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Anyone using Higher Gear? I can't find any recent reviews.

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#11
yagoparamo said:
From feedback I get, they all have good things and bad things BUT make sure you don't underestimate the value of the training (on going training) provided as that is the biggest complain.

DealerSocket is the one we hear the highest praises.
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We used DealerSocket, and the customer service was awful. This was the type of company I was speaking about that takes weeks to get back with you for any and everything. We tried it for a bit and we promptly went back to Higher Gear. Dealersocket was the worst. We primarily cancelled because of the customer service and lack of training.

Think about it from this aspect, what good is a CRM tool, if the support is non existant and response time is slow. This was our experience. We would ask for a template to be added, just to illustrate. Higher Gear gets it done in maybe an hour or two. Dealersocket would take a week, two or maybe even forget all together.

I will add that this was our experience. Just like anything I'm sure others would say the opposite. My point is that we are happy with Higher Gear and the level of customer service we get, as well as the timely response to our needs.
 
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#12
My company switched to higher gear 5 months ago and am very satisfied with both the product and support staff. We all know how difficult a CRM conversion can be!!! Mine went off without a hitch, the trainers were great and the product was so easy to use that all of my staff quickly transitioned. Every system has it's stenghts and what I found to be Higher Gears strenghts are very high staff utilization and customer service.
In fact as I am writing this I can't recall one manager,salesperson or BDC staff complaining at all, about converting from one vendor to another or about any product deficiencies. That in itself should be an endorsement.
 
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#13
I have used multiple CRM's over the years and have been presented many others as well. What really sets Higher Gear apart from the others is its high level of service and training that comes along with it. A couple years back our group switched from HG to DealerSocket as we were impressed with the presentation. We quickly found out that DS was a bit complicated to use and the support was almost non-existent. Our sales force found DS too complex and we realized that the information they were putting in was not accurate as they had no interest in learning the complexity of the system. This caused our reporting to be incorrect and we were unable to analyze the reporting effectively. We switched back to HG rather quickly and are very satisfied with the system. I have read in the replies that some people think HG is too simple and I agree it is simple! Thats what makes it so good. Think about it. The people using it the most are your sales and internet consultants. If you have a system that is too complex, they will not use the system properly and you will not get accurate information out of it. I highly recommend Higher Gear to anyone looking for a new CRM!
 
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#14
brandtoby said:
We used DealerSocket, and the customer service was awful. This was the type of company I was speaking about that takes weeks to get back with you for any and everything. We tried it for a bit and we promptly went back to Higher Gear. Dealersocket was the worst. We primarily cancelled because of the customer service and lack of training.

Think about it from this aspect, what good is a CRM tool, if the support is non existant and response time is slow. This was our experience. We would ask for a template to be added, just to illustrate. Higher Gear gets it done in maybe an hour or two. Dealersocket would take a week, two or maybe even forget all together.

I will add that this was our experience. Just like anything I'm sure others would say the opposite. My point is that we are happy with Higher Gear and the level of customer service we get, as well as the timely response to our needs.
Click to expand...

brandtoby,

I'm speaking by my own account but the feedback that I got from quite a few clients HOWEVER I have learned that the relationship between a dealer and a CRM system/company is close to be a real life marriage.

The little things you didn't tell me when we were dating...
 
#15
Recent reviews? I don't think the system has changed much over the last decade. It looks EXACTLY the same as it did back in 2001. In my opinion, HigherGear needs a complete rewrite if it wants to compete with any of the leading CRM solutions (DealerSocket, iMagic, ...).
 
#16
Jay Juliano said:
Recent reviews? I don't think the system has changed much over the last decade. It looks EXACTLY the same as it did back in 2001. In my opinion, HigherGear needs a complete rewrite if it wants to compete with any of the leading CRM solutions (DealerSocket, iMagic, ...).
Click to expand...


Higher Gear has recently rolled out the 5300 release which changed the look and added functionality(texting, Chrome Data Pack, eBrochures etc...). I would love to take you through the changes if you have time? Perhaps a PM for a web demo?

Shoot me a message if you have a moment.

Jeff

Jeff White
Vice President
Higher Gear
(561) 400-9071
[email protected]
 
#17
Here is the up to date review. Higher Gear is still strong in terms of customer service, and the updates are a good. The look has changed, and they have offered some additional products in the way of text messaging, at a nominal fee, which you can choose to have or not have in your service. The E Brochures are strong and available for all makes and models. The absolute only think I will say on the down side is I have encountered a few complaints regarding a bug in the software that I have confirmed is happening under our other roof tops as well. High gear reps have tried several times to fix it, and while under my roof top has settled down and seems to only happen once in a while, I can't ignore my Honda team who has been experiencing this behavior by the software. Other than this little bug, I can safely say that Higher Gear is strong. I know several people said Dealer socket..... don't' waste your time. Certainly you have a choice in what you use, but I still would say that if your not going to get Higher Gear, the only other crm worth anything is Imagic. The question then becomes whether you feel safe with an internet based crm, or if for security reasons you want a server based crm. All in all I still say Higher Gear is strong, and the new updated are a plus. I sincerely hope we see more updates in the future, and as far as I know their are some updates still coming.
 
#18
This reflects exactly what our experience was for the 4 months that we had dealer socket just before we cancelled and went back to High Gear. Lack of support and lack of customer service. Just getting a template on the crm was taking up to 3 weeks. Also to note with both dealer socket as well as Imagic is neither of them come out to do the training. You train online via webinar and that's the extent of your training. If they actually came out like Higher Gear this would be a step in the right direction, but until they do, I find Higher Gear the only company who comes on site and has representatives available that stop by to see that the staff are happy with the product, offer training and answer questions.

TimH said:
I have used multiple CRM's over the years and have been presented many others as well. What really sets Higher Gear apart from the others is its high level of service and training that comes along with it. A couple years back our group switched from HG to DealerSocket as we were impressed with the presentation. We quickly found out that DS was a bit complicated to use and the support was almost non-existent. Our sales force found DS too complex and we realized that the information they were putting in was not accurate as they had no interest in learning the complexity of the system. This caused our reporting to be incorrect and we were unable to analyze the reporting effectively. We switched back to HG rather quickly and are very satisfied with the system. I have read in the replies that some people think HG is too simple and I agree it is simple! Thats what makes it so good. Think about it. The people using it the most are your sales and internet consultants. If you have a system that is too complex, they will not use the system properly and you will not get accurate information out of it. I highly recommend Higher Gear to anyone looking for a new CRM!
Click to expand...
 
#19
Higher gear has been a nightmare at our dealership..I am not sure if it just isn't set up right..or if its the system itself. It slows us down,,,it prevents you adding an "up" entry if your to do list isn't complete..that REALLY hurts the sales process...now you have to go find a manager to let you in...it leaves things out of documents..like in our dealership it won't printout the 33.50 bmv fee on the sales order. Half our managers have never been properly trained on it, it demands an action after a follow up before you know what re-action your customer will have to the action you just took, its ridiculous. It doesn't mesh well with our other dealer systems.. for example the inventory sheet you print is out of date containing vehicles that have been gone for years..its a joke really..again I don't know if its the software or if its just not being maintained right. I am sure the capability exists for this software to be beneficial, but in our dealership it causes more problems and slows us down to the point where I think it is costing us sales. It is micromanagement at its worst especially when it isn't set up right to HELP the sales people not SLOW THEM DOWN.
 
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