As Cash for Clunkers has come and gone, for some it really helped stimulate sales and for others it was just a trickle. So now that sales have softened, the first "to be" question is what to do or be? The answer is proactive.
It's the simple but profound answer based on your own gold mine of customer data. Let's start with your possible renewal customers. How are you contacting them? Are you using a true automotive CRM solution like Autobase CRM? This level of auto dealer CRM software tells you where the gold is and how to get to it FAST. Try having your dealership sales people call using the work plan, use AB Voice or our Virtual BDC. Perhaps the best contact is through simple permission-based email marketing.
Not being proactive means letting what you already have in your database go elsewhere -- that is, down the street to competitor's showroom.
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.
A few days ago, I posted a blog on putting some creative ideas together with use of your Auto Dealer CRM software. Of course, if you're using Autobase CRM, it's got you covered for those days when your creative juices are flowing in abundance. Here are a few ways Auto CRM from Autobase can be used to "sell outside the box" ... and, yes, these are shameless plugs!
• Autobase Digital Marketing – Juice up your email correspondence with the components of our of hi-powered, digital marketing suite. Turn your old in-store "Why Buy Here?" presentation into a video email that drives traffic!
• Auto Sales Software - Use our Sales Center tool to track customer hobbies and interests and market toward these special interest groups. Then, have a car show, cigar bar party, or golf outing!
• Autobase Permission-based Marketing - Put our Business Solutions to work in concert with Sales Center CRM to create a targeted newsletter (or other customized webad), and track the deliverability of your message through detailed built in reporting within your Autobase Sales Solution!
• Business Development – Utilize the Autobase Loyalty Center or Virtual BDC (outsourced) to leverage your Autobase CRM solution further for lead management, follow-up, and appointment setting! by Zach Thompson
In my role of running the dealership support center for our auto CRM, it is not uncommon for me to receive 5 to 10 calls or emails daily from auto dealers. Some are calls where dealership sales management want updates to their questions. Some want to escalate a concern they are having; and some, like the call I had today wanted to comment on the great customer service that they received.
It was from a dealership BDC manager who had called in to our support center having some questions about running reports that would reflect the activity their department had done for the month. She said that the technician who helped her very thorough at explaining how she could gather this information and that her one question quickly turned into 5 or 6. After spending well over a hour on the phone and knowing that other caller were probably waiting she figured that the technician would be anxious to end the call and was surprised that at their conclusion instead of just a simple good bye the tech took another opportunity to ask “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”. She was shocked. She stated that in her role she deals with a lot of call centers and vendors and it was this one little bit of extra effort that made her look at Autobase CRM differently.
Those are the types of calls that I love to get. Good customer service doesn’t need to be a grand gesture, sometimes all it takes is a simple question.
Everything we do in life has a process whether we realize it or not. Once you think about it, you can start to see that even the smallest act require certain steps. Perfect example: when you brush your teeth, you aren’t going to start without putting toothpaste on the brush. Small act requiring a process and yet we do it without thinking about it. It just comes naturally.
Having a process come naturally should happen when you are using your Dealer CRM, your Internet Lead Management (ILM) tool, or your BDC software. The way in which you use these tools should just flow into your way of business. It should just be part of the PROCESS. So developing a solid process around and for your CRM, such as Autobase, is essential to a successful launch and continued usage.
Think about how you sell a car. It is done without having to think about each step along the way. Sure, the beginning and the end of every automotive dealership's process are essentially the same, (meeting the customer – deliver the car) but the middle can vary drastically. At what point can or will you use Automotive CRM, ILM or BDC to help in your process? Thinking about this question will get you on the road to selling more cars at higher grosses and at lower costs. Could you ask anything more from your Autobase CRM?
Ultimately, your CRM solution is in place for a single reason -- to help your store make more money, today and in the long term. If that is not happening, there are times when a “relaunch” of the automotive CRM effort is exactly what an auto dealership needs. The basic philosophy behind the relaunch is as follows:
A relaunch is appropriate when:
Dealership CRM usage is poor overall
Dealership has experienced significant turnover in sales management
Dealership has expressed that they want to turn their usage around
There is buy-in from the Dealer Principal and GM
The dealership is nearing renewal of their agreement with the CRM partner
A relaunch is designed to accomplish the following:
Build excitement and lasting momentum around your CRM system
Review the benefits of usage
Provide examples of areas where opportunities exist within the solution
Establish processes
Set new goals and objectives
Train all managers and salespeople
At Autobase, we've seen dealerships who have experienced turnover (for example) re-engage around our CRM, BDC, ILM (and whatever components are installed). Processes are tuned up. More money is made. Time for this kind of "tune up" at your dealership?
What excites you to go to work every day? If you're an auto dealer, part of dealership sales management, or an automotive salesperson, you are in the business of putting people in vehicles. But is that what drives you? Is there anything more to it than moving cars and trucks from your new car inventory or used car inventory and seeing them come through your service drive?
Personally, I work as the Marketing Manager here at Autobase. I outline and execute our corporate marketing strategy. I am in and out of various software applications, manage our online presence, create sales tools and other collateral, drive print and digital campaigns through permission-based email marketing to auto dealers nationwide, etc. etc. etc. But what excites me most is not so much marketing our software to dealerships ...
It's knowing that there are over 35,000 automotive professionals across the country that use automotive CRM from Autobase to sell more cars and lower costs every day. It's knowing that business owners are using our digital marketing and BDC software to drive significantly more traffic and customer loyalty. It's knowing that our automotive lead management is helping salespeople to manage their book of business in such as way that they'll close more business than the guy down the street.
... and I'm just one of nearly 150 people at Autobase who come to work and are dedicated to our valued customers -- now in almost all 50 states. Good reasons to go to work!
We're looking at the better part of a year since we began blogging about "Driving Auto Dealer CRM."
Over the months, I've attempted to answer "What is true Auto CRM?" and considered everything from customer mangaement ... to how it works with other forms of lead management in the dealership ... to the benefits of a single system generating the entire dealership marketing effort -- whether through permission-based automotive marketing campaigns (email, digital marketing, voice, text) or through the Daily Run, focused on customer loyalty efforts. Some blog postings focused on Automotive ILM (Internet Lead Management), while others were on Automotive Business Development (BDC) and other aspects of a True CRM solution for auto dealerships.
Any way you cut it, it's all been from a single perspective ... all from one person here at Autobase. Mine.
Some great news: we're building our blogging team here at Autobase. Individuals from across our ranks are sharing their experience and expertise with the world right here on our blog at blog.autobase.net. Account Managers, Personal Service Team Managers, Regional and District Sales Managers, even our executive leadership from time to time are beginning to contribute to corporate blogging -- to help explain and inspire auto dealers and their sales staff regarding all things Auto CRM.
In the coming weeks and months, you'll see more CRM content from more contributors. Look for it ... and enjoy!
The other week, I saw something unique at one of the auto dealerships using Autobase CRM. It is a high volume import store with an automotive BDC (business development center), and in an effort to increase their appointment, show, and sold rates, they have instituted a plan for all customers that set appointments with their BDC.
Upon setting an appointment with the customer, they introduced the customer to the fact that they will receive “VIP” service while at the auto dealership. They prepared the customer by saying that upon arrival at the dealership, the customer should identify himself as a VIP customer. Once identified as a VIP, the customer is escorted to a waiting area that is set up specifically for VIPs; complete with cozy couches and complimentary beverages. A sales manager is immediately notified that a VIP guest is in the showroom and personally welcomes the customer and gives them a brochure outlining the dealership’s VIP sales and service commitment. This brochure details all the amenities that the dealership offers, such as courtesy shuttle, complimentary high speed internet access, and free oil changes. The manager then introduces the customer to a sales person who takes over the sales process.
I tend to be a pessimist when it comes to things like this, and if I hadn’t seen it for myself I never would have believed the appointment show and sold statistics that this store was putting out. If you have a great auto dealer CRM in place (we trust it's Autobase CRM), go beyond and think outside the box when it comes to setting your store apart from the competition and exceeding customer expectations!
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!
Any customer relationship management system (it wouldn't have to be an auto dealer CRM for the automotive industry) doesn’t run its self. Someone has to be at the wheel driving, to avoid crashes. So who is driving your vehicle?
Having and involved Dealer Principal makes all of the difference. With little buy-in from the top, the bottom rarely sees the benefit. Anyone heard of the “Trickle Down Effect?” Simply purchasing an Automotive CRM for your auto dealership won’t fix the problem, if no one is there to manage it, or ‘take the wheel’. Now I’m not saying that the DP has to sit behind his computer everyday looking at logbooks and reports. They simple need to believe in the system and enforce its usage.
Knowing that the General Manager, Sales Managers, BDC personnel, Finance Managers, Service workers and Receptionist are all doing their part to better the business through CRM is putting the car in drive. Now, how fast you are going to drive, is up to you.
Is there consistent buy-in of the CRM in our car dealership? Do we use it well? How is our customer follow-up? How is our CSI? Have my fixed ops increased? Bottom line: do we see a strong ROI? Knowing the answers to these questions let’s you figure out what speed you are going, once you put the vehicle in drive.
So, do you have someone behind the wheel ... and how fast are you driving?
No dealership sales person would say they "want to rely on floor traffic for every up" or "want to avoid repeat and referral business," but this commercial from the Autobase Archives has a lot to say. Orignally put together for the 2004 NADA Expo in Las Vegas, this clip has a little fun with a spoof on the old "When I Grow Up" commercial. It also makes a statement to how Automotive CRM from Autobase truly helps auto dealers drive more traffic, higher sales, and stronger profits -- all through our Auto Dealer CRM Software.
If your auto dealership is looking for an automotive sales and marketing solution (CRM, BDC, ILM, Permission-based Marketing, Digital Marketing, and more) that can do just that, start by getting more info here! For now, enjoy the video ...
Tomorrow is the 233rd birthday of our United States of America.
So for today, no post on Auto Dealer CRM software. No dive into the importance of customer relationship management, Internet lead management, automotive BDC, or permission-based digital marketing for the thousands of auto dealerships across America...
Rather, today we're posting a simple and thankful acknowledgement of our great country on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
At the heart of Auto Dealer CRM software is the ability to successfully communicate with your dealership customers.
Your business development center (Automotive BDC or Virtual BDC) is absolutely vital for communicating via the phone and digital marketing. And a large part of our Autobase Digital Marketing is the permission-based email solution that carries it into your customer's Inbox.
Here are a few more "best practices" to keep in mind for a successful automotive digital marketing campaign:
Use ISP testing. Setting up an “ISP Test List” can be a fast and easy way to find out if your email will pass through spam filters. You can do so by simply setting up email accounts with the major ISPs such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. Before sending to your entire subscriber list, send to your test list and make sure your email reaches the inbox of each ISP. If it lands in a bulk folder or is blocked all together, you are then able to investigate and make the appropriate changes.
Avoid "spammy" words and phrases. Systematically scanning email subject lines and body content (also called content filtering) is the most widely used filtering method among ISPs. Avoid overly promotional words and phrases, multiple exclamation points, all capital letters, and other text often used by spammers. This may seem difficult at first for promotional messages coming from an auto dealership, but with a little creativity, it can be done. Remember, always better to tweak the message and make it into the Inbox, than to never make it to the Inbox at all.
I was paging through a book* we at Autobase published (2004), when I stumbled upon the following quotation:
"Proactive franchises should realize that the successful dealerships of tomorrow will not stay on top simply by selling attractive brands or service, but rather through the relationships they have with their customers. Leveraging CRM to generate dialog has the capacity to initiate valued customer contact with prospects and owners. Above all, maintaining customer loyalty should be viewed not as the goal, but as the foundation of business."
That was stated by the [then] Director of CRM and Business Development at the Village Automotive Group... again, back in 2004. Nearly ten years later, we are not just seeing the reality and truth of his statement, we're living it!
Automotive CRM purchased by dealers then is helping them to thrive just five years later in the face of a challenged economy. With all of its components (ILM, Automotive BDC software, Digital marketing and other permission-based marketing solutions, etc.), atrue Auto CRMand the data in it IS THE ANSWER to success today as well as the success yet to be experienced another five years from now.
* In 2004, automotive CRM was not only widely growing in popularity, it was leaving many dealers (who were new to the idea) quite confused on the subject. Floor Traffic is for Green Peas was written to help auto dealers understand what a true CRM solution was and how it worked in their dealerships. The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) so enjoyed and approved of the book that they reprinted its contents with permission in their "Management Series" as their definitive statement on CRM.
Autobase will be back in Las Vegas this weekend for the 6th Digital Dealer Conference. Looks like a decent line-up of speakers and seminars, as well as a fairly good turnout from vendors who are ready to show off their various automotive software and services.
Vegas is always a draw for these kinds of events, but the poor showing in New Orleans for NADA 2009 as well as the fact that Mr. Roscoe and his crew have these shows twice a year has everyone asking, "Will the dealers show up?" I am optimistic.
There are a few important areas where the average dealership requires evolution in today's market, and harnessing the power of technology for sales and marketing purposes is at the top of the list. Those who (are able to) attend this conference get it.
Of course, our sales solutions(Autobase CRM with its fully-integrated Internet lead management (ILM) and business development (BDC) solutions)will be on display alongside of our marketing solutions (digital marketing, permission-based voice and text messaging, and service/ loyalty marketing solutions to name a few). And our neighbors will be our friends at Dealer Specialties and Dealerskins -- both from the family of brands under Dominion Dealer Solutions.
If you plan on being there, stop by and see us (and the latest offering of true customer relationship management for auto dealers) at Booth #61.
A couple of years ago, BMW was looking to produce a video overviewing the daily life of two of its highest regarded, highest producing client advisors worldwide. One was chosen from Germany (as one might expect) and as for the other, they looked no further than Hans Kribbel, Senior Client Advisor at Knauz BMW in Lake Bluff, IL.
Wow -- one of two selected worldwide? "Hans, tell us your secret..." (I'm guessing it has something to do with a strong auto CRM)
As a note: The Knauz stores have partnered with Autobase, using our Automotive CRM and BDC software solutions in their auto dealerships for a number of years now. In fact, I remember training their sales people and sales managers at the initial CRM training. So glad to hear the success Knauz is having, starting with their successful client advisors like Mr. Kribbel. Way to go, Hans!
Whenever we begin working with auto dealers who have yet to step into the ring with customer relationship management for their dealership, we are almost always faced with the same concern: "Are my guys really going to use this thing?"
Our answer is, "With true automotive CRM, your sales people will WANT to use it!"
Look at it this way: In the absence of a technology-based CRM solution, the average auto sales person is lucky to make 20 customer contacts during the course of the day. We've all been there, and those results are obvious. But with auto CRM at work, the average sales person makes 20+ conacts before arriving for work.
How?
Communication is no longer just a few calls and a thank you card here and there. Rather, the CRM may now be sending dozens of letters and emails, video postcards and flash emails on behalf of the sales person day after day after day -- building rapport and/or generating new sales activity.
When sales automation is set up correctly with a strong auto dealer CRM, the dealership staff better be ready as the amount of incoming sales calls is sure to increase significantly. If you have BDC reps fielding these calls, they need to be keenly aware of all current campaigns, and they need to have immediate access to all customer records. A strong in-house business development solution, provided it is fully-integrated with your CRM, can manage this flawlessly.
Search This Blog
Subscribe to this blog
That's an RSS feed. Just click on it to receive content updates.
Tomorrow is the 233rd birthday of our United States of America. 
Powered by Compendium Blogware