Client Testimonials

What Dealers Say About Working With Helion

A chief financial officer and two general managers on moving their dealerships from CDK to Tekion with our team, in their own words.

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Dealership manager and an IT project lead smiling mid-conversation in a bright service drive, with a car in a service bay behind them

Three dealership leaders who moved from CDK to Tekion with Helion Technologies describe one team working every part of the switch, from the DMS conversion, phones and network to printers and scanners in every department, and staying on after go-live.

Last updated: October 22, 2026

These dealership IT testimonials appear as they were written. Greetings and sign-offs are gone. Where a writer named a store, you’ll see a bracketed description instead, and each writer is described by role and region rather than by name. The kind words about Alexis, Robert and the rest of our team are theirs, word for word.

Three Dealership Leaders on Moving From CDK to Tekion

“Helion was an outstanding partner during our migration from CDK to Tekion. Their team successfully managed the DMS conversion, phone system implementation, network migration, and post-launch follow-up with professionalism and precision. Alexis Merchant provided exceptional leadership, communication, and project management throughout the process. Her deep Tekion knowledge and consistent follow-up were invaluable. Joseph Taylor, Scot McConnor, Erik Nachbahr, and the entire Helion team demonstrated a genuine commitment to our success. Helion operated as a true strategic partner, not simply a technology vendor. I highly recommend them to any dealership group undertaking a major technology transformation.”

Chief Financial Officer, multi-rooftop dealer group, Texas

“Thank you and your team at Helion for your support and guidance as [our dealership] transitions from CDK to Tekion. This is the only time that [our dealership] has done a DMS change in 35 years of operation, and without Helion’s team of professionals assisting with every aspect of the transition, from the phone system, the network, computers, printers, and scanners, in all departments, I know we would not be as far along as we are. Whenever a ticket is opened Helion responds immediately; whether on the phone or in person, the service is as good or better than when we had a full-time I.T. manager on staff. Our Helion technician, Robert, is great; he is knowledgeable, prompt, and most of all, patient. We look forward to a long-lasting relationship between [our dealership] and Helion.”

General Manager, franchised dealership, Gulf South. From a thank-you letter to Alexis Merchant, Helion’s Manager of Dealer Enablement Success.

“Helion played an important role in helping us successfully transition from CDK to Tekion across [both of our stores]. Changing a DMS touches nearly every part of a dealership and creates challenges well beyond the software itself. Throughout the process, Helion helped us prepare our infrastructure, identify potential issues, coordinate with Tekion and work through the inevitable problems that came with such a significant change. What I appreciated most was having a partner that understood both the technical side and the operational impact on our dealerships. When issues arose, your team helped us separate network, hardware and access concerns from Tekion configuration issues so we could get problems to the right people and move toward resolution much faster. We are now several months beyond go-live and seeing meaningful operational improvements. Helion’s involvement gave us a much stronger foundation for the transition and continues to provide value as we refine our processes and expand how we use Tekion. I would certainly recommend Helion to other dealers preparing for a DMS transition or looking for a technology partner that understands the dealership environment. Thank you again to you and the entire Helion team.”

General Manager, franchised dealership, Gulf South. The sister store of the dealership above, in a letter to Alexis Merchant.

Side by side

What Each Move Covered

Put the three letters next to each other and you get a working list of what goes into a move from CDK to Tekion. Every row below comes from something at least one of the writers said, in their own words. We haven’t added a thing.

Part of the move	Mentioned by	In their words
DMS conversion	CFO, Texas	“successfully managed the DMS conversion”
Phone system	CFO, Texas; GM, Gulf South	“phone system implementation”; “from the phone system”
Network and infrastructure	All three	“network migration”; “the network”; “helped us prepare our infrastructure”
Computers, printers and scanners	GM, Gulf South	“computers, printers, and scanners, in all departments”
Everyday tickets	GM, Gulf South	“Whenever a ticket is opened Helion responds immediately”; “whether on the phone or in person”
Working with Tekion	GM, sister store	“coordinate with Tekion and work through the inevitable problems”
Sorting out who fixes what	GM, sister store	“separate network, hardware and access concerns from Tekion configuration issues”
After go-live	CFO, Texas; GM, sister store	“post-launch follow-up”; “continues to provide value as we refine our processes”

Read the who-fixes-what row twice. Telling a network, hardware or access problem apart from a Tekion configuration issue is how the sister store’s general manager got problems “to the right people” and moved “toward resolution much faster.” By the end of that letter, both stores are several months past go-live, seeing “meaningful operational improvements” and working to “expand how we use Tekion.” For the whole sequence, see our DMS transition support, our Tekion enablement practice, Alexis Merchant’s guide to phones and networks when you leave CDK, and Erik Nachbahr on what to do after a Tekion go-live.

The Numbers Behind the Letters

2,000+ Dealerships under management nationwide

35,000+ Dealership employees supported daily

98% Client retention rate

82 sec Average time to reach a live support agent

Three letters make a small sample. Don’t take them on faith. The bigger sample is our Google reviews, more than 200 of them averaging 4.9 out of 5, written about a company that has worked only with car and truck dealerships since 1997.

Common Questions

Planning a DMS move?

Our complimentary IT and cybersecurity assessment is a sensible first step whether the move is next month or next year. It shows where your technology and security stand before anything changes. Start there.

Why aren’t the dealerships in these testimonials named?

We describe clients by role, type of dealership and region rather than by name, so that’s how each writer appears here. The words are theirs. We took out greetings and sign-offs, and where a writer named a store you’ll see a bracketed description such as [our dealership]. Nothing else changed. Our own people, like Alexis Merchant and Robert, the technician, are named just as the writers named them.

What did Helion handle during these CDK to Tekion moves?

The testimonials name the DMS conversion, the phone system, the network migration, and the computers, printers and scanners in every department, plus follow-up after launch. The sister store adds coordination with Tekion and the work of separating network, hardware and access concerns from Tekion configuration issues. We’re a Tekion Certified Partner. Our Tekion enablement practice runs from implementation through ongoing optimization.

How do we find out whether Helion fits our stores?

Ask for the complimentary IT and cybersecurity assessment. An IT expert reviews your current technology, your security setup and what you’re paying your IT vendors now, on site or remotely, and the findings come back in a written report. The next move is yours. You don’t have to be planning a DMS change to request one.

Whether a DMS move is on next year’s calendar or nowhere near it, the first step is the same: a complimentary look at where your stores stand today.

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