Increased Information is Increased Power Dealer Marketing Magazine | April 2008
When automotive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) first began, it was more or less an address book for those who purchased a vehicle and each department had separate processes in place for tracking customers. Vendors soon discovered that they could create a simple tool to track the process and sell it to the dealer for under $999 and the dealers would bite all day long. With the exception of one, vendors have taken advantage of a correct "dealer vision" but have not backed it up with the technology that enables dealers to really bring it all together.
CRM can and should be a very powerful busmess tool, one that is fully integrated with all dealership departments. CRM software should capture various important customer details that can then be used to further the business relationship at a later date. The buying cycle does not end at the purchase of a vehicle; it goes all the way through to referrals, service, and purchasing other vehicles.
Today, dealership management understands the need for this information. So they expect more functionality and varied options. The demand for detailed information has grown steadily and there IS a new customer-centered priority list for CRM. Dealership management understands that information is power, and the more information that is known about a customer the better the chances of retaining and gaining business, but only if the information is actionable. In other words, you need to do something with the information.
With the right CRM system, dealership expenses can be reduced by using the increased information to create campaigns that target specific customers. Shotgun marketing is no longer an effective approach to marketing. What you need is information; information is gold. The more information you have at your fingertips the more action you can take to drive purchase behaviors and create profits for your dealership.
The influence of dealerships should not be underestimated with regard to the business decisions of CRM vendors. It is essential that feedback is obtained at every stage of the development process. Regular discussions with dealership management, prototype development, and then more meetings for testing and progress analysis are critical to the development of a CRM that dealerships will use long term.
The majority of the CRM vendors out there are tired because their technology is old, inflexlble, and not constantly improving. There is a reason for concern when vendors try to lock dealerships into multi-year contracts and require that the money be paid up front. The vendors are probably not spending money to upgrade technology, which only makes your dealership suffer the consequences, not the vendors. If your CRM provider is not continuously innovating, they will quickly become outdated.
All things considered, the future looks strong for CRM. Successful CRM depends upon increased technologies that enable dealer processes and drive different mediums of efficient communication. In fact, for those CRM vendors who are on the cutting edge, these developments are already in the works in various forms, such as devices that facilitate communications between the customer and the service advisor or the service advisor and the sales force. If your CRM vendor is not evolving as fast as the industry is, it may be time to look elsewhere, because the future is already here.
