Accelerating Success: How Traveland RV Scaled Up to 7 Locations with IDS

Since its founding in 1977, Traveland RV has grown into a multi-location dealership with a strong reputation for quality and service.

As early adopters of IDS, having first implemented the system in the late 1980s, Traveland has leveraged its technology to support expansion across Western Canada.

With new locations added regularly, including Edmonton in 2024, the company continues to thrive.

But what truly sets Traveland RV apart isn’t just its product lineup—it’s the people.

Long-term employees have built their careers within the company, and in some cases, their children have followed in their footsteps, making Traveland RV a true multi-generational business.

Chris Clarke is the Managing Director at Traveland RV.

He has been with the company since 2004—back when they were one single location. Starting out as Manager of the parts department, Chris worked his way through sales and sales management. Now he manages all of their stores.

We had the opportunity to chat with Chris about how IDS has supported Traveland’s growth over the decades, and how he leverages the dealership management system’s features in his role.

How has IDS supported Traveland RV’s expansion to new locations?

Chris Clarke: “The way that the system integrates is fairly straightforward. You can transfer an inventory item in two or three keystrokes. That’s definitely a benefit. We’ve converted every store that we’ve purchased over to IDS.

Once the new employees are trained on the system, it works well. I mean, there’s always a process of teaching them, which takes a couple of months usually, but once they’re up and running, it’s pretty seamless.

It’s been good. The team has supported us when we needed it. We’ve had some training on the ground, too, in a few of the expansions.”

How has your team collaborated with IDS over the years?

Chris Clarke: “IDS has definitely enhanced the R&D process over the years. We’ve adopted SalesCRM Online. Our General Manager in Grand Prairie was instrumental in the development of the CRM—she was on the advisory committee. We beta-tested it, and she’s put a lot of hours into making that product successful. We’re also launching Parts Request Online for technicians. I think that’s another product that’s going to be very helpful.”

What impact has the SalesCRM Online had on your dealership?

Chris Clarke: “It’s made them a lot more productive and consistent in their follow-up for sure. One thing we do measure is our be-back ratio, and that’s increased. I think it’s partly to do with the CRM.

We’ve found in the past that we don’t have a lot of success when we’re using two separate systems, like a software system and then an outside CRM that don’t talk to each other back and forth. Just info goes one way. That’s the reason we’ve looked at that solution—to have it integrated.”

And what are you most looking forward to, now that you’re implementing Parts Request Online?

Chris Clarke: “I think it’s going to make the technicians a lot more productive. You know, save them time so they can fix things versus doing administrative tasks.”

How does IDS help Traveland RV meet customer expectations in today’s market?

Customer: “The reporting in IDS has been good. It shows us trends on how we’re doing on serving customer needs. That gives us information to make decisions on if we need to change our processes or where the opportunities for improvement are. You can see what each location is working on day to day and then follow up with it if necessary.”

How does IDS help you make better business decisions?

Chris Clarke: “Accounting, sales, service, and parts—it’s all integrated. That’s the biggest benefit. If you didn’t have that, it would be a lot more difficult to get information quickly.”

What would you say to someone considering switching to IDS?

Chris Clarke: “I actually do get those calls frequently, and I think it’s a system that includes all facets of the business versus having an accounting system, a sales system, and a service system. There aren’t many parts of IDS we don’t use. It’s a one-stop shop.”