Finding used car inventory in Auto CRM from Autobase

Friday, August 21, 2009 by Steve Lausch

I’m a car guy, if it’s got an engine I’m instantly in love. I’m sure my gear head roots will be a common theme on many of my blog posts moving forward. Maybe it is because of my love for cars that I find myself actually sympathizing with several tons of metal, while I watch some of the YouTube videos of guzzlers having salt and sand pumped through their veins until their hearts seize into a hunk of scrap.

Aside from my emotional response to the activity of disabling these vehicles, the fact remains that Cash for Clunkers could pose a challenge to the Used Car business. After all, the act of disabling clunkers is in fact depleting the countries inventory of used cars (especially trucks and SUVs) by destroying perhaps millions of vehicles. Moving forward, many dealers may be in for a real treat, when attempting to match prospects to used vehicles.

Automotive CRM, namely the dealership sales software from Autobase, utilizes Want List functionality, an extremely valuable tool that assists auto dealerships to instantly and seamlessly match an existing prospect in their database, to a vehicle in the car dealers inventory list. Once Autobase CRM matches a prospect to a vehicle, an email will be dispatched to the salesperson notifying them of the pending match possibility. This Want List functionality is a built-in tool included in your Autobase sales solutions.

With imminent challenges in locating used car inventory, Auto Dealer Software and lead management can be used to keep track of deal opportunities.

by Zach Thompson

Is the CPR in your Auto Dealer Software MIA?

Monday, July 27, 2009 by Steve Lausch

Sometimes even those of us at Autobase take for granted the functionality within our own Automotive CRM software.  I started with Autobase as a trainer back in 2002 and I can still remember when we released the CPR (Customer Problem Resolution) module.  Despite being revolutionary at the time, it's one of those functions that gets placed on the back burner and eventually is forgotten.  I had forgotten what an incredible asset CPR is to auto dealerships until I sat down with a Business Development Manager recently.
  
So what is CPR?  It’s a way for you to track any and all known customer issues. Once an issue is created in the customer’s record, it can be assigned to a specific person within the dealership so that the problem is dealt with and brought to a resolution.  The benefit to tracking it within Autobase CRM is that it creates a history of the issue and holds people accountable for responding to the issue.  

According to this BDC Manager, issues at their store can be seen and created for customers by the service manager, the sales managers and even the receptionist.  Having a reliable method of tracking customer problems has been extremely valuable, especially when you can see if a customer is has an extensive history of complaints.  When you use CPR, you have a report card on file for each customer.

Oh and by the way, CPR is FREE for all Autobase CRM customers!  You just need to get it turned on and set up, and you'll be ready to go!

by Laurie Simons