Trip Advisor and similar sites have done wonders to enable guests of hotels, resorts, and other vacation locations to rate these establishments and document their experiences. Likewise, community sites for automotive dealerships are popping up more and more where auto dealers and other dealership sales management can offer their input on various technology vendors in the automotive retail market.
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."
It seems like we are often caught up in the "what’s new" and "what’s hot" game to the point that we tend to ignore what’s important! While Internet Lead Management has assumed a position of increased importance (I wonder what happened to those dealers that scoffed at the Internet), we have fallen prey to an apparently insatiable desire to chase those and ignore the treasure trove in our own automotive dealerships.
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.
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?
Third party lead providers are great tools to help generate traffic in your showroom. But are these leads enough for your auto dealership? Customer retention is something that the average auto dealer may easily overlook. Some stores bring on a third party to assist with retention depriving them of that personal touch. Some may even cancel the service in a few months leaving the customers without contact.
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.
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!!!
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:
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.
Ask for help – At your dealership, someone may have been designated as the Autobase Champion. Start looking to them for assistance.
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.
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.
Ever been in such a time crunch that you just don’t think you can get everything done? (If you're in automotive sales, you're probably thinking, "Join the club, Sheena!") Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal assistant maintain your professional life for you? If you answer YES to either of these questions then you need to look into auto dealer CRM. Need a little more from your current auto CRM in this area? Then you need to look into Autobase CRM.
Staying organized is just a small part of what Automotive CRM can do for you. This list shows just a fraction of available ‘time crunch’ helpers that Autobase can offer.
Appointment Tracking
Tracked per customer
Containing customer specific notes
User history – start to finish
Prospect Leads Lists
Fresh leads for potential new sales daily
Referral opportunities from each customer on the list
Keeping your name in front of customers DAILY
Using just a few of these available features provided in the CRM or Internet Lead Management (ILM) from Autobase, you can get through your day faster. More productivity ... more profit! by Sheena Lee
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:
Users have the ability to search by email address in the Internet Lead Management (ILM) side of the software?
Salespeople will now have the Search functionality in the ILM?
Users with multi-store access will now have the ability to sort and view leads for individual stores in the ILM?
CARFAX integration is now available through the Inventory and Appraisal screens?
Now you know more than you did a moment ago and if this had really made you smarter, you made a note on your planner for tomorrow to look at four more items. Keep this up and by the weekend you should be smokin’ .. and so will your sales team when you show them what you know!
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?
Last weekend, my wife and I took a quick trip down to Charleston, SC, to visit some old friends and to check out the plethora of history, landscape, and low country cuisine. Of the hundreds of amazing places to go eat when your in the Charleston area, you definitely need to stop in at Hyman's Seafood.
Beyond fantastic seafood (I would have to recommend their signature Cripsy Flounder), you have to see just how much this family outfit "gets" customer loyalty and the power of marketing from the time you walk into the restaurant. Those who eat there enjoy an experience -- and for reasons far beyond the food. Is it possible to reproduce this in an auto dealership? What if you could boast of fans who rave about your your staff, service, and $20,000 product the way the Hymans boast of their fans of a $15 plate of flounder?
Sales management has the tools available. Automotive CRM, ILM, and business development software, all wrapped up in dealership software such as Autobase, is the ticket to making raving fans of your business and building customer retention that will have them coming back again and again. Check it out!
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!
More auto dealers scratch their heads and wring their hands, genuinely wanting to market to ALL of their customers. Of course only a handful the people who interacted with the dealer are in their Internet Lead Management solution (ILM); and frankly, only a percentage of those who have ever come into contact with the store are in the dealership management system (DMS).
The answer is finding a Dealership CRM Software (CRM) Provider who can help that auto dealer to capture, manage, and market to ANY and EVERY possible kind of lead.
Phone ups ... fresh ups ... Internet leads ... referrals ... repeat customers ... service opportunities ... marketing to "Old Sold" customers in the dealership DMS ... lost sales ... customers with financing issues ... you get the idea. With a True Auto CRM, they ALL go into one database (at least with Autobase CRM, everything is integrated in one database). Now you have 50,000+ customer records in a single location, not 30,000 Internet leads in your ILM, your 15,000 sold and service customers in your DMS, and 5,000 records in "who knows where." A much better park in which to play, don't you think?
(... we won't even get started on using that data to drive traffic to your showroom and service drive through targeted and systematic permission-based marketing campaigns!)
The mere thought of “Customer Relationship Management” (CRM) is enough to raise the blood pressure of some auto dealers. While this response is due much in part to souring experiences with some CRM providers, many are frustrated from confusion over the concept itself, and the plethora of “so-called CRM providers” isn’t helping.
Unfortunately, it seems every technology vendor offers a CRM, and hence, the waters get muddy. In recent years, digital marketing providers have added on CRM. Outsourced call centers and call tracking providers have added on CRM to their solutions. Companies beginning as ILMs or inventory solutions now have CRM. This may be why NADA Expos see as many as 70 companies listing themselves as an automotive CRM from year to year. Before you know it, a dealer doesn’t have a CRM system; he has six or seven different programs he uses to sell a car, each with their own follow-up processes (CRM).
Naturally, the data for a single customer may be isolated from other data in any one of the other six or seven, separate databases. A dealership can jump from program to sell a car (if he has to), but different databases simply don’t cut it where things really count – true customer relationship management.
The single most important reason for gathering quality data today is its inherent value to market and sell customers tomorrow. This is an important role of a (single) dealership CRM. It makes sense that all marketing data should be kept in one place, yet with six or seven products at work in the average dealership, the average marketing effort is disjointed at best (and crippled at worst).
Need to reduce the headaches to the tune of about five or six CRMs? Contact us to see True CRM -- a single solution to capture, sell, manage, and market to all customers in a single database!
Jim Valvano, the basketball coach at North Carolina State University, with his body racked by cancer that would ultimately take him from us at far too young an age, once stood before an assembly, and said ”... Cancer may take my life, but it can never take my mind, it can never take my heart and it can never take my soul. Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”
Any time since that point, in both my personal and professional life, when things got tough, I remembered the words and actions of this brave man and vowed never to give up, to push harder and to use the gifts that I had been given and still retained. So it is in today’s business climate that I urge all of us to cede the field to no opponent.
Do not give in or give up. Every day is an opportunity to move new and used car inventory. We have the tools in our auto dealerships to make a difference and to overcome the challenges of the economy to our business. Use the technical tools (like your Auto Dealer CRM, ILM, and permission-based marketing solution) to maximize the business that you have earned the right to.
If you are a dealer who uses Autobase CRM, take a good look at your Autobase solution, especially the Managed Services options. They will allow you to centralize your permission-based marketing effort under one roof, and not only save money but get better results also. That half full glass in front of you is an opportunity; grab it!
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.
It's a Friday, so we'll let our hair down a little bit and have some fun.
We won't cover our usual subject of auto CRM, Internet Lead Management (ILM), permission-based email, or even voice and text messaging. Today, we'd like to introduce our favorite Automotive CRM Motivational Speaker...
You may have seen Buck in our NADA booth a few years ago. Here is one of our favorite Autobase commercials.
Anymore these days, nearly EVERY prospect is an Internet customer -- that is, they begin their search for their next car or truck on the Web. And so, the focus (perhaps even the rage) of auto dealerships is all about Internet leads, from the sites and sources providing those leads to the Internet lead management (ILM) system used to work them.
While strong Internet sales and fully-integrated ILM and Auto CRM are vital keys to a successful auto dealership, it is unfortunate how other money-making opportunities are seemingly forgotten in the dealership. The biggest? Renewals.
Some are knocking the cover of the ball of renewal business, but one has to wonder why more dealers aren't mining the GOLD that awaits them in renewals -- especially in this economy. We at Autobase have even wondered what would happen if the CRM system funneled Renewals back into itself, but as Internet leads. Would they be worked with the same fervor and intensity?! OK, so I smile as I type this, but think of it...
Nearly every person who tapped into your pre-owned or new car inventory is going to buy again. It's just a matter of where. Not to be overly elementary, but the biggest leg-up on your competition is that they previously bought from you! For your dealership, this means you will typically close between 60 and 80% of these opportunities AND at higher grosses. Apples to apples, when compared to the average Internet lead, it becomes obvious why renewal business cannot be ignored.
The mere thought of “Customer Relationship Management” (CRM) is enough to raise the blood pressure of some auto dealers. While this response is due much in part to souring experiences with some CRM providers, many are frustrated from confusion over the concept itself, and the plethora of “so-called CRM providers” isn’t helping.
Tomorrow is the 233rd birthday of our United States of America. 
Anymore these days, nearly EVERY prospect is an Internet customer -- that is, they begin their search for their next car or truck on the Web. And so, the focus (perhaps even the rage) of auto dealerships is all about Internet leads, from the sites and sources providing those leads to the Internet lead management (ILM) system used to work them.
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