The shape of the system

One system for sales, service and the office, built around the customer and the car

Retention is the first piece. This page shows where it fits, what the whole thing looks like, and the order we build it in. Gemini stays in charge until each part is ready to take over.

The idea

Everything hangs off two records

A dealership does a few things to a few people and a few cars, over and over, for years. If the hub holds one record per customer and one per car, every department is just a different view of the same history. That is what makes the system feel like one thing rather than six.

The customer and the car One record for each person or company. One record for each vehicle, through every owner. Every enquiry, deal, visit, text and call sits on their timeline.
CustomerVehicle

Sales Mandy's team

  • Enquiries and test drives
  • Stock on the forecourt
  • Deals, part exchange, finance
  • Retention follow-ups

Service workshop and front desk

  • Bookings and the diary
  • Job cards and MOTs
  • Reminders and courtesy cars
  • Warranty and recalls

Parts

  • Stock and bins
  • Orders and back orders
  • Sales over the counter and to the workshop

Admin and accounts Kelly, Lesley

  • Forecourt fuel and banking
  • Finance payouts
  • Invoicing, feeding Xero
  • Users, reports, settings

Each department gets its own pages and its own menu, in the same blue style, with the same login. Underneath they all read and write the same customer and vehicle records.

The modules

What exists, what is next, what comes later

Live working now   Next the next builds   Later planned   Gemini stays in Gemini for now

Customers and cars

Customer record Live
Who they are, their cars, permissions, every contact. Inside Retention today.
Full history timeline Next
Deals, workshop visits, MOTs, parts, calls and texts in one list per person and per car.
Vehicle record Next
The car's own page: owners over time, mileage, MOT, service, recalls.
Gemini import Live
Monthly now. Automatic nightly next.

Sales

Retention Live
Target a group, ring, text, write, log, measure.
Enquiries Next
Walk-ins, web and phone leads, test drives, follow-up dates.
Stock Later
Cars for sale and in prep, days in stock, pricing, photos.
Deals and finance Later
Order to delivery, part exchange, proposals.
Vehicle invoicing Gemini
Until deals move across.

Service and parts

MOT and service reminders Live
From the car's dates, by call or text.
Bookings and diary Later
Front desk bookings, courtesy cars, technicians' day.
Job cards and MOT Later
Work done, advisories, parts used, invoicing.
Parts stock and orders Later
Bins, orders, returns, back orders.
Workshop invoicing Gemini
Until job cards move across.

Admin and accounts

Forecourt Live
Daily fuel sheet, banking, tanks, deliveries, month end.
Finance payouts Next
Due, received, chased. Reads the lenders' emails.
Users and access Next
Who can see what, managed by Lesley.
Reports Later
Sales, workshop and retention figures on one page.
Accounts Gemini
Ledgers stay in Gemini until Xero comes in. The hub will never be the accounts system.
Xero link Later
Every invoice and payment raised in the hub posts to Xero.
The customer record

What "the complete history" looks like

Mrs A Example · CRA012

Phone07700 900 000AddressHayling Island, PO11PermissionsCalls yes · Texts yes · Post yes · Email no addressCarsFiesta Titanium X, HK23 FLB (current) · Ka+ Zetec, AB15 CDE (part exchanged 2023)Spent with us2 cars · 7 workshop visits · parts twice

Example person. The real card already shows this much for everyone imported; the timeline on the right is what the next build adds.

Timeline

Sep 2026
Text reply
"Yes please, book me in Thursday" · handled by Mandy
Hub
Sep 2026
Service reminder text sent
Service due 12 Oct
Hub · Retention
Oct 2025
Service and MOT
Job 48213 · 21,400 miles · advisory: front tyres
Gemini · workshop
May 2023
Bought Fiesta Titanium X, HK23 FLB
New · Carl Tate · Ford Credit PCP · part exchanged Ka+
Gemini · sales
Apr 2023
Enquiry and test drive
Walked in, looking at Fiesta and Puma
Hub · Enquiries (next)
2019 to 2023
Four services, two MOTs on the Ka+
Gemini · workshop
The route

Module by module, with Gemini in charge until each part is ready

Phase 1 · now

Read from Gemini, add what Gemini can't do

  • Customer and car records, imported monthly
  • Retention: target, call, text, letters, results
  • Forecourt fuel sheet
  • Finance payouts
  • Front page, one login, same look
Gemini is king. Every sale, job and invoice still goes through it. The hub reads a copy.
Phase 2

Sales moves in

  • Full history timeline per customer and car
  • Enquiries and test drives
  • Stock list with prep status
  • Deals from order to handover
  • Nightly automatic import
Gemini still raises the vehicle invoice and holds the ledgers.
Phase 3

Service and parts move in

  • Bookings and the workshop diary
  • Job cards, MOT, advisories
  • Parts stock and orders
  • Courtesy cars, warranty, recalls
Gemini still does workshop invoicing until the job card is proven.
Phase 4

Invoicing and accounts

  • Vehicle and workshop invoicing raised in the hub
  • Posted straight to Xero, which holds the ledgers
  • Reports for Bob
  • Gemini switched off
Only when every number matches for a full month.

Each phase is finished, in use and trusted before the next starts. Nothing is switched off in Gemini until the hub has done the same job side by side and the figures agree.

Ground rules

What stays true throughout

Daron owns itThe accounts, the data and the code are Daron's. Gecko builds and looks after it.
One loginThe normal Microsoft login. Lesley decides who sees what.
Same look everywhereThe blue hub style on every page, so nobody has to learn a new screen twice.
Nothing lostEvery record in Gemini comes across. History from 1999 onwards stays available.
Money lives in XeroThe hub raises invoices and records payments, then hands them to Xero. One set of books, kept by the accountants' tool.
Rules built inMarketing permissions, TPS and opt-outs are enforced by the system, not remembered by people.
Small stepsEach module is small enough to build in days and judge in a week. The team says what comes next.
Prepared by Gecko IT Services for Daron Motors, October 2026. The example person is made up. Module names are working titles and can change.