I was at an auto dealership the other week working with various Sales Consultants on improving their knowledge of the dealership CRM system. At this particular auto dealership, the Sales Consultants had been using auto CRM from Autobase for about 5 years. Their knowledge of the system was good, but as the saying goes you can learn something new every day (especially with CRM software).
I decided to show these CRM veterans how they can effectively see all of the upcoming service appointments for their customers. I also showed them how they could print a list of all of the service appointments scheduled for the next day. Most Sales Consultants frequent the service area in the hopes that they could potentially run into someone who may be in the market for a new vehicle. With a true CRM tool you should be able to research all of the service histories for each of your customers and know exactly when they are coming in for their next visit.
Sales Consults, the next time one of your customers comes into the service lane greet them with a cup of coffee and talk to them about their service history (that you have already researched). Maybe they are ready for a new vehicle. Maybe they have some referrals. At the very least you will be reminding your customers that you are the best Sales Consultant in the world.
by Kevin Smith
Auto CRM addresses the used car inventory crunch
I was reading Automotive News this week and on the front page was an article lamenting that auto dealers are having a hard time keeping their dealership used car inventory stocked to acceptable levels. Cars at the auctions are scarce and prices are up to $2000 more than they were just months ago. Want an alternative means of going after cars for your used car inventory? YOUR OWN SERVICE DRIVE!
With the auto dealer CRM system from Autobase, you can see which customers are hitting your service department at what mileage point they and you can isolate marketing to go after these viable and potential clients to trade their vehicles to restock your used car lot.
Examples I have seen are: going after 2 to 3 year old, in warranty vehicles and the 70 to 80k vehicles for the budget lots. What's the down-side? Worst case, You'll drive floor traffic in this post "cash for clunkers" vacuum.
by Shawn Belles
A perspective on Auto CRM, from one in Autobase Customer Support
Autobase CRM is a key tool in the lives of our customers by providing auto dealer services. Autobase Dealer Software provides a means for our dealerships to reach out to their clients every day. By providing various customizable communication tools that allow for easy contact to owners and prospects alike, Autobase enables dealerships to market to new customers, and keep in contact with their current customers.
This gives our customers more than just a piece of software, it gives them a complete automotive dealer solution!
by Jason Solida
More positive ratings for the auto industry's leading Dealer CRM solution
Autobase and its automotive CRM, Internet Lead Management (ILM), and other products/services show up from time to time on such sites. We are ecstatic over the (currently) 94% vendor rating Autobase CRM has achieved on one particular community blog.
Following is one of the many dealer testimonials we have enjoyed reading ...
"I have been an Autobase user for quite some time and have experience using other CRM tools, by far Autobase is the best CRM product I have used. Being able to utilize the Save a Deal log has generated renevue for us that did not exit before Autobase. The ability of the system to keep my sales team in touch with their customers and actually "know" their customers is priceless. Our Regional Manager always providses support and provides us new ways of making money on each visit, by far the best Regional Manager I have dealt with. He is truly dedicated to making us a better dealership."
Got to love it!
by Steve Lausch
Don't be a Tarzan: Permission-based digital marketing and your auto CRM
Does your auto dealership have a permission-based email marketing strategy? If not, be careful that you are not a "Tarzan." In other words, let's say your dealership has 21000 customers in their automotive CRM database. You have been actively collecting data and your email capture is up to 40%. So you have 8400 customers that you can actively target with with permission-based digital marketing...
A “Tarzan” is the auto dealer or business development (BDC) manager or someone else in dealership sales management who does three mass emailers to these customers monthly because they can. So in essence, the are jumping up on the table, beating their chest, and screaming the Tarzan yell, hoping that customers will respond to their dealership marketing.
What you are really doing is “over-farming” your data and subsequently diluting your dealership advertising message. Your opt out rates will likely skyrocket and your WILL get blacklisted. When the time comes that you have a message the car-buying customer actually wants to hear, you will have “cried wolf” so many times, that he or she will have tuned you out.
Autobase CRM recommends a blended email strategy using an eNewsletter as a nucleus. eNewsletters are nice “soft” touches to your entire database of Service, sold and prospect customers. Incidentally, our newletter has less than 1% opt out rate.
We then recommend a more targeted or laser marketing approach. Go after smaller cross sections of your customers based on vehicle interest, where they are in their trade cycle and current programs. You will get a higher response rate on three email campaigns of 1000 to 1500 per campaign than you will blasting your entire databse three times a month.
by Shawn BellesWorking service appointments in your Auto Dealership CRM
For years, we have asked our auto dealership sales consultants to check the service appointment log for their customers.
In theory, your sales person would then "happen" into the service waiting room and strike up a conversation with their customer. We would hope the sales person would gauge the customer's interest in a new vehicle or work the customer for a referral. Dealership marketing on legs, right?
As a sales manager, I used auto CRM from Autobase to tell me who was going to be in service within the next 48 hours and do "one on ones" with the sales staff regarding the opportunities walking into service. This way the salesperson was better prepared and we were able to cross-sell effectively from the service drive.
Be proactive! Turn your dealership sales managers into money-making coaches.
by Shawn Belles
Innovative ways to use text messaging with your auto dealership CRM
Yesterday I was the recipient of my mother’s first text message. My mom is likely the least tech savvy person on the continent, and for her to be sending text messages, well that is quite impressive, not to mention a sign of the times. When you stop for a moment and think about how communication has changed and evolved over time it is quite staggering. Everyone is texting now, and it has become part of our daily lives, but more importantly for Automotive Dealerships it’s a promising new sales tool and outlet medium for marketing and notification.
Using text messaging in conjunction with Auto CRM is an innovative way to drive sales and lead notification. I’m hard pressed to find an internet manager who doesn’t think there is a direct correlation between weblead response times and sold internet ups. I’m sure this is why Autobase CRM customers are so passionate about their weblead response times and SMS reminders! How can Auto Dealer CRM be used to deliver text messages as timely weblead reminder, or marketing message?
Here are a few ways Autobase (as the leading Automotive CRM solution) can deliver a timely text message reminder or marketing message:
- Sending out a text to tell a service customer their vehicle is read for pickup
- Sending an SMS when a new lead has been assigned to you
- Dispatching an SMS with customer information (email, vehicle of interest, etc..) when a new lead has been assigned to you
- Sending an SMS to notify you when you have not accepted a lead quickly enough, and it has been roundrobined away from you
- Sending out a text when a lead hits your weblead email account before it even comes into Autobase
- Any many marketing messages to come in “Project X” (Don’t worry, the cat will be out of the bag soon)
by Zach Thompson
When an auto CRM question isn't as simple as it first appears
An Account Analyst from his Personal Service Team called and was able to begin the process of answering his question. What struck me as odd about this is why the customer didn’t call Autobase first? Once we spoke with him he said he hadn’t even thought about it but now realized that would have made more sense. His question may have seemed easy to answer on a forum with a simple glance, but what wasn’t being provided was the expertise of so many Autobase employees.
I am glad that we have been able to work with the customer to the extent that we have. We have made great progress and have been able to dive so deep that I don’t think he would have ever realized. I know this auto dealership (and specific employee) will be a great user of Autobase CRM for a long time to come and now has the help of Autobase experts, because he knows who to work with.
If you have a question or need help with something don’t ever hesitate to call our support center (800-568-6085). You would be happy to know that every dealership with Autobase has a personal team of associates to work with, only making your experience with Autobase that much better.
by Sheena Lee
Auto CRM: A treasure trove for automotive dealers
We all have databases that represent thousands of clients that we have touched and have relationships with and we often ignore them. By doing so, we are just as foolish as the old line practice of positioning two or three sales people on your lot looking (waiting) for the next up.
In our acclaimed book, Floor Traffic is for Green Peas, we addressed the need of your CRM product to extract the gold that is in your database mine. Rather than spending way too much money (you have to spend some, I know) trying to acquire new business, cultivate the ones who know you best already.
eNewsletters, service specials, product updates, birthday reminders, casual correspondence and other opportunities can be used to keep you in regular contact with these clients and still stay within the boundaries of permission-based communications. If you use auto dealer CRM software from Autobase for your dealership CRM you can use our Managed Services products to accomplish that task.
Certainly, do not misconstrue this blog posting as telling you to ignore the Internet. All sources are important and have to be worked regularly. Just don’t overlook one for the other.
by Phil Barras
Auto Dealer CRM: We may have "lost" the sale, but not the service
Yesterday, we looked at how solid auto dealer CRM (such as Autobase CRM) provides the visibility needed to take immediate action on any deal marked as "lost." We saw how it's an opportunity to second voice the customer. Another opportunity exists.
Second, this gives you the chance to drive this customer to your service department. Let the customer know that although they purchased elsewhere your dealership can still service their vehicle. With automotive CRM and permission-based email marketing from Autobase, you can follow-up with a "why service here" email. If you can capture their service business, you stand to capture their future sales.
Finally, when calling these "lost sales" you will find that a percentage of these customers did not actually buy or did not take delivery. Now you can roll up your sleeves and try to sell them a car.
I have auto dealers utilizing these techniques to generate more sales and drive more service traffic. Just remember: a lost sales is not actually a lost sale, but a future opportunity.
by Shawn Belles
Finally an Auto CRM for new and advanced dealership users alike
The reason this was successful was because, I was able to show everyone how easy or advanced the auto dealer CRM from Autobase could be. For those that literally didn’t know what a mouse was used for, the basics were enough to get them comfortable and off of the ground. The basics are also enough for them to maintain good contact with customers and manage their extensive customer data bases effectively.
For the other end of the spectrum, the advanced features are enough to keep them intrigued and using the system. There are a ton of features within Autobase CRM that give an advanced user ‘something to play with.’ Some of these items are Forecasting, CPR, Campaign Management and Service Logs.
All in all, the Auto CRM from Autobase is great for any type of user. Be it the token ‘computer geek’ or the ‘computers are never going to catch on’ type. Give it a try and see how you do.
by Sheena Lee
Recipe for recession-proofing: Dealer CRM and dealership processes
I noticed that automotive consultant Jim Ziegler recently encouraged automobile dealers to drop the fear factor and get back to their processes. Certainly good advice at anytime, but certainly most important now.
Of course if your auto dealership uses Autobase CRM, your dealership sales management would have been exposed to this push to process from the earliest stages of your involvement with us. Our insistence on process begins with the sales contact at which time we spend considerable effort to learn how the dealer does business. In short, what are their processes? We then work to weave them into the fabric of our product where we can show that everything from the road to the sale, the Daily run, literally hundreds of settings that trigger events that reflect their schedule for everything from post visit contact to renewal contact. Along the way, we build a Save-a-Deal process, a managers review process, letters and forms library, an Internet Lead Management process, service scheduling marketing plans and reports , reports, reports and much more.
On top of that, our Dealer Services teams continue to process map for the auto dealer and our deployment, installation and technical support team’s work to keep the processes on track. Integral to this concept are the account managers and account analysts that keep the dealer focused on processes and the correct application of the same.
One of our earliest dealers once told me that when he hit his first patch of rough economic times, he immediately realized that our insistence on process was what recession-proofed his business. Sounds like good advice the current times doesn’t it?
by Phil Barras
So, how did that last mailer work out for you?
If you are like most auto dealerships, the answer to the above question is “not very well”.
Besides being expensive, it’s near impossible to measure results. With the recent consolidation of dealerships, many service departments are bursting at the seams. Now more than ever there are valuable prospects visiting your service department that did not buy their vehicle at your store. What a perfect opportunity to properly start a sales cycle with these orphaned customers.
Many of the auto dealers using our automotive CRM system have found the best way to find some of these hot leads is to do a search of their customer database. For example, try a quick search of your entire database using these parameters:
1) Service customers who did not buy their vehicle at your dealership
2) Visited your Service department within the last 30 days
3) Over 75,000 miles on the odometer
4) Repair Order bill over $250.00 out of pocket
You might be surprised to see this number is larger than first thought. Why not have a “new model” introduction e-mail automatically generated when these customers get back home (using a strong permission-based email marketing solution, of course). Better yet, what a great time to drop these folks a well timed call. They already know who you are. Know where you are. They are a customer already. They have a high mileage vehicle. And repairs are starting to cost them out of pocket.
As a New Car Salesperson, I would much rather make a well timed, well informed call to these prospects than to follow up on a mailer. And by the way, these leads don’t cost a penny.
by Mike Niebling
Automotive CRM training uncovers new revenue streams for auto dealerships
In my years of training, I’ve seen similar trends from Connecticut to California. Even with a great amount of onsite and online training available, I'll find most of automotive CRM users haven’t moved beyond a basic understanding of the most rudimentary features of the program. They haven’t explored the program or learned any new skills. They’ve only tapped a fraction of the potential contained within this amazing tool. When we show them how we turn the number of unassigned Service customers the dealership sales management is amazed by this newfound potential revenue stream.
The integration with Service is just one of dozens of great features that dealerships never find. It’s not because these features are locked away, hidden from view. It’s because dealerships fail to avail themselves of the training that automotive CRM providers offer. Sure the training takes time out of the day, but when you break down the numbers, those 30 minutes (or less) could add THOUSANDS to your monthly gross profit each month. It’s like playing the lottery one time and winning every month for the rest of your career.
by Nick Mulichak
Autobase Business Solutions: Leveraging the power of your Autobase CRM
Think about how much you are spending in your automotive dealership advertising budget to get your name out to those thousands of people. Think of the hundreds that come to your store? Now, think of the hundreds of thousands who never will. The actual percentage is probably pretty small (and, unfortunately, so is your ROI). Why then waste money on customers that will never buy from you?
Any of the Autobase Business Solutions (ABS) would allow you to trim the advertising budget, and get people in the door. Doesn’t seem possible, does it? Well the reason this works is because using ABS leverages the power of the data in your Autobase CRM solution, enabling you to reach those customers (through permission-based email, voice, and text marketing) that are actually interested, right now, in what you have.
Send campaigns to much smaller groups of customers. In other words, you TARGET MARKET! AND with Autobase Business Solutions Managed Services we will do the work for you. You wouldn’t have to lift a finger, aside from writing all of the new contracts brought in by your campaign.
Think about what you are doing now and then think about how you are going to step into the future and get ahead of the competition.
by Sheena Lee
Are Third Party Leads enough for your auto dealership?
For every four leads that hit your Internet Lead Management tool (ILM) there is at least one customer whose lease will be terminating in 3 months, had an exceptional experience with the salesperson, and services their car the dealership (and as a former Internet Manager, I will attest that ‘internet ups’ not always the easiest customers to reel in the door).
My question then is, "What is your game plan for customer retention?" Is it getting your Finance manager to pull a list of customers whose lease is up that month and calling them? Who actually keeps track of these calls? I traded my last car 2 years into a 3 year lease. Simply because of an amazing 0% promotion that actually lowered my payment. Had my old dealer contacted me they would have had a pretty good shot at getting me in the door. Customer retention should not focus on just leases. Customers whose payment method was cash, finance and loyal service customers are just as important.
One of the best features I absolutely love about the auto dealer CRM by Autobase is the Renewal Log. Lease, cash and finance customers are populated base on your process. I usually recommend 6 months prior to a lease end, 3 years after a cash deal, and 12 months before the financing term ends for items to appear on the Renewal Log.
While every customer in your database may not be a repeat buyer, using Autobase CRM can help tremendously in retaining them. Never let yourself be out of sight ... and out of mind.
by Laurie Simons
In the mind of a dealer: "Autobase CRM does that TOO?"
Let’s see, I‘ve owned this automotive dealership for 14 years. And my father, the founding auto dealer, had it for 28 prior to that. We have this huge customer database, but what do I do with it? How do I get it moving forward and more useful? Where do I start?
Maybe we should begin by scrubbing our database. It is kind of old and people do move. Wow -- Autobase CRM can do that for me? I didn’t know that.
With Autobase, I'd have an account manager who could teach my dealership sales staff how to get emails on a regular basis without being intrusive. That’s a help. I guess I also have to make sure I’m not breaking some law no matter how obscure before I begin to use this list. You say Autobase CRM does this too? Hmmm.
Since I have to wait to get all this done, I’ll look and see what kind of security vendors are out there. Wait a minute. My account analyst says I don’t have to wait. Autobase can run an e-append service and get our auto dealership up and running in no time. Well, I guess things are coming together quicker than I thought, so I’d better start looking for an ad agency to handle the direct marketing. Boy I bet that’s expensive ...
I should have known: my Autobase sales rep just sent me some info on their Managed Services. Here it is -- double wow! Autobase can do that too?
Putting a customer database to work starts with one, first step -- I have to call Autobase, of course! One call really does get it all!
by John Champeau
Mixing a little Auto Dealer CRM with a touch of philanthropy
In a recent post on autoblog.com, author Noah Joseph blogs that Cash for Clunkers is “good news for auto workers, some of whom have been called back to work on assembly lines ramping up to meet demand generated by the initiative. But with every upside, there are downsides, both predictable and otherwise.”
Reuters has reported that several charitable organizations that once relied on contributions of used automobiles to operate are finding themselves asking the government for help to sustain their organizations.
How can an auto dealer CRM and a dealership's database be used to help those less fortunate? Why is it desirable to use automotive CRM for philanthropy? As a consumer I am more likely give my business to companies that participate in some sort of community outreach program. During my tenure working with Autobase CRM, I have seen dealerships use the Autobase campaign manager, create-a-sale, permission based marketing, and platinum services to enlist the help of the customers in the dealer database toward programs like Backpack Attack or Toys for Tots.
At very least you are driving floor traffic and bebacks to your dealership that may need to visit the showroom to deliver their donations. Who knows, they may just see something they can’t live without on the showroom floor!
by Zach Thompson
Email capture: unleash the digital marketing power of Auto CRM
One of the best, and interestingly enough, often under-utilized sources is the dealers own customer database. With everyone slashing budgets and eliminating most of the traditional advertising from their portfolio, how do we get our message out to the customers in our database? ... Permission-based Email Marketing! Now here’s the tricky part. The average dealership's email capture rate is pretty low -- as low as 18%. As a provider of auto dealer CRM and permission-based e-marketing from Autobase, I’ve seen stores top 80% in this same metric. The challenge is building strong process and creating an environment that motivates front line employees to “get those emails”.
It is not enough to simply DEMAND that salespeople and service writers gather emails from their customers. The key is “carrots and sticks”. In order to maximize their efforts, make the WIN for the staff clear. Once the campaigns are set up, the e-newsletter is created, and you’re firing on all cylinders, get the staff involved and make sure they are completely informed. If a salesperson or service writer can visualize all of this targeted marketing going out to their existing and prospective customers, automatically, and the only work involved on their end is to simply enter an email address, your capture rates will skyrocket.
It’s always easier, and exponentially more productive to hand out carrots than flog with a big stick.
by Guy Super, District Sales Manager
Creativity + Auto Dealer CRM = $$$$
If I were to ask, "How many customers who are not associated with a Sales Consultant in your Auto CRM?" I bet the majority of auto dealership owners would have to answer, “TOO MANY!" Or perhaps they do not even know about this hidden potential??
It is common in the automotive sector that the customer may buy a car at one dealership but service that same car at another dealership, maybe your dealership? Or maybe a Sales Consultant sold a vehicle to a customer and has since relocated to another profession, etc. The bottom line is right now you have a lot of customers within your Automotive CRM that are not attached to an employee at your dealership. There is a huge potential within this customer base if you have a quality CRM.
I serve as an Account Manager for Autobase CRM. Often when I am in dealerships, I notice that there are literally thousands of these customers within almost every dealership I visit. Why not single out these customers and assign them to your Sales Consultants? Maybe next time they are in for service your Sales Consultants can make an introduction? How about having these Sales Consultants call these customers 1 day after their service is performed? How about developing an email campaign to these customers? These are loyal customers who have done business with you in the past, why not figure out a way to reach out to them. Get creative with your Automotive CRM!
by Kevin Smith
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