I was reading Automotive News this week and on the front page was an article lamenting that auto dealers are having a hard time keeping their dealership used car inventory stocked to acceptable levels. Cars at the auctions are scarce and prices are up to $2000 more than they were just months ago. Want an alternative means of going after cars for your used car inventory? YOUR OWN SERVICE DRIVE!
With the auto dealer CRM system from Autobase, you can see which customers are hitting your service department at what mileage point they and you can isolate marketing to go after these viable and potential clients to trade their vehicles to restock your used car lot.
Examples I have seen are: going after 2 to 3 year old, in warranty vehicles and the 70 to 80k vehicles for the budget lots. What's the down-side? Worst case, You'll drive floor traffic in this post "cash for clunkers" vacuum.
by Shawn Belles
I was at Starbucks the other day and noticed that they didn’t write my name on my cup. I asked the employee if perhaps this was to protect my privacy? He then asked me my name and shouted out loud saying – “Venti White Chocolate Mocha for Bryan.” So much for the privacy and “so much” for the beverage… by now we should all know that Starbucks charges by the syllable.
Regarding customer privacy, I am proud to say that Autobase takes this very seriously. Not only does our auto dealer CRM software encrypt all personal customer information, we allow our dealers to auto-delete it after X number of days after use. Of course some users will say, “Hey, it is a pain to have to re-ask our customer for a social the next time they buy a car," but I am sure the customer would love to hear… “Mr. Customer, I know you have purchased from us in the past, but to protect your privacy, we don’t store your personal information permanently in our CRM system.”
Needless to say, the next time I go out and buy a new car from one of our Autobase dealers, I will not expect my sales rep to shout “one Venti White Mocha Mustang for Bryan!”
by Bryan Anderson, Autobase Founder
I am thinking of purchasing a new vehicle. It has been awhile since I have looked at someone's new car inventory, and have to admit that I have never really done so the ‘traditional’ way. Sure, I have gone through the steps with an auto dealer, but have never bought from one directly. The sales process seemed too drawn out and painful to participate in. I have never met someone that enjoyed buying a vehicle -- aside from test driving :)
So I found a way around it. It just so happened that my husband had a friend who bought vehicles at auction. Problem solved. No trudging to the dealership only to sit for about 2 hours while a salesman ran back and forth to talk to a manager. No feeling uncomfortable because you didn’t know if what you were being told was truthful. And finally no pressure to make a decision right now!
What is wrong with this picture is that the attempts to buy a vehicle prior to finding my auction buddy were all done at stores WITHOUT Autobase or any Automotive CRM for that matter. Since I ate, drank and slept using Autobase CRM at dealerships for about 2 years, I found that the process became stream line and fun when used properly. It was the first step in starting a relationship with someone that you may come to rely on over the course of your life.
In today’s market, technology, primarily Automotive CRM, has helped ease the pain of a car buyer. CRM is making the car buying experience enjoyable instead of dreaded. Oh and did I forget to mention it makes the sales process faster, efficient, and easy for the salesperson, manager and dealership as a whole? You can’t afford to live without Automotive CRM in today’s market. If not for your customers for yourself!
by Sheena Lee
Autobase CRM gives you instant visibility when your dealership sales consultant marks a customer as a "lost sale". We know we aren't going to win them all, but all is not truly "lost."
First, immediately second voice the prospect. Once a lost sales is flagged in your auto dealer CRM, someone other than the sales consultant should call and do some fact finding. This deal is still warm and could be revived. Find out if they actually took delivery from someone else's new car inventory after all. If so congratulate them. See if they have time to answer one simple question; "What was the one reason you did not purchase a vehicle from us?". As you make these calls you may find a pattern that if corrected could help you sell more vehicles. Common answers are: "I did not receive enough for my trade" or "You did not have the vehicle in stock."
Surprisingly, you may find out your sales consultant did not follow up or did a poor job of qualifying. I had one sales person that did not present lease options and insisted the customer only needed purchase numbers. That same customer leased a vehicle from a competitor. The sales person was ashamed to tell me. I could now work to skill-elevate this sales person so we could learn from our mistakes.
We'll consider another way that "lost sales" are truly opportunities tomorrow. Stay tuned!
by Shawn Belles
If you are like most auto dealerships, the answer to the above question is “not very well”.
Besides being expensive, it’s near impossible to measure results. With the recent consolidation of dealerships, many service departments are bursting at the seams. Now more than ever there are valuable prospects visiting your service department that did not buy their vehicle at your store. What a perfect opportunity to properly start a sales cycle with these orphaned customers.
Many of the auto dealers using our automotive CRM system have found the best way to find some of these hot leads is to do a search of their customer database. For example, try a quick search of your entire database using these parameters:
1) Service customers who did not buy their vehicle at your dealership
2) Visited your Service department within the last 30 days
3) Over 75,000 miles on the odometer
4) Repair Order bill over $250.00 out of pocket
You might be surprised to see this number is larger than first thought. Why not have a “new model” introduction e-mail automatically generated when these customers get back home (using a strong permission-based email marketing solution, of course). Better yet, what a great time to drop these folks a well timed call. They already know who you are. Know where you are. They are a customer already. They have a high mileage vehicle. And repairs are starting to cost them out of pocket.
As a New Car Salesperson, I would much rather make a well timed, well informed call to these prospects than to follow up on a mailer. And by the way, these leads don’t cost a penny.
by Mike Niebling
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
My 75 year old father recently purchased a new car from the auto dealership down the road. He finally gave up his old Dodge Stratus and traded in for a brand new Jeep Compass. He loves the car – it’s easier for him to get in and out of and he likes how it drives in the cold, snowy winters.
I recently stopped by to visit and he was on the phone, chatting with someone about his car. I thought it was a friend of his, but when he hung up, he said “That was Jeff – car salesman I bought the Jeep from. Nice guy ... just called to see how the car was working out for me.” I had to laugh – I knew Dad bought his Jeep from a dealer that used auto dealer CRM software from Autobase!
There is something to be said for Automotive CRM. There is something to be said for following up with your customers regularly. And even more to be said for building a relationship with them. I know my dad has called Jeff several times in the past few months with questions. I also know it was Jeff who helped me buy the cargo net Dad wanted for his birthday. Without a process in place to follow up with my father, Jeff would never stand a chance at selling him another vehicle! I think Dad is eyeing a convertible next!
by Meg Martino
If you analyze the data in your CRM system are 90% of your leads from the internet and not the phone? In the Autobase CRM, Internet Leads and Phone Leads are treated equally and the goal for each CRM entry type is the same ... GET THEM IN THE STORE!
Have prospects stopped calling? Look at the “calls to action” in your advertising. Are all of your ads driving people to your website instead of the phone? Is motivating your prospects to jump on the Internet to search your inventory always the best thing to do? What about the thousands of people that drive by your expensive piece of real estate every day? With their cell phones in hand and often in use, can you goad them into calling right then and there, or are you encouraging them to go home and search your inventory through pictures and words?
After driving past a few dealerships near NADA headquarters this week, I couldn’t help but notice that not one of them used any signage to post a TOLL FREE number to call. Every effort was made to remind the consumer of their World Wide Web address where they can browse 24/7 without any sales interaction. This encourages them to not only shop our store, but every other store on the planet. Too bad. Of those thousands of cars with all of those people with all of those cell phones, somebody needed a new car that day.
I encourage you to start filling up your CRM database with true phone prospects and get your staff trained to professionally get them in the door .. and get them in NOW. Tell the customer to TURN AROUND and you will have their favorite car warmed up or cooled off – ready for a test drive. Put some emotion back in the sales process and remove some of the research stirred by the web.
Three things to consider...
1. Use toll free numbers so you can truly manage inbound phone traffic from advertised numbers. All calls from toll free numbers can be routed as leads directly into your Auto Dealer CRM system.
2. Post a specific number for your drive by numbers so those calls can be handled differently. They just drove by your store – GET THEM TO TURN AROUND!
3. Train a few specialists or your entire team to handle phone calls properly ... teach them to be EXCITED again. Use the technology to listen and grade the effort of your staff. Continue to monitor and improve.
Remember, don’t let the WWW be your ONLY source of leads. Put a spiff on true phone leads and start having fun again. Why grind out 15 emails and replies with a consumer when they just drove by your store 2 hours ago?
One of the key points separating the average dealership software (in terms of a CRM system) from the best-of-breed, auto dealer CRM is the grouping of customers. And one of the hurdles we in the auto retail industry need to clear (whether our auto CRM helps or hinders the effort) is adopting the mindset that there is no such thing as a SOLD customer.
Not to worry, this misconception is not isolated within the dealership world. It is common for many businesses with the potential for repeat sales to fall victim to a nearsighted view of the future.
A customer is always just that: a customer -- a warm body presenting opportunity for business on many levels far beyond the new car or used car they might be looking at today. If you are successful in selling the vehicle, congratulations! Now, let the cashier enjoy that moment ... we're already working to pencil the customer in for a future sales opportunity.
Here's another way to look at it:
Before taking delivery, the customer is a current sales opportunity. After taking delivery, they instantly become a future sales opportunity.
The auto dealer adopting this mindset is likely to enjoy a relatively high rate of customer retention.
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.
Powered by Compendium Blogware