Which one is Andrea?

Funny as it sounds it's quite true. I ran a booth last year at the SXSW conference, and even during slow traffic periods, I could generate more interest by having the models walk around the event than by waiting for passers-by to arrive.

Of course the booth next to us was being promo'd by a guy in a gorilla custome brandishing a large hypodermic needle... so I guess that might have driven people our way as well.

Ha Ha Ha! Jeff, that's hilarious!

Screw Checkered Flag - I'm hanging out with you next NADA.

Dude, you make me laugh! Great post. I'd like to see your giant gorilla ROI report next.

Hmmmm I wonder about having the "Booth Babe" as a "chat host" on the dealer website. Give the visitor a choice, "Booth Babe" "Booth Dude" as we have many female clients in the market now. Hmmmm.

Great idea Jeff, as always, you never know what ideas you pick up at these trade shows.

Hey Jeff!

I think you are onto something! I have to wonder though: How do you calculate the ROI on your trip to San Fran??? All those pictures are beginning to make me wonder how you had any time to get anything done (business-wise, of course...)!!!

Nice post Jeff.

I'm certain there's a direct correlation between the amount of 'clicks' on a booth model & their 'design.'

What about ROI on balloons? Do you have a formula for that?
Maybe I should put that under "some dealers just don't get it" thread?

The concept of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is actually out there. It's used by numerous large industries (healthcare, insurance, etc.) to be able to track and integrate customer information across multiple platforms. In the industries where data management is critical (insurance being a prime example), EDI is the needed "standard", plus a sequence of maps that permit data throughput to other related areas and ways to enforce access security.

However, what the industries did to make EDI happen was WORK TOGETHER. The key to really taking CRM, ILM, DMS and so on in the alphabet soup is to get the OEM's, dealers and vendors together and agree on a standard. Once that happens, you can take OEM Financial Services customers and seamlessly pass them to any CRM vendor when they come due, trigger a specific customer class, do the right follow up without duplicating it to an existing process in the dealer's own CRM work plan. You can more accurately pull histories, sales activity across all departments... the potential is huge and the tech is already there. Most vendors would just have to plug into the process by building their own translator to the EDI standard.

But I'm sure folks already have this idea somewhere. Microsoft .net is a concept that may be able to break the standards barrier or a collaboration between vendors, OEM's and dealers may make it happen. What I've seen though is that there is a strong sense of territorialism in some respects (ADP's data agreements come to mind), which would complicate making an EDI standard work, because one company wants to be tight-fisted and force clients and potential product partners alike to spend bigger bucks than they can afford to participate.

The insurance and healthcare EDI initiatives worked because everyone saw a common good for it, especially since a customer could travel from one provider to another and still need access to all their information.

Just my two cents. If the industry was willing to work together more, EDI and a standard could get done all too quickly, and allow a fairer playing field for all the vendors to compete in.

Thanks for reading.

We've recently switched CRM Systems. I can't believe this system doesn't integrate with the DMS. In other words -- if a salesperson doesn't enter/edit the client record correctly, there's no "safety net." CRM/SFA Rule #1 should deal with Integration: the system needs to work with existing core processes to make like easier -- help us be smarter -- don't put the pressure on the Sales Staff to be the ultimate record-keepers for the dealership.

ALSO -- Shawn Morse/Alex -- I work for a group with multiple franchises -- and just switched from a system that was customer-centric -- everyone in the same bucket (sure miss it!). The technology and the system has been around for a couple years -- I will respect Jeff's and Alex's wishes to not make this a commercial.

Alex
Your original question about having multiple competing franchises under your dealer group and wishing for a single client file is almost answered. VinSolutions is working towards this as we speak and we will be rolling it out in the near future. One record per customer accross the entire group will certainly make life easier for dealer groups. It has to be a bad thing when you are getting worked on ACV against another guy in your group! I will let you know when it is complete if you care to take a look.

Sandy - I got a bounceback on the email I just sent you, so I left a message with Mario at your Ford Store.

Sandy - That is a conversation over the phone. Way too much to post. All good stuff though! I am sending you an email with my contact info.

I have the Imagic ILM and will Probably go with the CRM. Can you give me some pros and cons with the CRM from sales to service. Thanks

I know my standards are a little high, but I just want one that works.. If I had a penny for all the mins I have spent on the phone with tech over the last 3 years, I wouldn't need this job.I used to gripe about eleads, huh, I would gladly have them! They are gods compared to ADP.

Sorry if anyone wants to talk, or anyone has any real autobase experience and is willing to share, I would appreciate it at [email protected] I will be more than willing to offer my LSI experience to anyone who wants it as well.
Joel

I used to use the CRM of one of the major DMS players at a Ford store, now I use and independent vendor's product. I have test driven the "other" major DMS vendor's CRM and found it better than either. However, the most important comment, that I most agree needs to be addressed is the ability to create your own query, even if ONLY to be able to decide who to send your bulk email to!
I used to have the ability, archaic though it was to write SQL queries, but you literally had to be a programmer to do it!
Now we're using (In a Chrysler Jeep store) a third party solution in all ten stores, not able to switch customers with salespeople or for manager's to have access to ALL. VERY limited ability to query the database to send email, newsletter, coupons, whatever. Granted it's user friendly (I HATE that term) enough for the green pea, and the old school guy alike, but still they don't log every up, just like they didn't log every up when they had to write it. Okay, when they come to the desk, they MUST have a printed worksheet from the system so those are always logged, but how about the guy on the lot looking at a used car? He is likely a buyer at some point, but you can't reach him because you don't know who he is, and if you do, you have to enter him as a prospect, and then he comes up on the salesman's follow up sheet every day, even if he's six months out. There needs to a category for "other" I recently put up a myspace page, what of the people who respond to the blog? How do I enter them to be able to email them coupons newsletters and bulk emails?
And, why the limit on the fields, not only the length of them but the number? What if it's a split deal, but the person was in one of our other stores looking at another car with a third or fourth salesman. I could go on and on and on, but I'll stay with DMS integration, even if your CRM IS from a third party vendor, and the ability to build a query any way you want in a user interface that does NOT require a programmer. After all, after a long day working the desk, closing deals, watching over the BDC, do I really want to start what really amounts to writing code? And the program we use now, (okay it's Autobase) has the interface, but has so few options to build on it's a royal pain anyway.
Okay, I'll leave the rest of the rant to "Bad Ashley" (Go get them Ashley, you got it RIGHT!!!) and sign off for now. GREAT Thread by the way!
Joel

Alex,
Looking forward to your iMagicLab findings.

Brian,

Maybe it is time to get specific in this thread - it has been a bit quiet lately.

Dealer.com has both an inventory control piece and an ILM, so you already have those at your disposal. However, Dealer.com is mainly a site hosting solution and even though all of their products get better everyday, some other solutions only deal in certain areas. Specialists are always tough to compete against. HomeNet is an inventory control specialist, and iMagiclab is a CRM/ILM specialist - neither do what Dealer.com does with a dealer website though.

If your boss is not keen on spending more money, know that you already have some decent tools in Dealer.com's solutions. Unfortunately, in this day and age, there is no single company who does everything perfectly. It seems like the more they do, the worse they get.....*cough* *sneeze* ADP and Reynolds & Reynolds */excuse me*. Dealer.com rocks on site hosting, iMagicLab has the best ILM solution and an incredible CRM solution, and HomeNet does an amazing job with online inventory control. Maybe you should explore all three?

I think I'm going to be able to tell you a lot more about iMagicLab in the near future. I only use them as an ILM tool right now, but I'm hoping that is going to change!

hate to be a thread derailer but curious (read:Important) of the integration between homenet and current ILM tool which is the bundled version that comes with dealer.com control center. Thinking about Imagiclab and I noticed they have a inventory manger as well, all these different logins could pose a issue I would think. That is why I was thinking imagiclab might be a better integration with ILM and inventory manager coming from the same vendor.

Great insights all the way around. I think the biggest key to a CRM tool, (and all software platforms) is the ability to integrate with all systems. We're in the process of shopping for a new DMS, and the headaches that transition will bring are countless. However, it will hopefully solve some of our current issues.

The buy in from sales staff and management are so important. It doesn't matter if a CRM can cure cancer and split the atom, if no one wants to use it, or it's too big of a hassle, it won't give the intended results. Alex'es point is well taken that the people who buy these systems hardly ever use them, and rarely consult those who do before buying them.

I never trust the old "Where did you hear about us" question. I've never seen a reliable system, or one that you could easily spot check for reliability. If anyone comes up with a foolproof system for tracking advertising ROI, let me know and we can make our millions.

One last thing, someone mentioned Homenet in an earlier post, and I will vouch for them. They are very good, easy to work with, and solved a boatload of our online inventory headaches. This is an unpaid plug, and I'm not affiliated with them.

Great comments...I love all the viewpoints, thanks.

Jeff L.

I've found a few companies that get close. Email me jasonwentlerFOOcomcastBARnet and I'll send you what I know.

Alex

I agree that a dealership needs a CRM champion, but to my point usually this person is doing this out of necessity, not by choice.

CRM is more a philosophy than technology that takes time to reap the rewards of the effort put into it. Even if you talk to the CRM vender's they don't get this little but important ethos. They think its great you can do a reverse phone lookup. Ooh, yeah that's great CRM now isn't it?

"CRM Champion" I like that! Could be useful to apply that thinking to several "Tools" around the dealership.

Jeff - reverse your thinking. What CRM solutions are appealing to the dealership mentality? Why does it seem the CRM is written and then how a salesperson enters a customer in is an afterthought? If I'm hearing you correctly, you want a CRM that is written for how a dealership operates in real life, not a CRM that forces a dealership to change principles. Is that it?

I think you're right Jeff. I think one of the reasons most CRM's fail to fully integrate into a sales staff is because it forces new processes without showing a sales staff the benefit of that new process. Trainers can tell us, over and over again, what the benefit of a particular CRM process is, but they're trainers for the CRM - they don't work with us. Most of the time those CRM trainers are car-sales ignorant on top of that.

The other side to the coin is that the wrong dealership personnel are typically the ones who buy the CRM.

You need to have a CRM champion within the dealership. There must be a *respected* dealership employee who has fully bought-in to the CRM who can sell everyone else on the tool, and the CRM vendor should cater to that person. This would be the person who sets the processes up and can explain what is going on after the CRM trainers leave . Pair that with a CRM tool that also is simple, good-looking & easily customizable and you have a tool that works.

Jason W.- Great idea.

Even if we could create the most flawless, perfect CRM tool, how many dealerships would take advantage or pay an experienced ISM to maximize it? No time for creating customized bulk email or dealership e-newsletters for long term follow up... It's all about the next sold vehicle TODAY! What have you sold today?!

Most dealership management does not understand or want to take the time to learn the technology, hire-train-motivate BDC personel, or accurately track the results (or only track results of the internet dept, not fair!) of the money spent on internet advertising.

What if a dealership could out source these services? Is there such a company currently in the market doing this successfully?