Managing transport varies a lot depending on business size and fleet. The feedback shows the challenges around breakdowns, deliveries, and internal moves. All this feedback has helped us understand the potential for functionality to support transport management. We have an idea on the Ideas portal (6 votes so far) to help gauge demand and decide if, and when, to add transport features to the Product Roadmap. Please do continue the conversation on the Ideas Portal.
Construction and Domestic Reverse Charge VAT Handling
Understanding how businesses interact with the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) and Domestic Reverse Charge (DRC) VAT is essential for compliance and efficient financial management. We asked respondents about their involvement in construction and how they handle DRC VAT on sales and purchases to identify current practices and potential areas for support.
🔍Insights
- Only a minority of respondents (31%) indicated that construction is part of their core business.
- The majority (86%) do not account for DRC VAT on sales, with only a few (14%) handling it, mostly through manual processes or self-billing invoices.
- Similarly, most respondents (86%) do not account for DRC VAT on purchases, though a small number (14%) do so manually.
💡What this tells us: Since most respondents don’t have construction as a core part of their business, it’s difficult to draw firm conclusions from these responses. However, we will continue conversations with those who do, to better understand their needs. We’ve started an idea on the Ideas Portal so please join us in voting and continuing the conversation there.
Thank you
We appreciate all our members who took the time to share their experiences and insights. Your input is invaluable as we work towards developing solutions that truly address the needs across the industry.
Join our Customer Advisory Board
Contact us at product_team@ibcos.co.uk to join our Customer Advisory Board and help shape the future of our products.
