Settings Dashboard: A Quick Guide

The Settings Tab in the Dealer Studio dashboard allows you to customise and manage key aspects of your dealership’s operations and online presence. From here, you can edit dealership details like your logo, manufacturer listings, and dealership name. You can also personalise important documents such as test drive disclaimers and booking times to match your business practices.

Edit Dealership

To edit your dealership details, simply go to the "Edit Dealership" section on the left-hand panel. Here, you can update essential information, such as:

Edit your dealership’s name and country.
Set allowed email domains to restrict user sign-ups.
Upload and update your dealership logo.
Configure the lead overdue time (default is 120 minutes).
Enable email notifications when a lead is assigned.
Edit the test drive disclaimer with terms and conditions for customer agreements.
Set the maximum test drive insurance excess and car loan insurance excess.
Manage test drive available booking times for each day of the week.
Customise your dealership’s terms and conditions (e.g., vehicle liability, driving rules, and return policies).
Adjust AI SMS conversation settings and other integrations like Orbit, Redbook Rego Search, and Equifax login.

Finance Providers

In the Finance Providers tab, you can manage your dealership’s finance options by listing the financial providers you work with. You can add or edit the provider label and name, and specify the websites associated with each provider. Additionally, you can input the current interest rate for each provider to help keep your listings up to date. This tab allows you to easily track and manage your financial partnerships to ensure your customers have accurate and relevant financing information.

Adding a New Finance Provider

To add a new financial provider, click New Finance Provider. You will be prompted to select a provider and may need to enter additional details such as manufacturer ID, dealership, broker, bearer token, and satellite details, depending on the financial provider.

Payment Processors

The Payment Processors tab allows dealerships to manage and integrate various payment providers for seamless transactions.

Adding a New Payment Processor

To add a new payment processor, click Select Payment Processor and choose your provider from the list. You will be prompted to enter important details such as the key, secret, merchant ID, location ID, car type, and deposit amount. You will also need to specify whether the provider supports all types of payment. This information is necessary to configure and integrate the payment processor into your dealership's system.

API Key

An API key is a unique identifier used to authenticate and authorise access to an API (Application Programming Interface). It acts like a password or a digital key that allows your dealership's system to securely communicate with external services or software systems. In Dealer Studio, API keys are crucial for connecting your dealership’s data with third-party platforms or applications, allowing them to securely access and interact with specific services like payment processors, inventory systems, and more.

Using the Listing API Keys Page

In the Listing API Keys tab, you can manage all your API keys for your dealership.

Name: Each API key must have a unique name that helps you identify the key for specific integrations or purposes.
Dealerships: This section lists all the dealerships that are linked to the API key. You can assign specific dealerships to the API key to control which locations or systems can access the key.
Permissions: Permissions define the level of access the API key has. You can set permissions to control whether the API key has read-only access, or if it can also make changes, such as editing listings or managing financial provider integrations.
Whitelisted IPs: This feature lets you restrict the API key’s usage to specific IP addresses. By adding whitelisted IPs, you ensure that only trusted systems or locations can use the API key, increasing security.

Adding an API Key

To create a new API key, simply click on New API Key. You’ll be asked to provide:

Name: Assign a descriptive name to the key so that it’s easily identifiable.
Permissions: Set the level of access for this key (e.g., read, write, admin).
Whitelisted IPs: Add any trusted IP addresses from which the API key can be used. This prevents unauthorised systems from using the key.
Dealerships: Choose which dealerships this API key will be associated with.

Once all details are entered, the new API key can be generated, providing your dealership with secure access to the integrated services you need.

Slug Details

A slug is a URL-friendly version of a name or title, typically used to identify specific pages on a website. It is a short, readable string of characters that forms part of a URL, usually derived from the page’s title or identifier, making it easy to understand and access. For example, a dealership’s name might have a corresponding slug like my-dealership-name , which is then used in the website’s URL.

Slug Details Page

The Slug Details page allows you to manage the unique slugs associated with your dealership's pages. The identifier module drop-down allows you to find three key identifier modules:

Dealership: Represents the dealership's unique identity.
Locations: Specifies the different physical locations of your dealership.
Website: Identifies the webpage or online listing associated with the dealership and location.

Each record will display the following fields:

ID: The unique identifier for each slug.
Name: The name of the page or location.
Type: Specifies the type of entry (e.g., Dealership, Location, Website).
Address: The address associated with the location or dealership (if applicable).
Visible: A toggle to determine whether the slug is visible to the public.
Dealership_Slug: This is the actual URL slug, which is shown on the website to represent your dealership's page.

Car Settings

The Car Settings tab allows dealerships to customise various aspects of how vehicles are listed, displayed, and managed across different platforms. Here's an overview of the key settings available:

Preferred Car Price: Set a preferred price range for your listings, making it easier to match cars with the expectations of your target audience.
Default Rego State: Select the default state for vehicle registrations, so that it automatically applies to new cars added to your inventory.
Car Tags: Assign specific tags to cars, helping categorise and filter vehicles in your inventory for easy identification.
Car Switches: These toggles control key features for vehicle listings, including integration with external platforms like Autogate, Autotrader, and your dealership's website.
Automatic Website Upload: Choose whether new cars should automatically load to your dealer website when added to inventory.
Redbook Images: Enable or disable Redbook images for your vehicle listings, offering a more visual and engaging experience for customers.
Dealer Studio Image Library: Manage and access your own image library within Dealer Studio for consistent and high-quality vehicle photos.
Apply OEM Rules: Ensure that your car listings adhere to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) guidelines for accuracy and consistency.
Allow Autogate to Overwrite Dealer Comments: If enabled, Autogate will overwrite dealer-generated comments, making it impossible to edit them in Dealer Studio. AI-generated comments will also be disabled.
Automate Comments with AI (ChatGPT): When enabled, this feature will automatically generate vehicle descriptions using AI, but only for cars that don’t already have dealer comments. You can customise the value propositions used to generate these AI comments (e.g., "All vehicles come with our 3-year warranty").
Ignore Third Party for Fields: If enabled, certain fields will be ignored by third-party integrations, ensuring consistency across platforms.
Autograb API Key: Input your Autograb API key to connect and sync data seamlessly with your dealership system.
Loopit ID and Subdomain: Enter the necessary Loopit credentials to integrate their services into your inventory management.
Stock Numbers Unique by Location: Enable this setting if your dealership has multiple locations that use the same stock numbers. This allows for duplicate stock numbers across different locations without causing data overwriting.

Comment Templates

The Comment Templates feature helps dealerships easily manage and customise the content of vehicle listings. You can add default messages to the start or end of your dealer comments, ensuring consistency across all listings. Additionally, you can set up custom value propositions for different car types or locations, such as highlighting special deals or warranties. This feature also allows you to manage photos for each listing and make sure the right information appears for each vehicle. It saves time, keeps your listings consistent, and makes your car descriptions more appealing to potential buyers.

Adding a Comment Template

To add a new comment template, click Add Template. You will be prompted to fill in the following details:

Car Types: Select the types of cars this template will apply to.
Locations: Choose the dealership locations where this template will be used.
Value Propositions: Specify any value propositions (e.g., warranty details) that will be used to generate AI comments for the vehicle.
Prepend Dealer Comments: Add default text that will appear at the start of the dealer comments (such as "Best value in the market").
Append Dealer Comments: Add default text that will appear at the end of the dealer comments (e.g., "Contact us for more information").

Lead Settings

The Lead Settings tab allows dealerships to manage leads through different stages. By default, a "Sales" pipeline is set up, but you can create additional pipelines for other categories like service or parts. Each pipeline has custom status options to track lead progress.

Adding a New Pipeline

To create a new pipeline, click New Pipeline. You’ll be prompted to give it a name and select the most relevant Lead Category (e.g., Sales, Service, Parts) for the pipeline.

Service Settings

The Service Settings tab allows you to manage and customise your dealership's service booking times and availability. You can set available booking times for each day of the week, adjust the timezone, and define the maximum number of bookings per time slot. Additionally, you can set a minimum notice period for service bookings and block out specific times that are unavailable for appointments.

Valuation Settings

The Valuation Settings tab allows you to set pricing rules and parameters that determine the trade-in value of vehicles based on specific dealership guidelines. You can adjust the valuation rule, apply price adjustments, and define terms and conditions based on your dealership’s needs.

Valuation Rule Group

The Valuation Rule Group can be selected via the dropdown. Please note this is an admin-only feature.

Dealership Valuation Rules

Dealership Valuation Rules are custom pricing guidelines that allow a dealership to automatically set the trade-in value of vehicles based on specific factors. To add a new valuation rule, click the + Rule icon in the Valuation Rules section.

This will direct you to the New Valuation Exclusion Rule page, where you’ll need to provide key details, including the manufacturer, min/max year, min/max kilometres, trade price, and any exclusions or price adjustments. Once you’ve entered the required information, simply click Save to apply the rule. This will update your valuation settings and help tailor your pricing and exclusions accordingly.

Once the rule is saved, it will appear under the Dealership Valuation Rules section. From there, they can be viewed, edited or deleted as required.

Price Adjustment Questions

The Price Adjustment feature allows you to set specific conditions that will automatically adjust the value of a vehicle based on certain criteria. To add a new valuation pricing adjustment, click the + New Valuation Pricing Adjustment icon in the Price Adjustment section.

When adding a price adjustment, you'll be asked to specify a question, set a min/max year range (e.g., 2010–2020), choose manufacturers or classifications, and decide whether the adjustment applies to them. You’ll then select the adjustment type (e.g., static) and enter the adjustment amount or percentage before clicking Add to save the rule.

Once the question is saved, it will appear under the Price Adjustment Questions section. From there, they can be viewed, edited or deleted as required.

Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions can be added in Valuation Settings. Upload a file containing the terms, and then choose whether to apply the valuation range.

Location Setting

The Location Setting tab allows dealerships with multiple branches or service centers to manage and organise all their locations in one centralised system. Locations can be added via the New Location button where information on location, location codes, test drive disclaimers and opening hours will be required.

The Actions button lets you Edit location details, view the Audit Trail, or Hide a location temporarily. You can also Set as Primary for key locations or Destroy a location permanently.

Address

The Address tab in settings displays the location's address, along with a Google Maps link for easy access. From this tab, you can also edit the address or destroy the location if needed.

PDF Config

The PDF Config tab in settings allows you to customise the appearance and content of PDFs.

Once selecting Create PDF Config, you will be directed to select your primary branding colour using a HEX code. Custom images including CTA banners, value proposition iamge, row image and PDF logos can also be uploaded.

Once created, you can show, edit, or delete a PDF Config at any time. You can also view an example by downloading a sample PDF to your computer, where you’ll be able to see how the branding, icons, colours, and images appear in the final document.

Special Hours

The Special Hours tab allows you to manage your dealership’s operating hours for specific dates, such as public holidays or planned closures. These special hours are displayed on your website up to one month in advance. You can add, edit, or destroy special hours as needed to keep your customers informed of any changes to your usual schedule.

Email Reports

The Email Reports tab allows you to configure and manage automated reports that are sent to users within the dealership. These are sorted by user, name, frequency and location. You also have the flexibility to send reports immediately, edit the report settings, or delete a report configuration if it's no longer needed.

Transactional Email Templates

The Transactional Email Templates section allows you to create custom email templates for various dealership communications, such as enquiry confirmations, reservations, service updates, and used car inquiries. To set up a custom template, select the action icon and + Create Custom Template for the desired template type.

Once you click Create Custom Template, you will be directed to a page to customise your email. You can add buttons, change text and colours, and insert images to match your dealership’s branding. Once happy with the design, simply click Save to apply the changes.

Facebook Catalogue

The Facebook Catalogue tab in settings is where you can access usernames and passwords for a dealership's Facebook Catalogue and Google VLA Feed. You can enable or disable these catalogues directly from this section via the toggle at the top of the page.

There are 3 catalogues displayed in this section:

The Facebook Catalogue (Automotive Feed): used to create targeted ads using your dealership’s inventory on Facebook.
The Facebook Catalogue (Products Feed): designed for creating a Facebook Shop. This feed is used to showcase your inventory in a shop format on your dealership’s Facebook page, allowing customers to browse vehicles directly from your page.
The Google VLA Feed: used to upload your inventory to Google Vehicle Listing Ads (VLA). This feed enables your vehicles to appear in Google’s search results and shopping listings, helping you reach potential customers on Google’s platform.

Auto Responses

The Auto Responses tab allows you to set up automatic responses for specific lead categories.

To create a new response, click New Auto Response, then select the appropriate category from the dropdown (e.g., New Enquiry, Service Booking, Phone Call). After selecting the category, choose when to send the response (e.g., immediately, after a set time) and personalise the message accordingly. Finally, select the Lead Status and click Create to save the automated response.

This setting helps ensure timely and consistent communication with customers.

Listing AI SMS Bots

The Listing AI SMS Bots tab enables dealerships to set up automated SMS bots that engage customers through text. You can customise the bot’s name, prompts (e.g., test drive offers or trade-in invitations), and set working hours for SMS responses. It can also send the dealership’s address and limit the number of messages per conversation. You can tailor the bot to specific locations and categories for targeted customer communication.

To set up a AI SMS Bot, select New AI SMS Bot and follow the prompted questions.

Email Template

Email Templates in settings are used to streamline and automate communication with customers. By creating custom templates, you can ensure consistent, professional messaging for various situations like enquiry confirmations, service reminders, or promotional offers.

When setting up a new email template, you’ll define details like the template name, the email address it’s sent from (which must be registered with Mailjet), and the from name (typically your dealership’s business name). You’ll also set the subject line for the email, ensuring it aligns with the specific message you’re sending.

SMS Template

The SMS Templates tab allows you to create and manage custom SMS templates for consistent, automated customer communication. You can also view a history of past SMS messages sent by the dealership, helping you track and maintain communication records.

Listing SMS Templates

The Listing SMS Template section allows you to set up an automated SMS message for review requests. When a review request is created in Dealer Studio, the customer will receive a text with a link to leave a review on your Google My Business (GMB) page. You can create additional templates by clicking New SMS Template, where you can give it a title and input your desired message. These can then be viewed in the SMS Templates page in settings where you can also show, edit, and destroy as required.

Most Recent SMS Sent

The Most Recent SMS Sent section displays a log of the latest text messages sent by the dealership. It includes details such as the phone number, the message content, the sender's number, the status (e.g., "Sent to service"), and the timestamp of when the message was sent. This feature allows dealerships to easily track recent communications and ensure follow-up actions are being taken.