Dealership CRM

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

Sometimes life is so ironic.  I had decided to sit down last night and write this blog, started and decided I was not sure of the topic to write about, deleted it all, and watched T.V.   I could not think I had a mental block. 

Then today I was at one of my dealer visits and out of the blue one of the sales managers said to me, “Why does the car industry get such a bad rap?  We are not the sleazy used car sales people of the 60’s and 70’s!”   I could not believe it.  I told him what had happened to me last night and said, “This is fate; I have to go home and continue my blog!"

As I help auto dealers benefit from their investment in a strong dealership CRM solution, I have the utmost respect for all of my dealers as well as their dealership sales management and their staff. The automotive industry has come a long way.  Auto dealerships are now run just like any other industry in corporate America, and should be addressed in that fashion.  About a month  ago, one of my former employers (who happens to now be one of my accounts!) accused me of “being so corporate."

Sales Consultants, I believe people respond to how they are treated, and if you present yourself as well as Autobase CRM in this light to your dealers, you may be surprised at the favorable and positive response you will receive!

by Donna McCarthy

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

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

Your auto CRM is your personal secretary.  It can quickly and efficiently organize your customers alphabetically, by purchase status, sold date, by vehicle and many more things.  Without the help of an auto dealer CRM like Autobase it can take hours and be futile to try to sort customers into categories so you can market to them.  With Autobase CRM even a sophisticated search can take under a minute.

Use your automotive CRM to organize dealership customers by status.  This is especially important at the end of the month.  That one click can show you upon who you should be focusing your efforts.  Particularly overlooked are those people who are unable to finance.  This is the time to push for cosigners.  This is the time when those people who just don’t have enough money down either find that money or can be put in a car for less money down because they help the dealership hit their number for the manufacturer.

by Carol Urichich

Working with a technology company's Customer Support phone system and menu options work can certainly be a bit overwhelming at times.  At Autobase, we've tried to make phone support for the nation's leading auto dealer CRM software as helpful and straightforward as possible.

When you call in for dealership CRM support, you are asked to select a number 1-8.  You can Press 1 for Technical Support.  This will direct you to your region’s Technical Analyst.  The TA is able to help when something goes wrong … email is not sending; the program is showing an error; web leads are not coming in properly ... anything that just seems a bit “off.”

Secondly, you can Press 2 for How To and Usage Questions.  This option will route you to your region’s Account Analyst.  The AA is your “How To” specialists.  They are the ones you want to speak to if you simply can’t remember how to do something or if you want to learn more about doing a particular task at your dealership.

The TAs and CAs are very professional and quite prompt in resolving issues; however, some days are busier than others.  If you call and the recording tells you that there are a lot of people waiting in front of you, don’t be afraid to leave a message.  The phone system is designed to use that message as your place holder, as if you never even hung up.  When the TA or CA picks up your call, the message will play, and they will be prompted to call YOU back.  They have no other option but to return your call.  Help is on its way! 

by Colleen Persic

It is a simple question...

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.

by Julie Wright

We all look for ways to get though our day-to-day tasks quickly.  Between all the clients that are coming into the showroom and adding and/or updating customer records in the dealership CRM, it’s easy to feel that all the “pointing and clicking” is dragging you down.  We can't speak for other automotive CRM solutions, but there are many shortcuts within the Autobase CRM that can help speed up the process, from accessing your e-mail to adding clients.

Anytime you see a single letter underlined in a phrase within Autobase CRM, it signifies a shortcut.  Hit the letter on the keyboard that is underlined on the screen, and it will take you directly to that part of the program. 

Let’s walk through a few steps in the Add a Client process.  From the main screen, notice the ‘A’ in Add a Client is underlined.  Click the ‘A’ key on the keyboard.  Now you will notice that the different Client Types have short cuts as well.  Click ‘F’ for Floor Traffic, ‘N’ for Next, and you are on your way.  Below is a list of other helpful Autobase shortcuts:

F1  Autobase Help
F2  Save
F3  Notes
F4  Client Info
F7  Search
F8  Letters
Alt-B  Bulletin Board
Alt-C  Card Ex
Alt-E  Email
Alt-I  Inventory
Alt-P  Change Password

Another way to save time while navigating through Autobase is by taking advantage of the type-o-matic lists.  When a list automatically pops up (i.e. Make, Model, Color, or Advertising Source) is type-o-matic.   If you type the first few letters of the item you wish to select, Autobase CRM will select it automatically, eliminating the scrolling though seemingly endless lists.

Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done; use these short cuts to help gain some of that time back.

by Colleen Persic

Were I still in retail and fortunate enough to use Autobase as our dealership CRM system, I would somehow have to create a quick link to the Search button in every screen and logbook. 

Man, talk about "Knowledge is Power!"  With one push of a button, establishing of a few criteria which I am prompted to choose from, one or two magic words, and I have just accessed the mother-load of information that is going to make me a very successful car guy.  (OK, the magic words aren’t really necessary but they impress anyone who is watching.)

I now have a list of my clients (or a list of "All Clients" if I am part of the dealership sales management) who match the criteria that I have entered.  If I am fortunate to have other Autobase capabilities installed, I'll choose some form of permission-based marketing (email digital marketing, voice messaging, text messaging) to maintain contact and get my message home to these specifically targeted groups.

The most recent version of Autobase CRM includes numerous additional capabilities in this Search capability alone.  I’m not the most high-tech type, but with the easy-to-use Auto Dealer CRM from Autobase you don’t have to be.  Simply enter your data, and use the Search functionality to mine that data.  It’s so easy even a ... well you know what I mean!

by John Champeau

• 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

OK, confession: I’ve never serviced my car at the dealership where I bought my car.  In fact, I don’t recall going on a “service walk” with my salesman or receiving follow-up to schedule my first service visit.  I may be the guy who bought, and doesn't service ...

But what about the many who customers who didn’t purchase from your auto dealership, but it’s where they get their vehicles serviced?  They pay their bill and don’t think about getting serviced again until the mileage on their oil change sticker in the windshield expires.  And, unfortunately for the dealer, a lot of customer business is being overlooked. 

The Service Logbook in any decent auto dealer CRM solution can identify those customers who do not have an associated sales person.  When a customer comes in for service, the RO builds a customer record and assigns the customer to a generic “Service Visit” account.  The sales manager can monitor the logbook, view what work was done, see how many miles the vehicle has, AND how much the customer paid!  Auto dealership management can manually reassign the customer to an active sales employee and have them make contact. 

This is an ideal way to keep your dealership name with the customer and earn repeat or new business.  If you need help stepping up your dealership CRM effort, give us a call to learn more about Autobase CRM.

by Josh Bateson

Just like the fictional “A Team,” I love it when a plan comes together! 

It's great to see an auto dealer realize some functionality that he held in his Autobase CRM, but didn’t know about.  Just the other day, I had a dealer comment to me that he had taken an Autobase University course (FREE online training to all Autobase dealers) on “What’s New in Our 7.4 Version” and said how much they had learned about capabilities that they didn’t know they had. 

Specifically, this auto dealership does a lot of event marketing to their client base found out about using the Info Tab.  The Info Tab in our auto dealership CRM denotes interests, and how to run group searches using the specific interest.  Furthermore, the sales staff learned about the use of "special codes" and how to apply them to a full-blown, permission-based marketing campaign. 

Energized and excited, this auto dealer made sure his team was using Autobase University.  Then he went back into the program and completed the other available courses -- one more committed and knowledgeable dealer with a sales staff about to reap some serious benefits!

by John Champeau

As with some auto dealers, you may not be all that crazy about math.  We like to add up all our profits, and don’t mind subtracting costs of doing business.  We multiply successful locations and franchises; but as dealers, we are divided when it comes to managing customer information.  Some of us believe that incorporating a Dealership CRM System will help increase profits and minimize costs.  But still others of us believe in conventional marketing for generating new floor traffic.  So who’s right?  Well, let’s do the math.

This article is based on an excerpt from the book “Floor Traffic is for Green Peas.”  Get your free copy of its sequel “Seven Months to CRM Greatness."
 

In preparation for an upcoming article in a leading trade publication for the automotive industry, I was asked the following question by the Editor-in-Chief:  "Has Auto Dealer CRM technology reached maturity?"

In one way, I took this to mean, "Have auto dealers seen about all that they're going to see out of CRM?"  Here were my thoughts ...

Because CRM is an ever-evolving interplay between people, processes, and technology, CRM can never really come to a point where it is mature, outdated, or unnecessary.  When dealership CRM began in 1988, the technology at that point was mass production of printed letters and scheduling of phone calls.  Today, CRM captures extremely valuable customer data and uses it to drive significantly more traffic through SMS text messaging, voice messaging, as well as video email and other forms of digital marketing – all within a permission-based framework that customers will appreciate.  As technology and the processes that support ever-evolving dealership needs change, so will CRM.