Automotive Internet Lead Management

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

I once had a college professor who was a bit of a sarcastic cynic who felt that you had to be wary of charitable institutions that were fighting something (cancer, world hunger, the common cold) because you needed to realize that if they ever found a cure, they would be out of business.  A somewhat skewed vision of the world but such are the inclinations of most cynics that I know.  What I took from that is that they will never be done -- reminds me of Autobase CRM (but in a MUCH more positive way).

I remember serving auto dealers back in the days of our Autobase DOS product.  Some of you may recall DOS from your visits to the Museum of Natural History (think Pong vs. Wii and that describes where Autobase has come from and where we are today). 

We have some GREAT things brewing that will be revealed at NADA 2010 ... beyond that, it's an open book as yet unwritten, but you can believe that it will include the cutting edge of technology and keep us in the catbird seat of the industry.  From our DOS days when we were virtually a simple shell that was an electronic file cabinet (but very high tech for the time) to the robust product of today.

Today our solution includes (among other things) showroom control features, a permission-based marketing suite, 70+ integrations, desking capabilities, digital marketing, newsletters, Internet lead management (ILM) ... as part of a TOTAL lead management system, and elements of every hot technology that can make a dealer more successful in today’s environment.

We are not done by a long shot, and we never will be either!  Now get me some more Legos.  I feel a product enhancement coming on!!!

by John Champeau

So your auto dealership just purchased an automotive CRM and everyone is excited; everyone except for you.  Maybe you aren't as familiar with a computer. You believe your phone is your primary tool in the showroom.  When you do come near a computer, you use two fingers to key everything. 

If the CRM system your dealer has installed is Autobase, we have good news for you.  though you may feel like you may get left behind, there is hope.  Here are a few tips that will help ease your apprehension and chase away those CRM jitters:

1. F1 Help – In order to feel comfortable with Autobase, you have to get to know Autobase.  What better way to get to know it than through the Online Tutorial.  F1 is the universal help button for any program.  In Autobase F1 is an online tutorial that provides information from Adding A Client, Internet Leads Management.  Using this option will prove to be beneficial.
2. Ask for help – At your dealership, someone may have been designated as the Autobase Champion.  Start looking to them for assistance.
3. Work at your own pace – You know that you are not the computer star at your dealership and there is no reason you have to be.  Autobase doesn’t require you to be a computer whiz or to type 55 words per minute.  Just work at your own pace. 

Tomorrow we'll look at a few more tips that will help you succeed with Autobase CRM.

by Tami Davis

I was reading an article in an automotive magazine by Mark LaNeve, GM’s Vice President of Vehicle Sales and Marketing, about a test program that GM is currently running with eBay and I started wondering: "Where is Internet Lead Management (ILM) headed?"

The article tells how potential automobile purchasers will be able to go to gm.ebay.com and browse the inventory for all GM dealerships located in California.

Not only will these Internet shoppers be able to see the new car inventory, but they will be able to compare prices, determine the value of their trades, chat with automotive sales experts, and even utilize eBay’s “Buy it Now” feature.  A whole new approach to the common understanding of an automotive dealership.

Internet Lead Management (ILM) will continue to evolve in ways no one could have imagined years ago.  Whichever way it turns, strong auto dealer CRM software should be supporting the ILM effort -- right on the cutting edge.  Things are moving fast and this is no time for an auto dealership to be left behind.

by Johnny Ohl

I once heard a very wise but very old and somewhat physically infirm man say that he tried to stay mentally young by learning something new each day.  He said he greeted each new day dawning as a learning experience. 

After ten years with Autobase, I try to learn something new about our auto dealer CRM software or our organization each day.  Funny thing is that no matter how familiar you think you are with Autobase, I have no problem finding things I didn’t know (and invariably, I always seem to wish that I had found them earlier than I did!)

If you are looking for a good source document to help you keep abreast of capabilities and functions of Autobase, a good place to start is the product release notes that are generally published to all users a few days ahead of the actual release.  Now, it's possible that you may discard this documentation or store it (with every intention to revisit it, but somehow you never do); but by doing so, you will have missed a great deal of highly beneficial information.  In fact, it's possible you have already missed several opportunities to put the information to good use.

Here are some nuggets for today from our product documentation.  For instance did you know that:

1. Users have the ability to search by email address in the Internet Lead Management (ILM) side of the software?
2. Salespeople will now have the Search functionality in the ILM?
3. Users with multi-store access will now have the ability to sort and view leads for individual stores in the ILM?
4. CARFAX integration is now available through the Inventory and Appraisal screens?

PRESS RELEASE
originally posted on the www.autobase.net

Autobase, Inc., the leading marketing and sales CRM provider for car dealers nationwide, and a division of Dominion Dealer Solutions, today announced the release of the 7.4 version of its CRM solution, Autobase Sales Center.

“The economic slowdown is forcing today’s dealer to save money by marketing more heavily to customers already in their database,” said John Hardacre, product director for Autobase, Inc.  “Therefore, it was important that this release focus on providing dealers with even stronger data mining and ROI reporting.  This enhanced functionality translates into more effective campaigns which drive more traffic to the showroom and service drive.  Ultimately, it increases a dealer's bottom line by month's end."

Beyond new reporting and search capabilities, Sales Center 7.4 delivers additional features to the existing service campaigns and the Autobase ILM (Internet Lead Management).  ILM enhancements include an all-new Internet Opportunity Report for users of Loyalty Center, the in-house call center application from Autobase.

Also released in 7.4 is integration with CARFAX, which allows Autobase dealers to view existing CARFAX Reports and purchase new reports from the Autobase inventory or appraisal screens.  Users can quickly determine which vehicles in their inventory have a CARFAX Report available, know when that report expires, and utilize vital information from the report, such as the CARFAX 1-Owner designation, without ever leaving the Autobase application.

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.
 

1. FIRST TIMER:  OK, so I'm convinced I need to get a CRM System, but I want to do it right.  After all, I've heard horror stories from guys in my 20 Group who got into it and got burned.  I want the right CRM Solution in place and I want it running and making money as soon as possible.
   
   
2. ONCE BITTEN:  I am fed up! I got into CRM because I saw the value of it, but the implementation and results from our current provider have been grossly disappointing.  I still see value in marketing and selling our customers from a single database, but this vendor has to go.  I want the right CRM System in place and I want it running and making money as soon as possible.
    
3. MORE TO BE DONE:  We are doing OK.  We have a decent Auto CRM in place, but we need to ramp things up a bit.  For example, our Internet Lead Management (ILM) is still not tied in, and there's so much permission-based marketing that we need to get moving with.  I want it running and making money as soon as possible.