Steve Barnett: Independent Automotive Telecom Advisor
30+ years in the dealer seat. 10+ years building dealership telecom companies. Now working for you, not for a vendor.
Steve Barnett spent over three decades on the dealership side before he ever thought about telecom, running stores and living through every bad phone vendor pitch a GM sits through. That experience is exactly why dealerTEL exists today. As an independent automotive telecom advisor, Steve built dealerTEL to be the dealership telecom consultant he never had access to himself: someone with just a stake in what actually works for the store.
WHY WORK WITH dealerTEL?
You Have More Than One Way to Buy Telecom Technology. The Difference Is Who Is Sitting on Your Side of the Table.
Your DMS or CRM may offer a phone solution. You can also purchase technology directly from a provider such as CallRevu. So why involve dealerTEL?
Because choosing the technology is only part of the decision.
dealerTEL brings more than 30 years of dealership ownership and over a decade of dealership telecom experience to the process. We start with your operation, your existing telecom costs, your call performance and the financial opportunity specific to your store. Then we help determine what makes sense for your dealership.
YOUR DMS OR CRM
Your DMS and CRM are essential dealership systems, but telecom is one of many products and services they may offer. dealerTEL focuses specifically on dealership communications, call performance and the connection between your phones, your people and your gross profit. We also understand the DMS side of the business. Steve Barnett served on the technology board of a major DMS provider and was an early advocate for bringing telecom into the dealership technology ecosystem.
GOING DIRECT TO CALLREVU
CallRevu is the technology platform dealerTEL recommends and supports. It is a platform we believe in, which is precisely why we chose to partner with them. Working through dealerTEL adds something different: a dealer,side perspective from someone who has actually owned and operated dealerships. We help evaluate your current environment, identify unnecessary telecom expense, quantify the potential financial impact, determine the appropriate solution, assist throughout implementation, and remain a resource after the system is in place.
WORKING WITH dealerTEL
With dealerTEL, you receive a complimentary review of your existing telecom environment and expenses; a dealership,specific assessment from someone who has spent decades in the dealer seat; access to our proprietary Net Profit Impact Model; guidance on configuration and integration with your existing CRM and DMS; assistance throughout implementation and ongoing support; a direct relationship with dealerTEL and access to CallRevu technology and technical resources; and no additional charge from dealerTEL for our advisory services. Technology matters. But so does the experience behind the recommendation. Before you decide who should provide your dealership's next communications platform, spend a few minutes with someone who has sat on your side of the desk.
How dealerTEL Works
Think of us as your insurance agent. We’ve evaluated the market, we recommend what’s right for your store, and we’re compensated by our technology partner (CallRevu), not by you. Your audit, consultation, and implementation support cost your dealership nothing.
- 30+ Years Dealership Ownership
- Technology Board Member, Major DMS Provider
- 10+ Years Dealership Telecom Company Founder
- Authorized CallRevu Partner
Why Dealers Trust dealerTEL
Being a CallRevu authorized partner means dealerTEL has direct access to the platform’s engineering and support teams, not just a sales relationship. Combined with Steve’s own background running dealerships, that gives dealerTEL a rare vantage point: enough technical depth to configure a system correctly, and enough dealer experience to know what actually gets used day to day versus what just looks good in a demo.
About the Author
Steve Barnett is the founder of dealerTEL Services. After 30+ years owning dealerships, he noticed something odd about the technology built for dealers: every system got attention except the phones, even though it’s the one piece of technology a store can’t survive without for even a single day.
That gap led him to spend the next decade,plus founding dealership,exclusive telecom companies of his own. He created dealerTEL to give dealers an advisor and partners with CallRevu to deliver it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Steve Barnett spent over 30 years running dealerships before serving on the technology board of a major DMS provider. That combination showed him nobody was solving the dealership phone problem the right way, so he founded dealerTEL to fill that gap.
An automotive telecom advisor evaluates a dealership's current phone setup, identifies gaps or overcharges, and recommends the right technology partner, similar to how an insurance agent works. dealerTEL fills this role at no cost to the dealership.
Both. dealerTEL is an independent advisory firm and a CallRevu authorized partner, which means Steve's team can recommend CallRevu's platform with full technical support behind them, while still working for the dealer's interests first.
A dealership telecom consultant understands how calls move between sales, service, and BDC teams, and how that traffic ties into the DMS. A general IT consultant usually hasn't worked inside a dealership and misses those specifics.
You can reach Steve directly through the contact page, or call (855) 968,6500. Most conversations start with a quick chat about your current phone setup before anything else.
