ALBANY, N.Y., and NORTH HILLS, N.Y. -

Dealerships that use Auto/Mate and Dealertrack now might have a smoother workday when putting deals together for potential buyers.

On Monday, the companies announced a new integration that connects Auto/Mate’s dealership management system (DMS) to Dealertrack’s digital contracting.

The DealerSocket business unit and the F&I solutions firm that’s part of Cox Automotive explained that the real-time data exchange is designed to streamline and automate a dealer’s digital contracting process, resulting in seamless contract submission, reduced errors from manual data entry,and faster deal funding.

Auto/Mate users now can log into Dealertrack digital contracting and enter the deal number to import the contact information from the DMS and populate the required data fields. All that is left is contract validation, having the customer sign electronically and submission to the finance source for funding.

“Since the acquisition of Auto/Mate, we have directed significant investments toward streamlining workflows, reducing keystrokes, and addressing what matters most to dealers when it comes to their F&I operations: faster funding and reduced contracts in transit,” DealerSocket chief product and technology officer Alok Tyagi said in a news release.

“Today’s announced integration with Dealertrack digital contracting accomplishes all three while giving our customers access to one of the industry’s leading providers of digital contracting,” Tyagi continued.

Recent Dealertrack user studies showed that 60% of dealership F&I staff who have not yet adopted an eContracting solution feel DMS integration is the most important capability they lack.

“We view the DMS as the core of a dealer’s business and an enabler of everything they do. That’s why this integration with Dealertrack is so important, as digital contracting and eContracting represent a critical step toward delivering a digital car-buying experience,” said Tony Graham, executive vice president and general manager of Auto/Mate.

“Enabling a seamless flow of data while preserving data integrity is equally critical for dealership employees operating in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment, and the elimination of unnecessary paper-pushing and user errors often results in steadier cash flow for the dealer,” Graham continued.

Cheryl Miller, vice president of operations for Dealertrack F&I Solutions, added: “With the addition of the Auto/Mate DMS integration, we advance our goal to have as many dealerships as possible benefitting from the ease of use of the completely digital contracting workflow that Dealertrack Digital Contracting can provide.”

Executives added that Auto/Mate DMS customers must be on Dealertrack uniFI and signed up for the platform’s digital contracting enhancement to take advantage of the new integration.