How are you communicating with your database of clients?

[ucbc]

[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]1. What tool(s) do you utilize in communicating with your customer database and what results have you had?

2. How do you market to them just-in-time, anytime, invited, without intruding?
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[Jeff Kershner]

Those are some broad questions Kaya. Would you be referring to the variable ops side or the fixed ops? Or maybe both??

I don't usually talk up providers here on DealerRefresh due to being fair and the position I have placed myself here on DR but I'll make a few exceptions.

To answer broadly - for service marketing/database communications and last minute very targeted messaging (again, 99% service), my dealers utilize @utoRevenue. I've become somewhat of an advocate of their services. I receive some of the best customer from this outfit. They not only provide my dealers with some strong targeted email retention marketing but also our online service scheduler. And as far as I'm concerned, one of the better ones available.

I use eLead CRM coupled with their GoldDigger service for most of our prospecting email and direct mail campaigns. They outsource their email delivery through Strongmail to increase the delivery rate. I wish there was a tighter integration since Strongmail offers a lot of additional features that would be an added benefit. With that being said I like the fact that their email campaigns and direct mail campaigns tie into their call center and the CRM for increased performance and measurable ROI.

From the Retention/Prospecting side, some of my dealers are using IMN newsletter service. Overall it's a good service. I think it's a little pricey and the customer service has been "average" thus far but I can't complain about the delivery rate. I could take some time and really pick apart their service if I wanted to (sloppy/heavy templates and no consideration for mobile rendering) but overall, a good service.

Next in line - bouncing my database up against services that will return back a customers social presence. Marketing and communications is extremely fragmented so the more areas of serving the right message at the right time = a nice win and positive ROI.

 

[kevinfrye]

We have used eLead and AutoRevenue with success in the past, but are working to take this to another level. We are using VIN to consolidate all of our data in one tool (service, sales, prospects, and text), append that data every month, and then market from this - our most accurate database. This has helped us to save a tremendous amount of money as we do a significant amount of marketing that we used to pay for with other vendors at little to no cost now, and our results are better with a larger and more accurate database. Our group has a very strong vision of being as efficient as possible in the future automotive market, and our marketing efforts are tied into that direction.