The strongest networks are aligned around shared commercial outcomes, supported by clear incentives and enabled by systems that make collaboration easier. When that happens, everyone benefits: the OEM gains better visibility and more consistent execution, the dealer improves performance and profitability, and the customer gets a more enjoyable and valuable experience. Dealers are far more likely to engage with OEM systems when those systems help them make money, help them serve customers better, avoid duplicate work and are reinforced through incentives, standards and support.
That is why the real issue is not simply system adoption. It is how to create a model in which OEMs and dealers are motivated to work more closely together, with digital platforms acting as the shared foundation for that collaboration.
Start with shared value
Dealer networks work best when both sides can see a clear benefit in closer collaboration.
For dealers, that usually means more converted leads, stronger service contract attachment, increased parts revenue, better uptime, stronger customer retention and less admin. For OEMs, it means better visibility across the network, stronger campaign execution, more consistent standards and a closer grip on the customer and asset lifecycle. When those benefits are clear to both sides, collaboration becomes easier and system usage starts to feel valuable rather than imposed.
If the business case is only clear to the OEM, adoption will remain uneven. If the value is visible to both parties, the relationship becomes more productive.
Align incentives around the right behaviours
Closer OEM-dealer working is sustained by economics, not aspiration alone.
In automotive, OEMs typically shape dealer behaviour through wholesale terms, bonuses, finance support, campaign funding, co-op marketing, operating standards, scorecards and access to inventory, training and customer programmes. Dealers tend to prioritise the brand that offers the best combination of margin, achievable bonus structure, stock availability, marketing support, finance offers, lead flow, training support and aftersales opportunity.
The implication is simple. Collaboration improves when incentives reward the behaviours that matter most. Depending on the sector, that may include campaign participation, customer satisfaction, digital responsiveness, service contract attachment, parts penetration, telematics activation, uptime performance or technician capability. When those measures are linked to dealer performance, the platform stops sitting outside the commercial model and becomes part of how success is defined.
Make collaboration easier in practice
Stronger relationships are not created by dashboards alone. They are built when the practical work of running the network is easier to coordinate.
That includes lead management, campaign execution, installed-base visibility, service actions, case escalation, customer and asset history and next best action across the lifecycle. The most effective platforms become the easiest path to dealer success: leads arrive there, campaigns are launched there, opportunities are surfaced there and OEM-dealer collaboration happens there.
This is where digital systems earn their place. Not by adding another layer of administration, but by making it simpler for both sides to work from the same view of the customer, the asset and the opportunity.
Let the platform support the relationship, not burden it
One of the fastest ways to weaken adoption is to create duplicate work.
If dealer staff have to enter the same data twice, manage opportunities in multiple systems or switch between disconnected tools to complete a single customer task, the OEM platform will quickly be seen as overhead. In that situation, local teams will revert to the system that actually runs the business day to day, which is usually the DMS or another established dealer workflow tool.
The better model is to make the role of each system clear. Keep the DMS as the system of record for transactional execution and local operational records, while the OEM platform supports OEM-dealer collaboration, lead and opportunity orchestration, installed-base insight, service and parts campaigns, telematics-driven actions, case management, performance visibility and next best action. That boundary reduces friction and makes collaboration far easier.
Automotive and off-highway are fundamentally different
Automotive and off-highway both rely on dealer networks but the customer base and operating model are not the same.
In automotive, the model is more retail-led. Dealer economics are strongly influenced by registrations, model mix, finance penetration, campaign participation, stock allocation, customer satisfaction and brand standards. The customer journey is often shaped around consumer demand, availability, finance offers and the showroom or digital retail experience.
In off-highway, the relationship is more operational and much more lifecycle-led. Customers are often buying productivity, availability and support over time, not just a machine. Dealers are judged not only on sales, but on their ability to cover a geography, dispatch field engineers, stock fast-moving parts, support equipment in harsh operating environments, respond quickly and keep fleets working. Aftersales is often the economic backbone of the dealer, and telematics creates a more continuous, data-driven relationship with the installed base.
That difference matters because it changes what good collaboration looks like.
What off-highway can learn from automotive
Off-highway should not copy automotive blindly but it can learn from the discipline that automotive has developed in managing dealer performance.
Automotive OEMs are generally more structured in how they use scorecards, standards, co-op funding, incentive plans, product-specific pushes and campaign governance to shape dealer behaviour. They are often more mature in linking rewards to measurable outcomes and making participation in OEM-led activity commercially relevant.
That offers a useful lesson for off-highway. As the sector becomes more connected and more service-led, OEMs have an opportunity to be more systematic in how they encourage dealer collaboration, measure performance and support adoption of shared digital processes.
But the model needs to reflect off-highway economics. The incentive stack is likely to be broader than quarterly unit sales alone. It may include parts sales and genuine parts penetration, service contract attachment, telematics activation, uptime performance, response times, technician certification, refurbishment participation and account coverage across the installed base. In other words, the focus should be lifecycle value, not just machine deliveries.
Keep the customer at the centre
The goal is improved customer outcome, not better internal process for its own sake.
When OEMs and dealers are more aligned, customers benefit from faster response, better service coordination, stronger continuity across sales and aftersales, and a more proactive experience over the life of the asset. This is especially true in off-highway, where uptime, field support, parts availability and connected asset data all play a direct role in customer value.
That is why motivation and incentivisation matter so much. The system may provide the shared platform, but it is aligned economics, aligned behaviours and aligned customer focus that make the model work.
The opportunity for OEMs
The strongest OEM-dealer relationships are built on shared value, aligned incentives and a way of working that helps both parties serve the customer better.
Digital platforms have an important role to play and their job is to support the relationship not dominate it. When OEMs get this right, they do more than improve system adoption. They create dealer networks that are better connected, more commercially aligned and more capable of delivering value across the full customer and asset lifecycle.
Why Salesforce
If OEMs want dealers to work more closely with them, the technology needs to support the relationship in a practical and commercially relevant way. This is where Salesforce can play a useful role.
Rather than trying to replace the dealer’s core operational systems, Salesforce can help OEMs create a shared engagement layer across the network: connecting lead management, campaign execution, customer and asset visibility, service interactions and next best actions in one place. This supports the kind of OEM-dealer collaboration described here while respecting the continuing role of the DMS and other local systems.
Salesforce is particularly relevant where the goal is to improve alignment across the full lifecycle. In automotive, that may mean better coordination around leads, campaigns, finance journeys and customer retention. In off-highway, it may mean stronger visibility of the installed base, more proactive service engagement, telematics-triggered actions, parts and contract opportunities, and a more connected experience across sales and aftersales. In both cases, the value lies in helping OEMs and dealers work from a more joined-up view of the customer, the asset and the commercial opportunity.
Used in the right way, Salesforce is not the story on its own. It is an enabler of the broader model: shared value, aligned incentives, clearer accountability and better customer outcomes. The real opportunity is not simply digitising dealer interactions, but making it easier for OEMs and dealers to collaborate in ways that improve performance for both parties and deliver a stronger customer experience over time.
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