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Case Study

Dealer Dashboard Platform

Architecture, execution, and tradeoffs

  • StatusIn Production
  • Timeline2019-Present
  • Audience50+ dealers across USA & Canada, 1500+ active users
  • Stack
    ReactTypeScriptMongoDBPrismaInngestVercel

The Problem

When I joined Leisure Travel Vans, the dealer relationship was held together with duct tape:

  • Orders came in via fax, phone, and email — no single source of truth. Sales reps transcribed handwritten faxes into the ERP, introducing errors and delays.
  • No brand consistency — 50+ dealers across North America, each presenting LTV differently. Some were excellent; others damaged the premium brand experience.
  • Lead tracking was a black box — Google Analytics showed traffic, but we had no visibility into lead quality, follow-through, or conversion.
  • Training was ad-hoc — product knowledge varied wildly. New sales reps learned from whoever happened to be around.

This wasn't a technology problem. It was a systems problem — fragmented processes, misaligned incentives, and no feedback loops.

Deep Dive: Understanding the Real Workflow

Before writing code, I spent time diving deep into the process:

  • Shadowed sales staff processing faxed orders
  • Interviewed dealers about their pain points
  • Mapped the lead-to-sale journey from first website visit to delivery
  • Analyzed GA data to understand where leads dropped off

The insight: dealers weren't lazy or incompetent. They lacked tools, training, and incentives to deliver a consistent experience. The fax-based ordering system was a symptom, not the disease.

The Solution: A Unified Dealer Ecosystem

I built a platform that tied the entire dealer experience together:

1. Online Ordering System → ERP Integration

Replaced fax/phone/email orders with a self-service ordering portal:

  • Real-time inventory and pricing — dealers see exactly what's available and at what price
  • Customization builder — configure models and options with live pricing updates
  • Direct ERP integration — orders flow straight into our manufacturing system, no transcription
  • Order tracking — dealers see status from order to delivery

Impact:

  • Order processing time: days → minutes
  • Order errors: reduced by 90%+
  • Sales team freed from order entry to focus on dealer relationships
  • Scheduling team now able to make realtime, informed decisions

2. Triple Diamond Program: Brand Standards + Certification

Developed a comprehensive dealer certification program to ensure consistent brand experience:

Program Structure:

  • Triple Diamond Status — awarded to dealers meeting baseline requirements (signed agreement, lead satisfaction >60%, survey scores, walkthrough compliance)
  • Triple Diamond Premier — top-performing dealers ranked by sales volume and customer satisfaction
  • Diamond Certified Sales — individual sales rep certification based on training completion and customer survey scores
  • Diamond Certified Delivery — individual delivery specialist certification for consistent delivery experience

Training Platform (LMS):

  • Short video lessons with quizzes, delivered through the Dealer Dashboard
  • Periodic rollouts on defined schedules with deadlines
  • 80% minimum score required across all lessons for certification
  • Tracks individual rep progress, not just dealership-level

Incentive Alignment:

  • $500 retail spiffs for Unity/Wonder sales (must be Diamond Certified Salesperson)
  • $250 delivery incentives (requires Diamond Certified Delivery Specialist)
  • Premier dealers earn enhanced co-op advertising and priority allocation
  • Non-compliance triggers warning letters → status revocation

Impact:

  • Dealer NPS: RV Dealers Association rated LTV a perfect 100 NPS score for 2025
  • Consistent customer experience across all dealerships
  • Training completion became a point of pride, not a chore
  • Overall dealer scores climbed, maintaining an average of 92% across the board

3. Custom CRM: Lead Tracking with Conversion Matching

Built a CRM from scratch to close the loop between marketing and sales:

Lead Capture:

  • Form submissions, chat inquiries, and phone calls tracked with source attribution
  • UTM parameters preserved through the entire funnel
  • Lead scoring based on engagement signals (pages viewed, time on site, return visits)

Conversion Matching:

  • When a dealer closes a sale, we match it back to the original lead
  • We track that same customer journey across changes and cancellations
  • Direct campaign attribution

Automated Follow-up:

  • Email journeys for leads not yet contacted
  • Surveys sent post-sale and post-delivery
  • Lead satisfaction measured weekly: "How would you rate the follow-up you received?"

Impact:

  • Direct visibility into true marketing ROI
  • Dealers can no longer claim "leads are bad" without data

4. Admin Tools: Self-Service Content Management

Internal dashboards so non-technical staff could manage the platform:

  • Product updates — new RV models with specs, assets, pricing – all at their fingertips
  • Inventory visibility — real-time sales and inventory dashboards
  • Campaign tracking — performance by audience segment
  • Dealer health monitoring — activity levels, certification status, lead response times

Technical Architecture

Stack:

  • Monorepo (Turborepo) — web app, admin tools, shared packages
  • React + TypeScript across all applications
  • MongoDB with Prisma ORM
  • Inngest for background jobs (async order processing, email journeys, survey distribution)
  • Vercel deployment
  • Custom CRM built from scratch (not a Salesforce/HubSpot integration)

Key Design Decisions:

  • Build vs. buy CRM: Off-the-shelf CRMs couldn't match leads to our ERP sales data. Building custom meant we owned the full funnel.
  • LMS in-platform: Dealers already log into the Dashboard daily. Separate training portal would have low adoption.
  • Inngest for async: Order processing, email journeys, and survey triggers run as background jobs. The UI stays fast; heavy lifting happens async.

Results

Quantitative:

  • 2,179 commits
  • 50+ dealers actively using the platform daily
  • Dealer onboarding: weeks → minutes
  • 100 NPS from RV Dealers Association (2025)
  • Closed-loop attribution from marketing spend to dealer sales
  • Dealer score floor of 92%

Qualitative:

  • Dealers see LTV as a true partner, not just a manufacturer
  • Sales reps compete for Diamond Certified status
  • Marketing has quantitative date for campaigns
  • Order desk staff moved from transcription to exception handling

What I'd Do Differently

  1. Start with incentives, not features — The Triple Diamond program drove adoption more than any feature. Should have launched it earlier.

  2. Instrument from day one — Lead tracking was retrofitted. If we'd built attribution in from the start, we'd have years more data.

  3. No mobile app — We tried rolling out a mobile app and simply didn't see adoption. Keeping it simple as webapp only was the right move.

Lessons

  1. Systems thinking beats feature thinking — The platform works because it aligns with the program, not because it has nice UI (even though it does).

  2. Training is product — The LMS isn't a nice-to-have, it's crucial. Untrained dealers can't deliver the brand experience.

  3. Close the loop — Lead tracking without conversion matching is meaningless. You need the full funnel to make decisions.

  4. Certification creates pride — Diamond Certified status became a distinguishing factor between sales people. They are proud to represent LTV.

  5. Build for the process — Orders, leads, training, and incentives were handled by different departments. The platform unified them.

Current Status: Platform has been running 6+ years. Expanded from initial ordering portal to full dealer ecosystem. The RV Dealers Association's 100 NPS score reflects dealers viewing LTV as best-in-class to work with.